Pitt moves to 2-0 by pulling away from Central Michigan for comfortable win

As the first half began to wind down Saturday at Acrisure Stadium, Pitt was on the verge of entering cruise control against visiting Central Michigan.

But to close out the second quarter, CMU scored a touchdown, capitalizing on an Eli Holstein interception before embarking on a lengthy touchdown drive in the third quarter.

At that point, Pitt’s lead had shrunk to just seven points with three minutes remaining before the fourth quarter.

However, the Panthers did not allow the Chippewas’ momentum to evolve into a true threat. The offense managed a pair of touchdowns in response, and Pitt’s defensive linemen smothered CMU’s quarterbacks, forcing a key late turnover en route to a 45-17 victory.

“We had a little adversity in the second half,” coach Pat Narduzzi said. “We go from (up 24-3) to a seven-point game in the third quarter. … But our guys didn’t flinch. I talk to them all the time about not looking at the scoreboard. It doesn’t matter. Up only seven in the third quarter was a bonus that our guys could actually have to go, ‘OK, what’re we going to do?’ That’s the adversity that’s going to happen during the season.”

Holstein, despite throwing a pick for the second straight week, was largely solid, completing 21 of 28 passes for 304 yards and four touchdowns. He added another 36 yards on four rushes.

Last week against Duquesne, receivers Blue Hicks and Kenny Johnson shined for Pitt (2-0), but Saturday, it was Poppi Williams’ turn as he hauled in five passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns.

Tailback Desmond Reid added 179 all-purpose yards (46 rushing, 69 receiving, 64 on punt return).

Kade Bell’s offense put up 464 yards of offense against Central Michigan, whereas the Chippewas, who were limited to only 46 in the first half, finished with 217.

With 67 seconds remaining before halftime and Pitt up 24-3, Holstein scrambled and threw a pass for tight end Justin Holmes.

Instead, he found Chippewas linebacker Jordan Kwiatkowski, allowing Central Michigan to score with 15 seconds left on a Jadyn Glasser 2-yard rush.

Glasser, along with Angel Flores and Joe Labas, was one of three quarterbacks utilized in coach Matt Drinkall’s offense Saturday.

After punts by Pitt and Central Michigan to start the third quarter, the Chippewas embarked on an 11-play, 63-yard drive that consumed 7:18 of game time.

A Labas pass to tight end DeCorion Temple made it 24-17 with 3:01 left in the quarter.

However, Pitt immediately re-seized momentum, as Holstein hit Williams for a 48-yard score, Williams’ second of the day, less than a minute later, to take a 31-17 lead.

Johnson set up the drive with a 47-yard kickoff return.

“They won what we call the middle eight: the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half,” Holstein said. “That pick that I threw, they scored a touchdown right there and then they scored in the second half, making (the) game close. Without those, it’s a completely different ballgame and we’re up three or four touchdowns. … (Williams) helped us get the momentum back, and our defense was able to feed off of that.”

As for what was going through Williams’ head when that long ball from Holstein came his way:

“Once I beat (the safety) and (Holstein) threw it, I said, ‘Thank God, yes indeed,’ ” Williams said.

Down 31-17 to begin the fourth quarter, Central Michigan advanced to about midfield when Labas was stripped of the ball by defensive tackle Francis Brewu.

Linebacker Kyle Louis recovered, and on the Panthers’ ensuing possession, tailback Juelz Goff punched it in from 2 yards with 10:34 to play, extinguishing the Chippewas’ attempted rally.

Pitt started the day on a strong note as Holstein found Williams for a 3-yard touchdown to go up 7-0 about three minutes into the first half.

After Chippewas kicker Cade Graham hit a 41-yard field goal early in the second, Pitt took control, with Holstein finding Holmes for a 12-yard touchdown.

The Panthers’ next drive also resulted in a touchdown by a tight end as Josh Altsman hauled in a 2-yard pass from Holstein to put Pitt up 21-3 with 6:40 to go before halftime.

For both tight ends, it was their first collegiate touchdown.

“Justin Holmes and Josh Altsman — two great guys,” Holstein said. “Nobody deserves it more than those guys, working hard and everything like that. Great calls by coach Bell. We got exactly the looks that we wanted.”

Holmes started Saturday in place of Jake Overman, who did not dress.

Pitt was also without a starter on defense in cornerback Rashad Battle, who was replaced by Shadarian Harrison.

Freshman kicker Trey Butkowski then gave Pitt even more of a boost, hitting a career-long 43-yard field goal in his second college game, making the score 24-3.

But then, on Pitt’s next drive, Holstein scrambled and tried to force a ball to Holmes that was intercepted.

“I just need to make the throw, it’s pretty simple,” Holstein said of the play. “If I don’t throw it, I just need to run. The guy was 10 yards off of me, (so) I probably could have ran.”

With about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Pitt was in control 38-17.

Central Michigan managed to penetrate to the Panthers’ 20-yard line before Zach Crothers, Joey Zelinsky and Isaiah Neal combined for two sacks that forced a desperation fourth-down try of 21 yards.

It was predictably unsuccessful, with Saturday’s leading tackler Rasheem Biles (11) applying the pressure on Flores to force a turnover on downs.

Crothers finished with 11/2 sacks, the first of his collegiate career, Neal had one, and Jimmy Scott, Blaine Spires and Zelinsky posted half a sack each.

Ten Panthers players contributed tackles for loss in the win.

“We knew they were going to be a well-coached, physical team trying to assert it and we just had to play physical,” Crothers said. “We knew what we were getting into. … Once we stopped the run, we knew they’d probably open up the playbook a little more and that’s when we started being able to get those sacks.”

With the game well in hand, Narduzzi relieved Holstein with freshman Mason Heintschel with roughly three minutes remaining in the game.

Heintschel, making his first collegiate appearance, guided the offense 69 yards in eight plays before fellow freshman Ja’Kyrian Turner, also entering a game for the first time, scored the contest’s final points on a 2-yard run, giving Pitt a 45-17 lead.