PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Ask him about himself and quickly Pitt quarterback Eli Holstein will point to his teammates. They put him in position to make plays. It’s more than that. It’s more like what Pitt captain Brandon George said after a 38-34 comeback win over West Virginia.
“Sometimes you just know,” George said of Holstein. “When you talk to somebody and they show the amount of confidence and will, the amount of grit, that’s how I knew he was gonna be a good football player and great teammate and brother for us.”
That happened for a lot of these players in the Spring, even though Holstein was only working at half-speed. He was playing through an injury and while it took until the end of Fall camp, Holstein proved himself to be the best option.
“Eli, shoot, he was showing me when the season started,” said Pitt linebacker Kyle Louis. “ A lot of quarterbacks, they are going to make crazy stuff during practice. Every game is going to be a new testimony. Last year, quarterback won one game and the next game it’s like a whole other quarterback. We kept going through that cycle for the rest of the year last year. I kept telling Eli, you are different. 3-0, you know how long it’s been since 3-0?”
“Number one, he's got talent,” said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. “Number two, give the credit to the offensive coaches and the other ten players on the field that are making plays for him.”
That’s more of what Holstein said about himself and what happened in the Panthers comeback win in the Backyard Brawl.
"We locked in on doing our job," Holstein said. "Especially myself. I wasn't playing the best football I can play, especially in the first three quarters. I was trying to force things. I just had to trust my receivers, trust my o-line. Fourth quarter, five minutes left, the leaders on the team, Branson [Taylor], Konata [Mumpfield], Gavin [Bartholomew], they got us together and told us, 'everyone, do your job and trust each other, and we're going to be alright.'"
“The dude is so poised,” said receiver Kenny Johnson. “There’s never a point in time where I’m worried. He just gives us confidence. Our quarterback is the most poised guy on the field, so that really helps in those situations.”
He did it not only with his arm, but with several key rushes to move the Panthers down the field.
"I wouldn't say I put the team on my back," Holstein said. "I made plays that were there to make. I saw the play was there to be made and I made it. My team needed me to step up when the play was there, and that was some of the plays I was able to make."
“Nobody was skiddish or nervous. We were all confident in what we can do. We had a two-minute drive last week. So we knew we could do it. We practice that all the time against our defense; and it's pretty hard going against our defense in two-minute [drills.] We knew once we got that first, first down, that first completion, that things were going to start rolling and we were going to win the game."
“He’s a freshman?” George said. “He shows a great amount of leadership. That’s something you don’t often see from any freshman, especially a freshman quarterback. He transferred in. He’s fit in well. He’s one of our brothers through thick and thin. I’ll ride through hell with him.”
“On a scale of 10, I have a 15,” Louis said of confidence in Holstein. “Eli is a dawg, bro. Eli is not scared. He’s not hesitant. Even when the plays weren’t working, Eli is breaking three, three hundred pounders off his neck running for 15 yards. You don’t see that with other quarterbacks. He’s got a dawg mentality.”
“It takes a unit to get it done,” Narduzzi said. “It's not just one player, but Eli has done an unbelievable job in the three games and he's 3-0 as a starter. He goes from playing his first home game as a starter to being on the road in a different environment, and coming home, playing in a Backyard Brawl, which is not an easy one to play in, and finds a way to get it done.”
"I've got some great teammates," Holstein said. "We've got great leaders and great coaching. I've got a lot of people that trust and believe in me. Since I got here, they talked about how much trust and belief they have in me and that I'm going to be able to go out there and make the plays they need me to make. They put me in a position to make those plays, and I have to trust myself that I'll make those plays."
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