Holstein’s education continues against Mountaineers

Almost without exception, every time Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi and offensive coordinator Kade Bell step behind a podium, they are questioned by reporters curious about how and why the pressure of the moment hasn’t seemed to rattle quarterback Eli Holstein.

After all, he’s a redshirt freshman who never picked up a football with intent as a collegian until less than two weeks ago when he faced the less-than-daunting Kent State defense.

But Holstein went to school last Saturday, leading Pitt back from a 21-point third-quarter deficit to win at Cincinnati, where Bearcats fans were hurling insults at him and his teammates. (Similar to what he will experience Saturday at Acrisure Stadium as soon as West Virginia’s faithful get in fullthroat.)

It’s true that Holstein was only a bench spectator last season at Alabama where six-figure crowds (100,007 to be precise) regularly showed up at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Yet Bell believes Holstein will do just fine handling the chaos a sellout crowd at Acrisure (possibly 70,000) will create.

Holstein got a taste of that early at Cincinnati where he directed productive plays of 13, 23 and 15 yards on Pitt’s first possession. He moved his unit within 6 yards of the red zone before throwing a pass that was picked off in the end zone.

More trouble followed until Holstein threw three touchdown passes in the second half and completed 10 of 11 passes for 189 yards in the fourth quarter. For the season, he’s completed 66.7% of his passes (50 of 75) for 638 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions. Among ACC quarterbacks, only Syracuse’s Kyle McCord (eight) has thrown more scoring passes.

“Now, he knows what it feels like to get in a pressure situation when everything’s against you and understand, ‘Hey, I’m used to this. Now, I know how to handle it,’ ” Bell said Wednesday after practice. “Handling adversity is the biggest thing in life or football. Nothing’s ever going to be perfect.”

The Cincinnati game presented a unique challenge for Bell’s offense, and Holstein needed some time to learn how to solve the Bearcats’ drop-eight, three-safety defense. The challenge WVU (1-1) will throw at him will be different.

The Mountaineers play a 3-4 defense, similar to Cincinnati but without the extra deep safety.

“Protection-wise and run game-wise, we have a thought of what we want to do,” Bell said.

But Pitt will confront a defense more accustomed to tempo offense than the Bearcats, who are only in their second season in the Big 12.

“They do a lot of different stuff,” Bell said of the West Virginia defense. “They play in the Big 12 (since 2012), so they have had to defend a lot of tempo offenses, spread offenses.”

It’s also a chess match between Bell, the 31-yearold OC in his first season in a power conference, and WVU defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley, who’s been with coach Neal Brown for nine seasons, including six at West Virginia.

Bell said his job will be easier because Holstein learned to trust the system and game plan during last week’s comeback.

“We had some other gameplan plays that we put in that week,” Bell said, “and we ended up hitting in the second half because he trusted it.”

Holstein’s rare maturity for a player still a month short of his 20th birthday allowed him to deal with the bad stuff and learn from it, his coach said.

“Every time he came off the field, there was no worry. There was no blaming somebody else,” Bell said. “He’s a leader. He takes responsibility. He understands when he messes up.

“We’re watching the iPad (between series), and (he said), ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ That’s who Eli is.

“Going into halftime, (he said) ‘That first half’s on me. I’m going to play a lot better in the second half.’

“He wants the ball in his hands. He’s not scared to have that responsibility. It’s hard to find that type of guy (at such a young age). I’m not surprised because he was a three-year starter in high school, won state championship as a junior.”

Bell expects regular improvement from his quarterback.

“The more you see things the better you’re going to get,” he said. “He’s not a project guy.”