Pitt will be seeking to open the season with four straight wins for the first time since 2000 when it hosts Football Championship Subdivision foe Youngstown State on Saturday in Pittsburgh.
The Panthers (3-0) put themselves in position to accomplish that feat after second-half dramatics to beat West Virginia 38-34 last Saturday in the 107th Backyard Brawl. Derrick Davis Jr. scored on a 1-yard dive with 32 seconds remaining as the Panthers rallied past the Mountaineers.
The past two weeks, Pitt has overcome double-digit fourth-quarter deficits to beat Cincinnati and West Virginia.
“The way we won those last two games, that’s great,” said Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, who played linebacker for Youngstown State for a season in 1985 before transferring to Rhode Island. “We found a way to win. “But we can’t get used to that.
“We can’t wait and think that we can be comfortable and we’ll just win it in the fourth quarter. It doesn’t matter what happens in the first, second or third.”
Alabama transfer Eli Holstein has been instrumental in helping the Panthers pull out the victories. He is the first Pitt freshman or redshirt freshman to pass for 300 yards in three consecutive games, ranks tied for fourth nationally with nine touchdown passes, fifth in total offense (345.0 yards per game) and ninth in passing yards (313.0 yards per game).
Pitt’s defense has allowed teams to move the ball but has made enough plays and crucial stops, including two interceptions against West Virginia and a sack that gave the ball back to the offense for the game-winning drive.
At Youngstown State, the Penguins (1-2) are ranked 25th among FCS teams and hoping to rebound from last week’s 28-25 upset loss to Duquesne, which they beat in last year’s FCS playoffs. Youngstown State had a hard time stopping JaMario Clements, who rushed for 204 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown with 1:40 remaining.
“We’re playing a very good football team, and we got to play our best,” Youngstown State coach Doug Phillips said Tuesday. “We cannot make the mistakes we made this past Saturday. We got to take care of the football. We’ve got to, when there’s opportunities to score touchdowns, we’ve got to be able to do that.”
