Eli Holstein throws career-high 4 TDs as Pitt steamrolls Duquesne in opener

Perfection eluded Pitt on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium in its season-opening thumping of Duquesne.

Coach Pat Narduzzi likely will dial in on the Panthers’ slow offensive start, an ugly interception by Eli Holstein and some other miscellaneous mishaps when he reviews the game tape.

But on the heels of a 61-9 beatdown of the Dukes in front of 53,006 fans, Narduzzi on the whole has to be feeling pretty good about how the Panthers (1-0) began the 2025 campaign, his 11th at the helm in Oakland.

“Probably a slow start on offense and defense, but that happens,” Narduzzi said. “It’s the first time going out live. I think our guys settled down.

“ … Really, both sides, I don’t think we started as fast as we liked, but at the end of the day, guys made a lot of plays out there today.”

Despite the bad decision that resulted in a second-quarter pick, Holstein went on to throw a career-high four touchdowns, three of which were in the first half.

He completed 15 of 23 passes for 215 yards and was relieved by Cole Gonzales early in the fourth quarter, when the game was well in hand.

Desmond Reid had a quieter day in the backfield, as he finished with 66 yards on eight carries, 53 of which came on a long touchdown run early in the third quarter.

But he also added an 88-yard punt- return touchdown on his first opportunity of the day, scoring the first points of Pitt’s season 2 minutes, 28 seconds into the opening quarter.

Reid finished with 147 all-purpose yards.

“As soon as I saw the ball come off the punter’s foot, I knew it was a touchdown,” Holstein said of Reid, who also returned a punt for a touchdown in Pitt’s opener last year, 78 yards vs. Kent State. “Wasn’t a very good punt and a line drive to one of the most dynamic players in all of college football. When he caught it with 15 yards of separation, I looked to my left and said, ‘Touchdown.’ ”

Reid’s solid special teams day was matched by receiver Kenny Johnson, who had a 78-yard kick return and also caught four passes for 47 yards and a score, giving him 189 all-purpose yards.

Walk-on freshman kicker Trey Butkowski hit the first two field goals of his college career, both from 27 yards in the fourth quarter.

“I thought special teams played at a high level,” Narduzzi said. “ … Coach (Jacob) Bronowski did a great job of special teams game-planning.”

Pitt outgained Duquesne, 460-208, limiting the Dukes to 37 rushing yards on 31 carries (1.2 yards per rush).

After Reid’s touchdown, Pitt took a 14-0 lead with 2:47 left in the first quarter when Holstein found Blue Hicks for a 4-yard score that capped an 11-play, 62-yard drive.

Returning All-America linebacker Kyle Louis almost singlehandedly shut down Duquesne’s next drive, sacking quarterback Tyler Riddell twice for a combined loss of 22 yards.

Louis led Pitt with six tackles (three for loss) and had half his team’s sacks.

“They blitzed me, and I just executed,” Louis said. “The second (sack), the running back picked me up and tried to chop, so I just side-stepped and just made a play.”

However, Holstein stumbled on Pitt’s ensuing drive, which began at Duquesne’s 26-yard line following a short Dukes punt from deep in their own territory.

On the fourth play of the drive, with Pitt facing fourth-and-3 from the 19, Holstein threw a pass intended for Poppi Williams into the center of the end zone that was picked off by Dallas Harper.

“Pop had a little bang route — I honestly just did not see the backside safety,” Holstein said of the play. “I didn’t see him, thought Pop was there by himself inside the safety and so I made a mistake. I should have just gone over to the tight end and stuck (the ball) on him real quick. We would have gotten the first down and scored on that drive.”

Duquesne scored its lone touchdown of the day with 10:32 left before halftime, capitalizing after receiver Joey Isabella broke loose for a 59-yard gain, which made the score 14-6 Pitt.

But from there, the Panthers dominated.

Johnson’s long kick return set up a Juelz Goff touchdown run only 68 seconds after the Dukes scored, putting Pitt in front 20-6.

Holstein then started to find some rhythm, connecting with Johnson and Deuce Spann before hitting Johnson again from 20 yards for a touchdown, which made it 27-6.

Pitt concluded the first half on a high note as Hicks made a spectacular one-handed grab in the corner of the end zone to haul in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Holstein.

Holstein’s third touchdown pass of the day made it 34-6 entering halftime.

“Shook the rust off a little bit,” Holstein said of his performance. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been out there in a live game. Settling down, calming down and just going out there and playing football and having fun really led to those consistent drives. Doing the little things right went a long way.”

After Reid’s 53-yard score early in the third quarter, Holstein found tight end Malachi Thomas for a 34-yard touchdown, extending Pitt’s lead to 48-6.

In the fourth quarter, Gonzales took over under center and went on to hit freshman wideout Bryce Yates for a 60-yard touchdown with 1:20 remaining.

Earlier in the quarter, Duquesne’s Matt Marcinko made a 35-yard field goal for his team’s final points.

Gonzales and Yates were among the many reserves Pitt was able to get in the mix, such as freshmen defensive backs Shawn Lee and Josh Guerrier as well as offensive linemen Jackson Brown and Isaiah Montgomery.

“They’ll just continue to get better,” Narduzzi said. “They’re young, they’re babies, but it was good to see Bryce Yates get on the board. That’ll help his confidence moving forward.”