Pitt Pulls Away from Central Michigan For Second Win of Season
PITTSBURGH — After a resounding season-opening win against an FCS opponent, Pitt football was looking for another comfortable victory, this time against a Mid-American Conference team in Central Michigan.
It was a little too close for comfort for Pitt as it held just a one-score lead late in the third quarter, but the Panthers pulled away from that point on for a 45-17 victory over the Chippewas.
Quarterback Eli Holstein went 21-for-28 through the air with 304 yards and his second-consecutive four-touchdown performance. Two of those touchdowns found Raphael Williams, who finished as Pitt’s leading receiver with five receptions for 81 yards.
Defensively, Pitt’s (2-0) task was to stop the run-first offense of Central Michigan (1-1). Pitt held the Chippewas to 40 yards on 41 attempts.
It was a much improved first drive of the game for the Panthers compared to a week ago as Holstein completed 4-of-5 pass attempts and ended with a touchdown. One of those completions came as Holstein climbed the pocket and hit Desmond Reid for a 32-yard pickup into the red zone. The drive was capped off by a 3-yard touchdown grab by a wide open Williams.
Pitt found success in the red zone on two more occasions in the first half. Holstein utilized his big targets in a pair of tight ends.
At the 11:04 mark of the second quarter, Holstein went play action and popped a pass to a wide open Justin Holmes – a Marshall transfer – for a 12-yard score.
It was another first-career touchdown by a tight end on the following Pitt drive. Out of the backfield, Josh Altsman collected a pass and the walk-on scored on the 2-yard reception.
Pitt was rolling with a 24-3 lead and wanted to stay aggressive after the two-minute warning. Instead, it resulted in a Holstein interception. Holstein never saw a lurking Jordan Kwiatkowski underneath and it put the Chippewas in prime field position at the Pitt 13-yard line.
Central Michigan took six plays to get in the end zone as 6-foot-2, 230-pound quarterback Jadyn Glaesser scrambled for a 2-yard touchdown.
While Pitt dialed in on Central Michigan’s ground-and-pound offense, it allowed the Chippewas to move the ball through the air on its second drive of the third quarter. The Chippewas used a balance approach with six passes and five run attempts.
A 21-yard pass from Joe Labas to Langston Lewis set up a touchdown pass on the very next play. Labas found tight end Decorion Temple, who slipped behind Javon McIntyre, for a 6-yard touchdown to make it 24-17 with Pitt still in front.
Holstein and the Pitt offense responded in a hurry. It took just two plays for the Panthers as Holstein rolled right and delivered an excellent throw on the run down field to Williams. He finished the 48-yard touchdown play for his second score of the game.
Running back Juelz Goff added a 2-yard touchdown before true freshman Ja’Kyrian Turner scored on his own 2-yard rush.
The Goff score was set up by Pitt’s first takeaway of the season on a forced fumble from Francis Brewu that was recovered by Kyle Louis.
Defensive end Zach Crothers recorded 2 tackles for loss, along with 1.5 sacks on the day. Rasheem Biles led the Panthers with 11 total tackles, along with 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup.
Pitt ramps up its competition next week when it travels to Morgantown, W.Va. for the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia.
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