PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Encouraging opening drive for Panthers quarterback Holden Geriner making his first start since high school in 2021, but also some struggles in a 21-17 Pitt loss to North Carolina Saturday.
“Obviously his first start,” said Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi. “You think about it, he will get better and better just from the experiences. Got a lot of faith and trust in him. He'll get those throws. He'll be much better. I was happy with the way he played today in his first start, and he'll learn.”
Learning was a lot of the talk from Geriner after the game finishing 27-44 for 219 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
“Obviously ups and downs for sure,” Geriner said. “North Carolina did an incredible job obviously, and all the credit to them. They're very well-coached.”
“In terms of us, I got all the confidence in the world in our team and our guys. Moving forward, obviously we're going to learn from this, and take it and learn from it and get better from it. Just being better, getting in the film room and working with the guys more and more. I'm confident moving forward.”
Geriner made some plays. After a couple of easy passes early, he made some strong-arm throws across the field, including a couple on third down. There were some adjustments by North Carolina in the second half, mostly stopping the run game. After running for 114 yards in the first half, Pitt managed only 36 yards in the second.
“They made some adjustments and started packing the box and stopped our run,” Narduzzi said. “So we rushed for 150, which was our goal. I know we'd like to have 250, but you know, we did run the ball well. Then all of a sudden we didn't.”
That obviously impacted the quarterback in his first start who was just 12-23 for 110 yards and the two picks in the second half. Even after the game, Geriner said his teammates ‘poured a tremendous amount of confidence into me, which gives me a lot more confidence in myself’.
“Just told him just keep going,” Narduzzi said of his message to Geriner. “Calm down and relax. Again, first opportunity in those situations, guys, it's not easy out there. It's a lot of pressure on a quarterback. I'm glad I never played quarterback, but Holden was smooth out there.
“You didn't see anything different in him. He'll point the thumb right at himself and say, I got to be better, and he will be.”
Narduzzi didn’t play any games, not hesitating during his post-game news conference that Geriner will start next week at Boston College.
“Absolutely, we have a lot of faith in him, and (freshman quarterback) Corey Dailey will keep getting better as weeks go on,” Narduzzi said. “Without a question, a ton of confidence in Holden.
“Again, first start, guys. It's sometimes not pretty, but I thought he did a nice job. You think about the drives he had. We just got to be more consistent.”
“We look at coaches. We look at players. It's all of us. When we lose, it's everybody. When we win, it's everybody. Again, it's something to learn from.”
Pitt Notes after loss to North Carolina
“At the end of the day, it just comes down to next game,” Geriner said. “At the end of the day, it's next play. So kind of going into it was just I'm taking this game as one game. Obviously we didn't get the outcome that we did, and we're going to take that and learn from it. You now, just building off of it.
“I'm super excited for the rest of the season. Obviously I wish we could have gotten the W here tonight, but we're going to learn from it, and we got the confidence for the rest of the season.”
Pitt doesn’t have a choice, Mason Heintschel isn’t coming back this year. Now at 5-1, the Panthers on the road for four of the next six games.
Reaction from Pitt head coach & quarterback after taking over for Mason Heintschel
Reaction from Pitt head coach & quarterback after taking over for Mason Heintschel
