Pitt's Mason Heintschel Takes Blame for Notre Dame Loss

PITTSBURGH — If Mason Heintschel is anything, he's hard on himself.

He's the type of player who expects nothing but a grade A performance from himself every game, no matter what, win or lose. This game just happened to be the latter for the Pitt Panthers, and it was a bad loss at that.

There were plenty of anecdotes from this game, and especially from he offensive side of the ball. Like how the offense had only 20 more total yards than Caleb Junko had punt yards, or how Notre Dame star running back Jeremiyah Love had more rushing yards than Heintschel had passing yards.

It was far from a perfect game for Heintschel, and it was his worst game statistically since being named the starter. But he did what any veteran quarterback would do. He stood in front of the media, blamed the loss on his performance and promised to be better in the next game — except he's 18 years old.

'That Starts With Me'

Notre Dame came into this game as the No. 9 team in the nation. Facing a top 10 team is difficult for any true freshman quarterback, especially if it's their first game doing so. Heintschel finished the contest completing 13 of 33 pass attempts for 126 yards, one interception and no touchdowns.

"They did everything that we thought they were going to do, and we just didn't execute, and that starts with me," Heintschel said postgame. "They're a really talented team. They've got great players. I gotta make more throws and we gotta make more plays as a unit."

This game wasn't particularly close from the jump. The Irish scored on back-to-back plays in just 13 seconds of game time in the first quarter, thanks to a long touchdown run from Love and a 49-yard pick-six thrown by Heintschel. Pitt's offense as a whole struggled from the beginning, turning it over on downs and then punting on the first two drives.

Nov 15, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Joshua Burnham (left) tackles Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Mason Heintschel (6) during the first quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

"We gotta come out and be ready to go," Heintschel said. "They jumped out to a quick lead on us, but that can't happen and it starts with me throwing the interception. That can't happen. We just gotta start faster and get some momentum going."

Heintschel pointed out that the offense struggled to get drives going on early downs, and he's right. Pitt went 0-for-13 on third down, in large part due to field positioning. The Panthers had a third-and-5 or longer on 12 of the 13 third-down attempts and had double-digit yards to gain on six of those.

"We gotta get ahead of the sticks," Heintschel said. "We can't shoot ourselves in the foot. Obviously, I gotta make more plays. There were a lot of times where I would get out of the pocket instead of just checking the ball down or just sitting there and delivering a ball."

"I think that starts with me," Heintschel continued. "I think we played really well around me. I gotta make some more plays."

Learning Moment

This was very likely the toughest game Heintschel has ever played in his life. He played poorly, and he looked uncomfortable for most of the game, but it wasn't just on him. He was hurried 10 times and sacked four times, and his receivers committed several devastating drops.

The good news is that Pitt got a good taste of what a College Football Playoff team looks like — Notre Dame was the national championship runner-up last year after all. If the Panthers have any aspiration of finishing the season strong and making a push for the ACC Championship and a playoff spot, then learning from their mistakes in this loss is the most important thing they can do at this moment.

"We're frustrated with this game, but we're going to learn from this too," Heintschel said. "This is a great learning point for this team and sometimes you need a little kick in the mouth to get back on track."

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt