2025 Boston College Football Early Opponent Preview, Week 6: Pitt

One of Boston College’s five road games this upcoming season will be against an opponent that the team will play for the third straight season, the Pitt Panthers. 

The Eagles will take on the Panthers on Oct. 4 during Week 6 of the college football season. Although Pitt had a strong first half of its 2024 campaign, Boston College will be riding the momentum in the series after a regular season finale win last year. 

Let’s take a look at the opponent. 

Offense 

Pitt will be led by returning starting quarterback Eli Holstein. After transferring from Alabama after the 2023 season, Holstein earned the starting job with the Panthers, however suffered injuries throughout the campaign. Last year, he appeared in 10 games and went 180-of-291 for 2,228 yards, 17 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. 

The Panthers also returned their leading rusher Desmond Reid, who amassed 962 yards and five touchdowns as well as was the second-best receiver among the team with 579 yards and four touchdowns. 

Pitt lost its top receiver Konata Mumpfield as well as tight end Gavin Bartholomew to the NFL Draft, but brought in four wide receivers from the class of 2025 including three-stars Bryce Yates and Tony Kinsler. 

As for transfers, Pitt picked up former Marshall tight end Justin Holmes and three receivers, most notably Deuce Spann from Florida State and Cataurus Hicks from Louisville. 

Defense

Pitt lost its top defender during the offseason in defensive back Donovan McMillon, who was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an UDFA in April. 

The Panthers did retain their second best defensive player, linebacker Kyle Louis. Last season, Louis notched 101 total tackles (45 solo and 56 assisted), 15.5 tackles for loss, seven sacks, four interceptions, nine pass breakups, three quarterback hits, one forced fumble, and one blocked kick. 

Other big defensive players to return to Pitt this season include linebacker Rasheem Biles, who had the third-most tackles (82), and second-most tackles for loss (15), linebacker Braylan Lovelace, and defensive lineman Jimmy Scott. 

The Panthers also added some new faces to the defense during the offseason in cornerback Zion Ferguson (UNC), safety Kavir Bains-Marquez (UC Davis), EDGE Jaeden Moore (Oregon), EDGE Joey Zelinsky (Eastern Michigan), safety Jayden Bonsu (Ohio State), and EDGE Blaine Spires (Utah State). 

Schedule 

The game marks the second of a two-game home stand for Pitt while for Boston College, it is the only road contest in a five week span. The Eagles will have one home game before their matchup with the Panthers plus a bye week and two home games after. 

Outlook 

Although Boston College is riding momentum in the series with a win in 2024, coming out with a victory this time around might be harder than anticipated. 

In the last five meetings at Pitt, Boston College has won just a sole game in that stretch, 26-19 in 2019. Pitt also had a good record last season at home as it went 5-2 when hosting opponents. All five victories came within the first seven games of the year when the Panthers were a perfect 7-0 before falling into a six-game skid. 

Whether Pitt can get back to its dominant performances like the first half of 2024 will depend on the health of quarterback Eli Holstein, who battled injuries throughout last season, mostly during the second half of the schedule. Regardless, the teams should be evenly matched and whichever team comes out on top will likely win by a small margin. 

Boston College at Pitt:

Boston College Eagles On SI takes a long look at each of the Eagles upcoming opponents this season, including their Week 6 contest on the road against the Pitt Panthers on Oct. 4.

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