PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s a number of factors that come into play when discussing why the Pitt offense has struggled. Offensive coordinator Kade Bell said Tuesday a lack of focus has led to drops and penalties. The inconsistent offensive line play has contributed as has the play of the quarterback.
It’s unknown if Eli Holstein will play against Clemson. Assuming he will, what Bell’s assessment is of the redshirt freshman with three games to go in the regular season.
Bell said that actually Holstein had his best week of practice in over a month in preparing for Virginia. He felt confident that the first-year starter was attuned to the game plan and ready to return to the form that had him on national award watch lists in September.
“I thought he made a lot of great reads,” Bell said. “There are some throws he needs to step into and let it rip. That is what is frustrating is that he knows he can make the throws. He knows if he makes two or three of those throws, it could change the game.”
Bell said for the first time, opposing defenses have a few games of tape on him and the Pitt system. Where they blitzed a lot early, now teams are dropping eight players, playing a little zone and varying up what Holstein had seen previously. There have been inconsistencies with the offensive line to which Bell said they are still looking for the best five to start.
The challenge for him right now isn’t really physical, it’s matching wits with opposing defenses and defensive coaches. Also realizing that just because you’ve had some success doesn’t mean you can just grab the ball and do it every time. Holstein is learning to be patient and to take bad plays, or bad play calls, and make something positive out of it
“Now he’s having to take his mental game to another level,” Bell said. “He works on it every day. He knows there are things he can work on. I think he’s getting better every week (due to experience).”
Too many negative plays recently and falling behind in games have kept the Panthers from being as balanced as they would like. There are also the drops which are not only hurting on those plays, but potentially leading to a lack of trust or a snowballing effect. Some of it is on Bell to prepare Holstein and the team better and make more accurate adjustments in-game.
“We got to start faster, the way to get in a rhythm is to do the little things right,” Bell said. “We have to create confidence early in games. I got to find ways whether it’s easy throws, or easier ways to get positive plays so we can get confidence. Once we get first downs, I feel like we play with confidence.”
All of this is new. It’s a first-year FBS offensive coordinator with a drastically new system. All of the offensive assistant coaches are new to Pitt and working together for the first time. There are transfers and first-year starters who Holstein has never worked with. Bell said for Holstein not to be ‘the guy’ until the week of the first game robbed him of key reps with receivers in the spring and summer. He needs that time in the offseason to build relationships.
“I think when you are young and had the success he had, you think about his first six, seven games, it’s one of the best starts probably in the history of college football,” Bell said. “Not many redshirt freshmen have started that well, obviously 7-0. As a young quarterback you are going to have ups and downs.”
He’s going through it. We’ll probably know more about what Pitt truly has in its young quarterback over the last three games.