Analysis: Pitt’s Pat Narduzzi must keep eyes wide open after putting redshirt freshman QB Eli Holstein in starting lineup

Even though Pat Narduzzi named Eli Holstein his starting quarterback for Pitt’s opener Saturday against Kent State, he said Nate Yarnell will play.

You should believe him.

Narduzzi said the competition at quarterback remains open.

Again, you should believe him.

Pitt fans should hope and expect that there will be more scrutiny and a keener critical eye placed on the quarterbacks than there was last year when Phil Jurkovec was allowed to play through an embarrassing three-interception, zero-touchdown display at West Virginia and a 1 -4 start to the season.

But here’s a thought: What if Holstein throws off his cloak of inexperience — his first snap Saturday will be the first of his collegiate career — and plays well against 24 1/2-point underdog Kent State?

Let’s take it one step further: What if the following Saturday he beats Cincinnati, a team that lost nine of its final 10 games last season and was picked this year to finish 14th in the 16-team Big 12?

How difficult would it be at that point to change quarterbacks, if the need arises against West Virginia the following week?

Narduzzi is already on record from his Monday news conference saying that he doesn’t want an uncertain quarterback situation — one that was made less uncertain Thursday — to drag too far into the season.

It was in Week 3 of 2015 that Nathan Peterman put a choke hold on the starting quarterback job and relegated Chad Voytik, the 2014 starter, to the bench for the rest of the season. Unless Holstein struggles significantly, it’s unlikely Narduzzi will yo-yo between two quarterbacks as the season progresses toward more difficult opposition.

“I don’t want to drag it on,” Narduzzi said.

Yet there’s no guarantee that a redshirt freshman can lead Pitt out of the dark woods of last season’s 3-9 record. Holstein is the first Pitt redshirt freshman since Luke Getsy in 2003 to start an opener, in that case a 43-3 victory against Kent State. But Getsy got the start only because Rod Rutherford was serving a one-game suspension.

This is different. There is no Rutherford, who threw for 3,679 yards and 37 touchdowns and nearly helped Larry Fitzgerald win the Heisman Trophy, waiting to take back the job.

Narduzzi wants Holstein to bring stability to an offense that is undergoing a dramatic shift in approach. Yarnell can handle it, too, as we have been told this month. But while Holstein has zero career starts, Yarnell has only three. At this time a year ago, he was third string behind Jurkovec and Christian Veilleux. He doesn’t have a full background of games to back up his claim to the job.

Offensive coordinator Kade Bell does not have autonomy over the offense. Narduzzi said he meets with his 31-year-old, first-year OC every other day, and the head coach realizes that giving former OC Frank Cignetti Jr. too much freedom helped doom the 2023 season.

“Last year, we assumed too much and the offense assumed,” he said. “Bad job, I put that on me.”

But it’s clear Bell has earned his head coach’s trust and is already putting his stamp on the offense. Three of the offensive assistants — JJ Laster (receivers), Jeremy Darveau (offensive line) and Lyndsey Lamar (running backs) — previously coached with Bell. More importantly, running back Desmond Reid, who played for Bell at Western Carolina, will start Saturday over four-year veteran Rodney Hammond Jr. Wide receiver Poppi Williams, formerly of Western Carolina, is also at the top of the depth chart.

Narduzzi admitted to having “jitters” before a game.

“Heck, yeah. You kidding me? I think every coach will get jitters,” he said. “There’s good stress and bad stress. It’s when you’re unprepared, you have issues.”

But in the back of his mind, he must be thinking that the overhaul of the offense will be part of his Pitt legacy. Even though he has repeatedly said he doesn’t think about such matters.

He’ll have patience but only to a point.

“Saturday’s not going to be perfect,” he said. “There’ll be hiccups along the way. But I want to see details. There is going to be a TFL in the run game. There’s going to be a misread in a route. There’s going to be a throw that gets buried in the ground. It’s going to happen. But just the details, operation, getting lined up properly, not having false starts, all those little things that kill and stall drives.”

Pitt has two difficult tests — West Virginia and North Carolina in Chapel Hill — before the halfway point in the season.

Narduzzi needs to have the quarterback question — and any others that will pop up during the Kent State and Cincinnati games — put to rest by the time the Mountaineers visit Acrisure Stadium on Sept. 14.

It’s not much time. That’s why the Holstein decision is so important.

Narduzzi can’t afford to be wrong two years in a row.