Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi told reporters to “wait and see” when he was asked how quarterback Eli Holstein was feeling after leaving the Syracuse game in the fourth quarter with an injury Thursday night and not returning.

The wait turned out to be less than three days. Narduzzi announced on his radio show on 93.7 FM on Wednesday night that Holstein is fine, has been cleared medically and will start Saturday against SMU.

“Eli Holstein is ready to go and got cleared (Wednesday),” Narduzzi told host Larry Richert. “Eli Holstein is ready to roll. That’s excellent news.”

Holstein was injured while gaining 13 yards on a quarterback run. Instead of safely giving himself up, he looked to gain as many yards as possible before he was forced out of bounds and to the turf.

The news means Holstein, who is the first Pitt quarterback to win his first seven career starts since Dan Marino (1979-8o), will lead the No. 18 Panthers (7-0, 3-0 ACC) into their most important game of the season. No. 20 SMU (7-1, 4-0) and Pitt are two of the four teams (Miami and Clemson are the others) that are unbeaten in conference games.

Holstein, a redshirt freshman who transferred from Alabama, has completed 138 of 215 passes for 1,808 yards and 17 touchdowns, the latter mark tying Alex Van Pelt’s school record for a freshman quarterback set in 1989.

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