Pitt had plenty of heroes in its 28-27 comeback win over Cincinnati on Saturday. The Panthers trailed by three touchdowns in the third quarter, but mounted an impressive come from behind effort where the offense came to life over the final 20 minutes to help the team remain unbeaten at 2-0.
Because of those efforts, four Pitt players earned weekly recognition by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Monday, with Eli Holstein collecting ACC Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. Desmond Reid was named Running Back of the Week, Konata Mumpfield earned Wide Receiver of the Week, while Ben Sauls has honored as the league's top performing specialist.
Holstein, a redshirt freshman, was instrumental in Pitt’s surge at the end of the game last week. He was 10-of-11 for 189 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter alone in the come from behind road win against Cincinnati. In just his second career start, Holstein finished 20-for-35 for 302 yards and three touchdowns with one pick. It was his second straight 300-yard performance. On the season, he is up to 635 yards, six touchdowns, to two interceptions. Holstein is completing 66% of his passes, and even added 36 rushing yards in last week’s win.
Pat Narduzzi said something would be wrong if Desmond Reid was not named player of the week following the game on Saturday, and he was right about that assessment. Reid took home ACC Running Back of the Week after posting one of the more dynamic games in Pitt history.
He became the first Pitt player ever to record 100 yards of rushing and receiving in the same game. Reid totaled 148 rushing yards on 19 carries to go along with six receptions for 106 yards. He got loose for a 56-yard catch-and-run touchdown late in the game during Pitt’s dramatic comeback.
Through week two, Reid is actually leading the nation in all-purpose yardage at 244 yards per game. He has scored three touchdowns on the year, all of which have traveled over 46 yards. Reid is leading rusher in the ACC, and is fifth nationally in that department with 293 this season.
Konata Mumpfield came up clutch in Pitt’s win over Cincinnati. The senior wide receiver posted five catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns against the Bearcats. His second touchdown came on a fourth down attempt, and he also made a key catch on Pitt’s game-winning drive, proving to be a reliable safety valve for Pitt's freshman quarterback.
Mumpfield is now in his third season at Pitt, and is a captain for the team. He is well ahead of pace to exceed his production total from his first two seasons with three touchdowns in the first two games, after only registering six scores in his first 24 games as a Panther.
Lastly, Ben Sauls earned ACC Specialist of the Week, for his perfect performance on Saturday. Sauls, a senior, went 3-for-3 on his field goal attempts, including the game-winner from 35 yards with :17 seconds remaining to give Pitt its first lead at 28-27. He also connected on kicks from 47 and 53 yards. Sauls is 5-of-5 on field goals and 8-for-8 on his extra point attempts this season.
