Pittsburgh Beat Writer Answers 5 Question About Pitt

Why is Cal's next opponent undefeated and ranked? Is the success of Panthers QB Eli Holstein a surprise?

Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Each week we ask a reporter who covers Cal’s next opponent five questions about that opponent.

This week we asked Stephen Thompson of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette five questions about Pitt, which is 5-0 and hosts Cal (3-2) on Saturday (12:30 p.m. Pacific time). Pitt was picked to finish13th in the ACC in the preseason media poll.

We provided excerpts of Thompson’s answers, but it is worth listening to the entire video for each question.

----1. How surprising is Pitt’s early season success, and why have the Panthers been so successful?

“Well, it’s very surprising,” said Thompson in the video atop this story, noting that Pitt won just three games last year and overhauled its offensive coaching staff in the offseason.

Thompson said the hiring of Kade Bell as offensive coordinator has been a major reason for the success.

“That’s really what’s been driving the success, the installation of Kade Bell as offensive coordinator. He runs an uptempo, very modern, spread scheme. And Eli Holstein, the transfer Alabama, at quarterback has been a revelation, along with some other playmakers like [running back] Desmond Reid and [wide receiver] Poppi Williams, who are transfers from Western Carolina, where Bell coached previously.”

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----2.  Why has quarterback Eli Holstein been so successful, and is his play a surprise?

“It’s a surprise only because, if you were like me, you expected the returning starter, Nate Yarnell, to be the starting quarterback going into this season," Thompson said. ". . . But Holstein beat him out toward the end of training camp, and he has shown a really uncommon level of poise for a redshirt freshman.”

Thompson said Holstein likes to compare himself to Josh Allen.

“His mobility, his accuracy, and his gutsiness, he’s a bit of a gamer, which has allowed Pitt to come back from down double-digits against Cincinnati and West Virginia. That moxie can’t be underrated either with Holstein.”

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----3. In the land of the Steelers, how much attention does Pitt get and how excited are Pitt fans about the Panthers' top-25 ranking?

“Fans are really fired up,” Thompson said. “Coming off a 3-9 season, they would have taken five or six wins as an improvement.”

“After this win against North Carolina they’re really starting to dream bigger about maybe a shot at an ACC title, maybe a shot at the College Football Playoff.”

“It is all about the Steelers here,” said Thompson, who noted that Pittsburgh folks will follow a winner.

Sounds a lot like the Bay Area in that regard.

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----4. How much credit should Pat Narduzzi get for Pitt’searly season success?

“He should get a ton of credit for it, in my opinion,” Thompson said.  “It’s not necessarily the tactical things that he’s done, but it’s what he’s done over the offseason.”

Thompson noted that Narduzzi chose to let go of a lot of assistant coaches that were on the staff a long time and were close with Narduzzi.

“His willingness to make wholesale changes, and his willingness to kind of let go of the reins a little bit, I think deserves a lot of credit,” Thompson said. “He had to take some risks and step outside of his comfort zone.”

“His willingness to zig when he had been zagging on offense is a big reason Pitt is off to this great start.”

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----5. How good is Pitt’s defense, and who are its stars on that side of the ball?

“I would start with their really outstanding linebacking corps. It’s starts in the middle with Brandon George. . . . and he’s flanked by two really young but really, really talented and explosive outside linebackers, Rasheem Biles and Kyle Louis.”

Thompson also said the safeties are reliable.

“The defensive line kind of coming along, the corners kind of coming along, but the strength of this defense is really at linebacker and at safety.”