CINCINNATI — Eli Holstein felt compelled to apologize after Pitt’s 28-27 win over Cincinnati on Saturday. Holstein, who engineered a three-touchdown comeback in only his second career start, was down on himself for even putting the team in that position in the first place.

The redshirt freshman from Louisiana was also one of the biggest reasons the team pulled off a stunning come-from-behind road win against the Bearcats. He was a near-perfect 10-of-11 in the fourth quarter with 189 yards and two touchdowns, and hit some massive throws to help put Pitt in a position to kick a game-winning field goal with mere seconds remaining.

“First half, I was just thinking too much, trying to do too much, especially with the three high safety defense that they play,” Holstein said after the game. “I mean, they're dropping eight pretty much every play, and I was just thinking too much, trying to do too much. And in the second half, we came out, played a lot better, and we ended up winning the game.”

Holstein had a disastrous start.

He threw an interception on Pitt’s first drive, and struggled to have the offense stay on the field in the second quarter. A three-play and then a six-play drive by the Panthers allowed the Cincinnati offense to hold the ball the majority of the second quarter, leaving the Pitt offense as spectators.

There was a brief crack right before halftime, and it turned to be vital in Pitt’s comeback bid. Cincinnati missed a short field goal, which turned into three points from Pitt just before the half. The sequence was aided by a Cincinnati player getting injured with one second remaining, giving the Panthers enough time to get off a field goal to make it 17-6 at the break.

“We were gonna go run a play, I mean, we knew we couldn't spike it, because we only had one second,” Holstein recounted. “And one of those guys was talking trash and all of a sudden went down. And it just actually ended up helping us.”

Even with a little jolt, the Panthers still struggled in the early stages of the third quarter. However, that last drive of the first half finally got Holstein moving the ball a little, and it gave him more confidence to keep going even when the odds were stacked against his team.

‘He’s a ballplayer and he knows the game is not over until the clock hits zero,” said senior kicker Ben Saul of Holstein’s performance. “There was a lot of time left and just, he’s a ballplayer. He’s seen it before. It’s not his first time facing adversity, not this team’s first time facing adversity. He rallied the troops and obviously, we had a great comeback.”

After two fruitless drives to start the second half, Holstein started to find some success. He hit Konata Mumpfield for consecutive touchdowns to make it 27-19. Mumpfield, a captain, and a veteran presence for the young quarterback was key in him having the confidence to keep pushing, according to Holstein.

“Just having a guy like that, a senior guy who's been around for a little while, has a lot of maturity, is a big leader,” Holstein said of Mumpfield. “He's a captain on this team for a reason.”

The senior totaled 123 yards and five catches with two scores, as he finished as one of the unsung heroes of the game, and his long reception on the final drive set up Saul’s game winning kick. Mumpfield was instrumental, but so was Desmond Reid.

The talented Western Carolina transfer posted 100+ yards in both rushing and receiving, and his 56-yard touchdown reception with 5:40 remaining pulled Pitt to within two points. Reid said he saw Holstein’s poise increase as the game got tighter.

“He just got locked in,” Reid said of his quarterback. "Everything slowed down for him. I knew that was going to happen. Started off a little slow, but he got comfortable. And that's what happens when he’s going to be comfortable. We're going to make big plays, and that's what's going to happen.”

There were times Pitt may have been tempted to switch quarterbacks to Nate Yarnell, just to try something new with the offense struggling. Head coach Pat Narduzzi said that was never in consideration.

“He didn't waver at all,” Narduzzi said of Holstein. “I mean, I think if you look in a kid's eyes and you didn’t see any, like, dizziness, I mean, he was locked in.”

Because of that, in only his second start, Holstein posted his second consecutive 300-yard and three touchdown game to start his career. Despite his inexperience, the redshirt freshman is already thinking of ways to get better.

“I’ve got to move the ball, get completions, and completions over big plays,” Holstein explained. “Those completions are going turn into big plays.”

While it’s good to see he can take lessons from a game like this, he showed unbelievable moxie in a tough environment in just his second college game. It’s stuff like that, however, that catches the attention of his teammates.

“He’s a guy. That’s it,” sophomore linebacker Rasheem Biles said of the Pitt quarterback. “He’s a guy.’