Eli Holstein went 21 of 28 passing for 304 yards and four touchdowns to lead Pitt to a 45-17 nonconference win over Central Michigan on Saturday in a game played at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh.
Raphael Williams caught six passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Desmond Reid had 69 receiving yards and 46 rushing yards for Pitt (2-0).
Joe Labas went 11 of 14 passing for 89 yards and a touchdown in defeat for Central Michigan (1-1), which ran for just 40 yards on 41 carries.
Trailing 24-10, Central Michigan cut Pitt’s lead to 24-17 with 3:01 remaining in the third quarter on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Labas to DeCorian Temple.
Pitt answered right back, taking a 31-17 lead just 46 seconds later on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Holstein to Raphael Williams. The score came two plays after a 60-yard kickoff return by Cade Graham to the Central Michigan 48-yard line.
The Panthers then took a 38-17 lead with 10:34 remaining in the game on a 2-yard touchdown run by Juelz Goff.
Pitt rounded out the scoring with 45 seconds left on a 2-yard touchdown run by Ja’Kyrian Turner, a freshman who scored his first career touchdown.
Pitt started strong, scoring touchdowns on three of its first four drives of the game to take a 21-3 lead in the second quarter.
Holstein hit Williams on a 3-yard touchdown pass with 11:56 left in the first quarter to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead, and then threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Justin Holmes with 11:03 to go in the second quarter that gave Pitt a 14-3 lead.
With 6:40 remaining in the second quarter, Holstein threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Josh Altsman to make it 21-3 Pittsburgh.
Central Michigan did get some momentum going into halftime, cutting Pitt’s lead to 24-10 with nine seconds remaining in the second quarter on a 2-yard touchdown run by Jadyn Glasser.
