MORE COVERAGE OF PITT FOOTBALL: The official two-deep | Narduzzi on Kent State, Cincinnati, the offense and more | Was Pitt's QB competition over before it started? | The Morning Pitt: Monday thoughts on Saturday's win | Reid turns heads in Pitt debut | Pitt's defense already looking for improvement | PODCAST: Post-game reactions to Pitt's season-opening win | Slideshow: Photos from the win over Kent State

Pitt went into Week One with a quarterback competition.

After Eli Holstein’s performance against Kent State on Saturday at Acrisure Stadium, there’s no such competition heading into Week Two.

In the official depth chart released on Monday, Holstein was listed as the starting quarterback ahead of redshirt junior Nate Yarnell. Last week, Holstein and Yarnell were listed as co-starters separated by an “OR” on the two-deep.

Holstein, a redshirt freshman transfer from Alabama, announced his presence right off the bat on Saturday, completing all five of his attempts on Pitt’s first drive for 74 yards, including a 46-yard pass to Kenny Johnson down the right sideline. Then, after a holding canceled a quarterback run for a touchdown, Holstein finished the drive by hitting Konata Mumpfield for his first career touchdown pass.

Holstein would add two more touchdown passes - one to Johnson and one to Raphael Williams - on his way to a 336-yard, three-touchdown, one-interception performance that saw him complete 75% of his passes.

His yardage total was the third-most among ACC quarterbacks in Week One, and his completion percentage was the second-highest total among quarterbacks in the conference who dropped back at least 20 times.

“I mean, you look at the tape and he just made really good decisions,” Narduzzi said Monday. “He's calm. It's his first start; you never knew what was going to happen. But Eli was impressive on game tape.”

With Holstein at the helm, Pitt’s offense scored five touchdowns and one field goal on nine possessions while converting 7-of-12 third downs and punting just twice.

All of that came in not just his first career start, but his first career snaps. The former four-star prospect from Louisiana never got on the field while redshirting at Alabama last season, so when he walked onto the field for Pitt’s first possession against Kent State on Saturday, it was the start of a day full of career bests.

“You don't ever know how a guy's going to react,” Narduzzi said. “I don't care if it's a quarterback or a D-lineman - how are they going to react when the lights turn on?

“You know, we like what we saw as far as just his composure on game day, how he carried himself, how he led the offense, how, there wasn't a bunch of false starts and mechanical issues as far as just the operation. It was a clean start. That's tough to do for a redshirt freshman.”

Now Holstein will lead Pitt onto the field at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, where Pitt will face the Bearcats on Saturday at noon. Cincinnati opened its season on Saturday with a 38-20 win over Towson; the Bearcats’ defense allowed a total of 438 yards in that game but forced one turnover, six punts and a third-down conversion percentage that was below 50%.