Toledo, Pitt wraps up season in GameAbove Sports Bowl

On By Littum

Field level media
| Detroit Free Press

A day after Christmas, Pittsburgh and Toledo meet at Ford Field on Thursday in the GameAbove Sports Bowl, hoping to put a bow on a 2024 season that began with bigger aspirations.

The Panthers (7-5) were the no. 18 in the initial 2024 College Football Playoff rankings on Nov. 5, three days after suffering their first loss at SMU. However, the 48–25 loss to the Mustangs was the start of a five-game skid that ran the rest of the regular season.

Injuries plagued Pitt in November. Quarterback Eli Holstein missed the Nov. 16 game against Clemson after suffering a head injury the week before in the loss to Virginia. The freshman returned to start against Louisville on Nov. 23, but didn’t make it out of the first quarter after injuring his left ankle. It caused him to miss the final game against Boston College.

Pitt sick

Several offensive line injuries also affected the team during the skid, and an undisclosed ailment kept Desmond Reid, the Panthers’ second-team All-American all-purpose back, out against Boston College.

“I would imagine that on the 26th we’ll be a lot healthier than we came out of that BC game,” coach Pat Narduzzi said earlier this month. “I promise you that.”

Narduzzi hopes Holstein can play. In 10 games, the signal caller completed nearly 62 percent of his throws for 2,228 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. That could become a problem since Nate Yarnell, who threw for 1,056 yards and 10 TDs with five picks, entered the transfer portal.

David Lynch, who threw just nine passes this season, would back up, Narduzzi said.

Reid ran for 797 yards and four touchdowns and caught 47 passes for 564 yards and four scores. He also averaged 12.3 yards on a dozen punt returns, one of which was returned for a TD. Pitt also has an All-American on defense. Linebacker Kyle Louis recorded 16 tackles for loss, including seven sacks. He also picked off four passes and scored on one.

Rockets have power

The Rockets (7-5), who finished the season with back-to-back losses, are on track for the fourth straight season.

Toledo has the best passing offense in the Mid-American Conference, averaging 246.2 yards per carry. match. Tucker Gleason threw for 2,457 yards and has a 22-to-7 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Jerjuan Newton caught 64 passes for 949 yards and a MAC-leading 11 scores. The defense, led by safety Maxen Hook (107 tackles, two interceptions), is allowing an average of five yards a game. It is number 27 in the country.

Coach Jason Candle, one win away from tying Gary Pinkel for most wins in school history (73), said at the press conference that the game gives the seniors one last chance to celebrate their careers, many of which end this week, at the same time with them giving the lower class additional exercises that will pay off next season.

“This is a reward for having a great year,” the ninth-year coach said. “You want to end it the right way and you want to do a good job of balancing what that looks like for the future of your program.

“I think if this is handled the right way, it kind of sets the culture and the tempo of what your starting point of the offseason is in January or February.”