Pat Narduzzi isn’t backing away from Holden Geriner after Pitt’s first loss of the season.
Not after Geriner’s first career start ended with a 21-17 defeat to North Carolina at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday. Not after the sophomore quarterback threw two second-half interceptions. And not after a night that was messy enough to raise questions about how long Pitt can keep leaning on him.
Narduzzi’s answer was clear.
"Absolutely," Pat Narduzzi said after Pitt's 21-17 loss to North Carolina at Acrisure Stadium on Saturday. "We've got a lot of faith in him."
Geriner was thrown into the job after Mason Heintschel suffered a season-ending ACL injury in last Friday’s win at Virginia Tech, and the first outing was uneven from the start. He completed two of his first five passes, then settled in enough to go 15-for-21 in the first half, but even that came with limits: just 99 passing yards and only three completions that gained more than nine yards.
The second half brought more trouble. Geriner finished that stretch 12-for-23 for 120 yards, and one-third of those yards came on a deep throw to Malik Knight that went for 40 yards and set up Pitt’s second and final touchdown. Outside of that, the passing game never really found a groove.
Pitt needed more from the air once North Carolina began crowding the run. The Tar Heels were intent on taking away the Panthers’ rushing attack, which produced more than 100 yards in the first half alone, and the Panthers had chances to answer through the quarterback. Geriner just didn’t consistently cash them in.
He did finish 8-of-9 on third down overall, but only four of those completions moved the chains. In the second half, he converted just one third down through the air.
That lack of efficiency helped sink an otherwise strong defensive showing. Pitt’s defense held North Carolina to 269 yards, limited the Tar Heels to just three third-down conversions, allowed only 20 net rushing yards and came away with two interceptions. The one major breakdown was a 75-yard touchdown pass.
But the offense couldn’t hold up its end. Geriner threw two interceptions after halftime, including one when Pitt had the ball at the UNC 23. He finished with 219 yards, two picks and 27 completions on 44 attempts.
The volume stood out, especially for a quarterback who had attempted roughly 20 passes in his career before this season. Still, the Panthers had the looks they wanted, and Narduzzi made it clear he believes the performance will improve with more reps.
"Obviously his first start, he will get better and better just from the experience, and I've got a lot of faith and trust in him," Narduzzi said. "He'll get those throws. He'll be much better."
Narduzzi also pointed to the offense’s long possessions, including a 12-play, 75-yard opening drive and a 14-play, 67-yard march that didn’t end the way Pitt needed it to. The message from the head coach was that the Panthers were doing enough to create opportunities - they just weren’t finishing them.
"We have, without a question, a ton of confidence in Holden," Narduzzi said. "I mean, again, first start guys, you know, sometimes not pretty.
But I thought he did a nice job. I mean, you know, you think about the drives he had.
We opened up with a 12-play, 75-yard drive. We've just got to be more consistent. 14-play, 67-yard drive; we've got to finish in the end.
So we can't - you know, field goals are great; we get down to the red zone in the first half, we have to finish it. I mean, you know, 14-play, 67-yard drive, you're doing something right.
"And, again, you know, we just got to look at the play-calling. Again, we look at coaches.
We look at players. You know, it's all of us.
I mean, when we lose, it's everybody. When we win, it's everybody.
So, you know, again, it's something to learn from."
Geriner’s next start appears set to come next week, and Pitt will need a sharper version of him if it wants the offense to keep pace with a defense that did more than enough to win on Saturday.
In Other News...
Pitt Suddenly Has A Brutal Question After Its First Loss
Pitts 5-0 start ran headlong into a harsh reality Saturday in a 21-17 loss to UNC, a game that turned once star quarterback Mason Heintschel went down with a season-ending injury. The Panthers were still in position to keep things together early, and the defense gave them chances, but the offense never found a steady rhythm after the injury and the rushing game faded as the afternoon wore on.
Holden Geriner was thrust into the spotlight in his first collegiate start and gave Pitt a workable first half, completing 15 of 21 passes for 99 yards before the game began to slip. What followed left the Panthers with a far bigger concern than one loss, because the margin for error at quarterback just shrank dramatically and now the team has to figure out how to steady an offense that suddenly looks a lot less certain. [Read more 🡒]
Kaleb Cost Injury Overshadowed UNC Win For One Scary Reason
A late-game injury to North Carolina defensive back Kaleb Cost briefly shifted attention away from UNCs 21-17 win at No. 25 Pitt, and for reasons that had little to do with the scoreboard. Cost was hurt after colliding with a concrete wall behind the end zone, a jarring moment that sent him out of the game with trainers and left both sidelines dealing with the immediate aftermath.
The sequence also created a tense scene in the stands, where Costs helmet flew into the crowd and medical personnel later assisted a fan nearby. UNC has not yet offered a diagnosis on Cost, leaving the football fallout from the night unresolved even as the Tar Heels left Pittsburgh with a road victory. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Suddenly Faces A Road Test That Could Expose Everything
Pittsburghs quarterback picture has shifted again just as the season tightens, and the timing could not be much worse for a team trying to steady itself in the middle of a crowded college football race. The Panthers have been dealing with the same kind of weekend uncertainty that has started to chip away at several ranked teams across the country, where injuries, coaching changes and uneven play have made every matchup feel a little less predictable than the rankings suggest.
Now the focus turns to the next answer under center, with Holden Geriner in line for his first Pitt start. He has only 334 career passing yards, including 219 this season, which leaves the Panthers with a very different look heading into a game that could say plenty about how much margin they still have left. [Read more 🡒]