Eli Holstein completed 25 of 42 passes for 381 yards, three touchdowns and an interception to lead Pittsburgh to a 34-24 win over North Carolina on Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill, N.C.
The freshman quarterback also led the Panthers with 76 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in Pitt’s first win on North Carolina’s campus.
Desmond Reid had 11 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 55 yards as the Panthers improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1991. Raphael Williams Jr. and Censere Lee had touchdown catches for Pitt (5-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference).
Jacolby Criswell completed 24 of 45 passes for 269 yards and a touchdown for North Carolina (3-3, 0-2). Omarion Hampton rushed for 106 yards and a touchdown and Nate McCollum had 10 catches and 128 receiving yards. John Copenhaver had a touchdown catch for North Carolina, which has lost three in a row.
Pitt took the lead for good in the fourth quarter on an 11-play, 75-yard drive capped by Holstein’s 3-yard touchdown run for a 31-24 lead. On the next Tar Heels possession, Pitt stopped Hampton on a fourth-and-1 attempt inside the Pitt 10-yard line and took over on downs with 9:08 left.
Pitt opened the scoring when its first drive stalled out at the UNC 6-yard line as Ben Sauls connected on a 24-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
After Pitt forced North Carolina into a three-and out, the Tar Heels took a 7-3 lead when Kaleb Cost jumped a third-down out route and returned an interception 84 yards for a touchdown.
Early in the second quarter, Holstein hit Reid over the middle for a 72-yard gain to set up Lee’s 7-yard touchdown catch and put Pitt back up 10-7.
North Carolina answered on its next possession with a 34-yard field goal by Noah Burnette. On Pitt’s next drive, Holstein found Williams Jr. on a crossing route for a 30-yard touchdown and a 17-10 Pitt lead with 5:41 left in the first half.
The Tar Heels came right back with a 3-yard touchdown run by Hampton to tie the game at 17 just before halftime.
A 46-yard diving completion to Konata Mumpfield set up Reid’s 2-yard touchdown catch and gave Pitt a 24-17 lead with nine minutes left in the third.
At 2:07 in the third, Criswell hit Copenhaver on a post route for an 11-yard touchdown catch to tie the game at 24.
Sauls’ 37-yard field goal with two minutes left provided the final margin for the Panthers.
–Field Level Media
