Pitt Football: The Art of the Comeback

The Pitt Panthers football team are showing how to make an incredible comeback.

Sep 14, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker Kyle Louis celebrates with Brandon George (30) after intercepting West Virginia Mountaineers quarterback Garrett Greene (6) in the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Image Images / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images

PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers continue to make comebacks in 2024 and show the rest of college football that it is never truly over until the final whistle blows.

This is a team that, last season, won just three games and lost nine games for their worst record in 25 years and just two years removed from winning the ACC Championhsip. The energy around the team going into this season was unsure from the fan base, not knowing what to expect.

New offensive coordinator Kade Bell brought him new coaches, but also a new system, which emphasized moving the ball quickly, using no-huddle, and spreading out the attack, allowing a number of players to get chances to make plays throughout the game.

Alabama transfer/redshirt freshman quarterback Eli Holstein earned the starting job over redshirt junior Nate Yarnell and showed why he deserved it in the season opener, completing 30-of-40 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns to one interception in the 55-24 blowout of Kent State at home on Aug. 31.

Holstein would struggle the following week in his first road game vs. Cincinnati in the River City Rivalry on Sept. 7, completing just 5-of-14 passes for 46 yards and an interception and his team down 27-6 midway through the fourth quarter

He relied on some veteran experience for help vs. the Bearcats, in Panthers senior wide receiver Konata Mumpfield and junior running back Desmond Reid.

Mumpfield had a touchdown, but also a fumble on a punt return, while Reid had a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown and a 46-yard rushing touchdown, both against the Golden Flashes.

Reid would excel again, with 19 rushes for 148 rushing yards and six catches for 106 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown, making him the first Pitt player to have more than 100+ yads rushing and receiving.

Mumpfield made five catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns, while also making a crucial block for Reid's touchdown and a 34-yard catch on the final drive that set the winning 35-yard field goal for Ben Sauls with 30 seconds left.

That win served as the biggest comeback for Pitt since they trailed 35-10 to Navy at home on Oct. 9, 1971 and the largest fourth quarter comeback, 27-13, under head coach Pat Narduzzi, who took over in 2015.

The Panthers started much better against the West Virginia Mountaineers, with three straight scoring drives on a field goal and then two touchdown passes from Holstein, to hold a 17-14 lead midway through the second quarter.

Pitt stifled themselves late in the first half, with a poor turnover on downs, after the failed to convert on both third down-and-one and fourth down-and-one, which allowed WVU to tie the game at the half with good field position on a field goal.

The offense struggled mightily out of halftime, with three possessions for a total of four yards. Pitt stayed in the game as redshirt freshman defensive lineman Maverick Gracio blocked a punt and sixth year linebacker Brandon George returned it for a touchdown, but West Virginia would score 17 unanswered to take a 10-point lead with less than five minutes left in the game.

Holstein used his legs to gain 38 yards on the next drive to get the Panthers into Mountaineers territory, but two holding calls put them back at 2nd down and 30 at the 40-yard line.

He then threw an incredible ball into triple coverage to redshirt junior wide receiver Daejon Reynolds for his first catch of the season and his first touchdown as a Panther, doing so while a Mountaineer defensive back was grabbing him.

The Pitt defense, revigorated by the great offense, forced a quick three-and-out by the WVU offense and Holstein got another chance to either tie the game on a field goal or get the winning touchdown.

He combined using the ground and the air to take down the Mountaineers, with a quick seven-yard scramble, a 17-yard pass to senior tight end Gavin Bartholomew, a 23-yard pass to Mumpfield, a 17-yard rush up the middle in the red zone and then a five-yard rush to the one-yard line after a pass interference on the Mountaineers.

Holstein would sit the next play, as his helmet came off. Yarnell took over and handed it off to redshirt junior running back Derrick Davis Jr. for the score to put Pitt up 38-34.

The defense stood strong again on the final drive against WVU, as Pitt redshirt sophomore linebacker Kyle Louis made an interception and ran off to celebrate with the student section.

The Panthers have made two fantastic comebacks in two games of upmost importance; a road game against a former Big East rival in the Bearcats and then thier biggest rival in the Mountaineers.

They have relied on a number of players from the most talented, to the most experienced, to the most courageous, to anyone coming in and willing to make an impact wherever needed in both victories.

Pitt easily could have given up in those final minutes in each of those two games, as many teams do, but they stuck with it and never felt like they would have lost.

Bell's offense also deserves a lot of credit for keepin Pitt moving quickly and not stagnating when down.

Pitt scored both late touchdowns vs. WVU in under two minute drives and their longest touchdown drive vs. Cincinnati was just over four minutes, with the latter two coming in around three and half mintues and two minutes, respectively.

It's a different feel to this team than other Pitt teams in the past. The curse of "Pitting," which meant the team losing a game it had no business doing so, like suffering a defeat to a weaker opponent or blowing a lead late in a contest, is something of the past for the present moment. This team has no fear and no opponent lead is safe from overtaking.

This team makes the vital plays when it matters most and plays their best when they have little room for error. After both games, the players and coaches have told the media that they never thought they were out of either game and the way they play shows that it's true and not just giving an easy answer.

"I guess so, you kind of have to," Holstein said on playing better when they face adversity. "When your back is against the wall in a big game like this, you have to step up. We have great guys on this team, great leaders that, you know, have been in situations like that. We were in a situation like that last week and we knew, "Hey, couple things we have to do and we're going to win this game."

"Just a gutsy win by our kids," Narduzzi said. "Shows the character we have in that locker room.I love that locker room to death. Our players never gave up. I'm sure some of the fans kind of gave up, and I thought, oh, there's no way. But our guys didn't give up. And if you didn't learn that from last week, then hopefully you learned it from this week. And we'll move on to the next."

The confidence of this Pitt team is a complete change from 2023, losing at home to Cincinnati and to West Virginia on the road. Getting two big rivalry wins will do wonders.

Pitt has shown the college football world that they can make a comeback at any point in the game, but their biggest challenge the rest of the season is whether they realize their best potential and make a run for an ACC Championship later on.

For right now, the Panthers have no one to tell them anything differently. They're 3-0, have a chance to finish undefeated in non-conference play for the first time ever and have given a program a new look and a new hope in 2024.

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