Analysis: Pitt has soul-searching to do during bye week with ACC goals still ahead

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After Pitt’s deflating overtime defeat in the Backyard Brawl, quarterback Eli Holstein told reporters that despite the loss, the Panthers’ goals were all still ahead and achievable.

Namely, Holstein referred to competing for an ACC championship.

“We still have our whole ACC schedule ahead of us,” he said after Pitt fell 31-24 to West Virginia. “Got to win out — there’s no option now. Got to win out to win the ACC, but all the goals we have in front of us are still there.”

Holstein and Co. can begin to attempt to make good on that goal starting Sept. 27 at home when Louisville visits Acrisure Stadium.

But presently, the Panthers (2-1) have some soul-searching to perform as they enter their first bye week of 2025.

Holstein is no exception.

With his second-quarter interception Saturday against WVU, Holstein has now thrown a pick in all three of Pitt’s contests so far this season.

DARRIAN LEWIS PICKED IT OFF IN THE END ZONE!!!

???? ESPN pic.twitter.com/PYn2KFr6hc

— West Virginia Football (@WVUfootball) September 13, 2025

Two, including Saturday, have come in the red zone, while all three have featured poor decision-making from the Panthers’ redshirt sophomore signal caller, whose Year 2 development is paramount for Pitt.

To his credit, as is the case after every game, Holstein faced the music and took questions from reporters, including after his interception against the Mountaineers.

“I rushed it,” he said. “Didn’t trust the protection. (It’s) on me. (Receiver) Zion (Fowler-El) crossed, they played zone. Should have just thrown the ball to Zion out in front. If I make the throw, it’s a touchdown and a different ballgame.”

Holstein remains the best option Pitt has at quarterback. Through three games, he’s thrown for 822 yards and nine touchdowns.

But Holstein’s propensity for interceptions, with Pitt to face far better defenses than Duquesne, Central Michigan and West Virginia, merits concern.

Injury bug

Injuries are mounting for Pitt.

For the second straight game, the Panthers were without tight end Jake Overman and cornerback Rashad Battle, with fellow starting corner Tamon Lynum also absent in Morgantown.

While Narduzzi refrains from providing player injury updates unless they are season-ending, Battle sported a wrap on his left hand/wrist pregame, with Lynum wearing a compression sleeve on his left leg.

Overman also is believed to be nursing an ailment.

But worst of all Saturday was losing tailback Desmond Reid, who played part of the first quarter but took his last handoff with about four minutes left in it and then departed the game.

Reid watched the remainder from the sidelines with his helmet off.

In his absence, Juelz Goff took eight handoffs for 37 yards, but on the whole, Pitt’s ground game was severely handicapped minus Reid, finishing with 46 yards on 34 carries.

Reid managed six rushes for 30 yards without recording a catch before his day ended.

“It sucks,” Holstein said of Reid’s absence. “He’s a dynamic playmaker. He’s a guy who can change a game in an instant. When he goes down pretty early like that, we’ve got to count on some younger guys who stepped up and did what they needed to do. Credit to them, really proud of (freshman Ja’Kyrian Turner) and Juelz … but losing a dynamic playmaker like (Reid), it really hurts our offense.”

Narduzzi offered no tangible updates on his missing players, only stating that Pitt needs to utilize this bye week to get healthy, especially Reid, the Panthers’ “home-run hitter.”

“Des is special and we’ve got to get him back,” Narduzzi continued. “… We’ve got an open week to get fresh, hopefully get our corners back, get Des back, be healthy and go on an ACC run.”

During the second half of the Backyard Brawl, injury timeouts occurred with increasing regularity for Pitt, with Cruce Brookins and Nick James going down on a third-quarter WVU touchdown drive.

In the fourth quarter, Kyle Louis, Jimmy Scott, Zach Crothers and Blaine Spires all went down, and in overtime, play was paused because of injuries to Brookins, Isaiah Neal and Sean FitzSimmons.

Judging by his sarcastic tone postgame, Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez was far from thrilled at the numerous stoppages on Pitt’s account.

“I’m really concerned,” he said. “Do they got anybody left to play next week? There were like two to three guys (injured) on every other snap. I don’t know if they went back in the game, or were in the medical tent (after the game), but you talk about bad luck — have you ever seen so much bad luck that they had so many guys get hurt that often? It’s remarkable.”

Rich Rodriguez on the numerous injuries that delayed play during the second half: pic.twitter.com/SWvKKPQ3HO

— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) September 14, 2025

Around the ACC

Three weeks into the season, college football teams around the country are still forging identities, coalescing into the best versions of themselves.

As another weekend of games concludes, it’s worth taking a peek around the ACC, particularly Pitt’s upcoming opponents.

At the start of the year, most Pitt fans probably filed the Panthers’ 2025 conference opponents into three categories: should-win, toss-up and difficult.

So far, No. 5 Miami (3-0) and No. 10 Florida State (2-0) have done nothing to be bumped out of the most difficult tier of Pitt’s schedule.

While not an ACC foe, Pitt also hosts No. 8 Notre Dame on Nov. 8.

The Fighting Irish are 0-2, but their losses have come to ranked Miami, 27-24, and Texas A&M, 41-40.

The Hurricanes boatraced No. 18 South Florida, 49-12, on Saturday, while FSU’s Week 1 win over then-No. 8 Alabama remains impressive.

Included in the toss-up category would have been N.C. State (3-0), Louisville (2-0) and Georgia Tech (3-0).

While Louisville had a Week 3 bye and hasn’t played anyone of note yet, the Yellow Jackets upset No. 12 Clemson Saturday, and NC State stayed perfect by topping Wake Forest.

That leaves Pitt’s should-win games, consisting of Stanford, Syracuse and Boston College.

But by all indications, Saturday vs. West Virginia was a should-win game for the Panthers.

If Pitt has showcased a theme under Narduzzi, it’s that handling business in those should-win games is not a foregone conclusion.

Three games into their season, the Panthers have already made it difficult to predict how they’ll perform down the line.

But Holstein having a productive by week, as well as the Panthers getting healthier, would be a good start toward getting back on track.

“We’re down right now,” linebacker Braylan Lovelace said. “We just lost the Backyard Brawl in overtime. But we’re just going to use that to play in the ACC. We still got an ACC championship that we’re working for, we’ve got a national championship that we’re working for. One loss isn’t going to slow us down. That’s just going to fuel us to keep getting better.”