Pittsburgh quarterback Eli Holstein throws during the first half of an NCAA football game against Cincinnati, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Cincinnati. Associated Press

Jeff Dean

CINCINNATI — Eli Holstein threw touchdown passes on three consecutive drives, Ben Sauls kicked a 35-yard field goal with 17 seconds left and Pittsburgh rallied from 21 points down to take a 28-27 win over Cincinnati on Saturday.

Holstein, making just his second career college start, rallied Pittsburgh to its largest comeback win since 1971.

“First half I was thinking too much, trying to do too much," Holstein said. "(The Bearcats) were dropping eight pretty much every play. Towards the end of that last drive (of the first half), I was doing what the coaches were telling me to do. That’s how I started playing the second half.”

After throwing for just 66 yards in the first half, where Holstein threw an interception in the end zone on Pittsburgh's first drive, he finished with 305 yards and three touchdowns.

“It was a gutsy win for our guys. I couldn’t be prouder of the effort they gave," Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said. “We came out in the fourth quarter and said, ‘We’re going to win this thing.’ Our guys believed, coming back from 21 down.”

Through three quarters, it looked like the Bearcats (1-1) were going to run the Panthers (2-0) out of Nippert Stadium, dominating Pitt on both sides of the ball and leading 27-6. Running back Corey Kiner gashed Pittsburgh for 140 yards on 20 carries.

Cincinnati got off to a quick start with Brendan Sorsby throwing for two touchdowns and 139 yards in the first quarter. Sorsby finished with 289 yards and three touchdowns.

Pittsburgh faced a third-and-4 deep in its own territory on the game-winning drive, but a delay of game on the Bearcats’ defense gave the Panthers a first down. A 34-yard completion to wide receiver Konata Mumpfield three plays later moved the Panthers into the red zone and into position for Sauls' winning field goal.

“(The officials) called a penalty on one of our defensive linemen saying he was acting like calling the cadence or something or whatever they call that,” Bearcats coach Scott Satterfield said. “You can't hear anything because (Nippert) Stadium is extremely loud. So there's a couple things like that happened that were extremely disappointing.”

Another disappointing part of the game for the Bearcats was on special teams, and it led to a pivotal six-point swing at the end of the first half.

Bearcats kicker Carter Brown missed a chip-shot, 25-yard field-goal attempt with 23 seconds to go in the first half. Pitt, starting at its own 20-yard line, moved to Cincinnati's 35-yard line to set up Sauls for a 53-yard field-goal attempt he converted.

“(On) the short field goal, the snap was a little bit off,” Satterfield said. “And the hold was off, and the laces were right where he was kicking it. So it's not just (on) the kicker. We got to clean that up because we missed two in the first two games.”

The two field goals Brown has missed have both been from less than 35 yards. It didn't cost the Bearcats in Week 1, but it did in a major way Saturday.

Postgame several Pitt players ran over to the Cincinnati student section to taunt them after apparently enduring chants from the students during the game. One of the players, Javon McIntyre, who recovered a fumble on the final play as Cincinnati desperately lateraled the ball around, was then pursued across the field by a member of the Bearcats equipment staff to retrieve the ball. Finally, a Bearcats player batted the ball out and the staffer left with it.

Pitt: Hosts West Virginia next Saturday.

Cincinnati: At Miami (Ohio) next Saturday.