The real reason Pitt was able to win late the last two weeks

[gary2]

Holstein took it on himself to run. Yarnell could not have done that. OC Bell did not play call or design that.

Holstein knew what needed done.

His runs were important plays. They amounted to significant yardage. They tamed the rush and set up other plays.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Eli HAD to run just to save his butt. The OL didn't provide any kind of protection and fortunately, Eli can run and is smart enough to know when and where to run.

 

[PittMan 72]

Run plays for Eli called from the sideline? Not likely.

But with the QB having a helmet mic now it is easy to remind Eli to remember that the run may be available.

The hoopies were dropping lots of people into coverage and leaving a void in the middle of the field. Eli recognized it and took advantage. He’s got some nice size, pretty good feet and decent speed. Plus a LOT of guts and will to win.

He did a GREAT job is the last 5 minutes. So did everybody else on the Pitt team. FANTASTIC rally and comeback win.

 

[TheWerewolfFromTwilight]

Holstein took it on himself to run. Yarnell could not have done that. OC Bell did not play call or design that.

Holstein knew what needed done.

His runs were important plays. They amounted to significant yardage. They tamed the rush and set up other plays.

Agree Gary. He also avoided about five sacks yesterday that would have had Yarnell wheeled out like a jobber who just fought the Undertaker. That's no disrespect to Yarnell; the line just isn't good right now.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

We won that game because of Holstein. He made a ton of plays on his own. The OL was shaky.

 

[Gunga_Galunga]

It's an important part of the game. The D having to respect it leaves less in coverage.

He's an opportunistic runner who has a good feel for when it's needed. It's not like he's running all game.

 

[4upmc]

On the final 2 drives Eli had 67 yards rushing, every single one of those yards was needed. The kid is strong, he breaks tackles as well.

 

[cashisking884]

Also the the pace of play got to WVU at the end.

It hit the Bearcats like a ton of bricks last week. Their DL was gassed by the end of the 3rd.

WVU’s DL held up better. Which is to be expected, they have been recruiting at a P5 level for more than one season.
But even it was spent by the end. Which slowed down the pass rush.

Holstein had the one play at the end where he pulled away from the arm tackle. But outside of that play, he wasn’t facing an onslaught anymore from the WVU DL.

That’s now been a theme two straight weeks. The opposing defense can’t put up any resistance because they don’t have the energy to do so.

 

[kma0043]

I think Borbley and Underwood were poor position coaches and it’ll take linemen some time to shake the stink from their coaching. At least the WRs look like they’ve moved on from
Underwood’s stink.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

WVU’s DL held up better. Which is to be expected, they have been recruiting at a P5 level for more than one season.
But even it was spent by the end. Which slowed down the pass rush.

Heading into the first of the last two touchdown drives the WVU defense had been on the field for a total of 11 plays and 5:17 of game time in the second half. Going back to the end of the first half, and taking into account half time, that happened over somewhere in the neighborhood of and hour and 45 minutes of real time.

If they were spent at the end of that game they have to be the poorest condition team in college football.

 

[NCPitt]

Heading into the first of the last two touchdown drives the WVU defense had been on the field for a total of 11 plays and 5:17 of game time in the second half. Going back to the end of the first half, and taking into account half time, that happened over somewhere in the neighborhood of and hour and 45 minutes of real time.

If they were spent at the end of that game they have to be the poorest condition team in college football.

Yep. Cash is off on this one.

 

[PittMan 72]

Yep. Cash is off on this one.

Reading some of Neal Brown’s comments, WVU was NOT prepared or expecting Eli to hurt them as a runner. Little did they know! 😉

 

[Cap pitt]

Holstein took it on himself to run. Yarnell could not have done that. OC Bell did not play call or design that.

Holstein knew what needed done.

His runs were important plays. They amounted to significant yardage. They tamed the rush and set up other plays.

If I remember correctly the scoreboard in 4th qt had Pitt with 16 yards rushing until a couple of Holsteins scrambles, and I believe Pitt ended with 91 yards rushing, because the OL sucked big time both run and pass blocking,

 

[FireballZ]

Yep. Cash is off on this one.

"This ONE"?

 

[pittmeister]

Holstein took it on himself to run. Yarnell could not have done that. OC Bell did not play call or design that.

Holstein knew what needed done.

His runs were important plays. They amounted to significant yardage. They tamed the rush and set up other plays.

Great point

 

[hail2cin24]

Holstein took it on himself to run. Yarnell could not have done that. OC Bell did not play call or design that.

Holstein knew what needed done.

His runs were important plays. They amounted to significant yardage. They tamed the rush and set up other plays.

I won’t say I was overly confident as the game went on. But towards the end, when Holtein tucked it and picked up some yards with his legs, I shouted “just like last week!” and low and behold it was. Need more *carefully* designed stuff for him. He won’t bolt for 40+, but he can at least fall forward for a few more most of the time and keep defenses honest.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

We won that game because of Holstein. He made a ton of plays on his own. The OL was shaky.

Just goes to show you how important a QB is in college football. If you have a good one, it’s 8 wins minimum.

 

[pittbb80]

Agree Gary. He also avoided about five sacks yesterday that would have had Yarnell wheeled out like a jobber who just fought the Undertaker. That's no disrespect to Yarnell; the line just isn't good right now.

Whoa didn’t you say he was complete trash Lombardi?

 

[ChazzMo]

Not seeing anybody talk about it, but to my eye, Holstein moves up and around and through the pocket better than any Pitt QB in recent memory. He seems to have a real feel for it.

 

[Upg bobcat]

Reading some of Neal Brown’s comments, WVU was NOT prepared or expecting Eli to hurt them as a runner. Little did they know! 😉

I did not hear post game comments from Neal Brown, but I know pregame WVU was looking out for QB scrambles and running from Holstein -- Allar from PSU burnt them with it and they did not want to let it happen again. But it did.

 

[pittbb80]

Not seeing anybody talk about it, but to my eye, Holstein moves up and around and through the pocket better than any Pitt QB in recent memory. He seems to have a real feel for it.

Yup. Lots of folks pointed that out after the first game

 

[PittMan 72]

I did not hear post game comments from Neal Brown, but I know pregame WVU was looking out for QB scrambles and running from Holstein -- Allar from PSU burnt them with it and they did not want to let it happen again. But it did.

Excerpt from linked article:
“West Virginia wasn’t expecting Holstein’s ability to react well and scramble. Defensive lineman T.J. Jackson said it wasn’t something that popped on film, so they weren’t as prepared as they could be. Add in Holstein’s size — 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds — and it added more of an issue.”

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