Takeaways: Pitt Gets Blowout ACC Win

PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers captured a much-needed ACC win over the Boston College Eagles in Acrisure Stadium this weekend.

The Panthers looked impressive from the jump. They forced Boston College into a 3-and-out and scored a touchdown on an 11-play, 76-yard drive.

There were plenty more positives to take away from the 48-7 blowout win.

Mason Heintschel Lights Up the Eagles

True freshman Mason Heintschel was the first Pitt quarterback to win his first-career start since Kenny Pickett in 2017. He went 30-for-41 for 323 yards and four touchdowns. He would've had a fifth touchdown if it weren't for a holding penalty negating a 37-yard dime to Cataurus "Blue" Hicks in the end zone.

Buy your Mason Heintschel stock while you still canpic.twitter.com/kLwYjAwyi7
— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) October 4, 2025

Perhaps the most impressive part of Heintschel's performance, and certainly the most refreshing, was how turnover-adverse he was.

"When you don't turn the ball over, you've got a chance to win football games," Pat Narduzzi said. "A week ago, we were minus five with two special teams mistakes and interceptions. When you have the ball in your possession, you can get first downs. You move the sticks. You keep the defense off the field."

Heintschel replaced redshirt sophomore Eli Holstein, who has struggled with turnovers this season. Holstein has thrown at least one pick in the four games he started and was benched after throwing his second turnover of the game last week against Louisville.

Pitt's Defense Looks Legit

This was the best overall performance from the Panthers' defense to date. The run defense was suffocating, once again. Pitt held the Cardinals to 53 yards on 34 carries and a touchdown a week ago, and Isaac Brown had only 20 yards and averaged 1.4 yards per carry.

Against Boston College, the Panthers stifled the rushing attack to just 27 yards on 24 carries.

Oct 4, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston College Eagles running back Turbo Richard (2) runs the ball as Pittsburgh Panthers linebacker Braylan Lovelace (0) chases during the first quarter against at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

But this was the first time this season that the pass defense clamped its opponent. Boston College posed a significant threat with the No. 1 passing offense in the ACC and the No. 4 passing attack in the country. Pitt's 91st-ranked pass defense stymied the Eagles' air attack to 189 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Boston College quarterback Dylan Lonergan had career lows of 89 passing yards and a 50% completion percentage as a starter. Narduzzi's goal for the defense before the game was to hold the Eagles to 250 air yards.

"Cory Sanders, Archie Collins, Ryan Manalac did a great job game planning and putting our kids in a position to be successful and eliminate Lonergan taking advantage of us," Narduzzi said.

Third Down Improvement

Pitt had the worst third down performance of the season in the loss to Louisville. The Panthers were an abysmal 1-for-10 on third down, suffered three 3-and-outs and turned over on downs twice.

The Panthers had the 119th-best third down offense coming into the game and bounced back with a 9-for-17 third down performance and were a perfect 3-for-3 on fourth downs.

"It's execution," Narduzzi said. "I can sit there and say I did a great job. Our kids made all the plays. I didn't do anything."

Pitt played more aggressively on the money downs against the Eagles, and that was due to Heintschel's comfort, confidence and aggressiveness within the offense.

"I'm trying to get Coach [Kade] Bell to let us go, because I'm confident in our guys on the field that we're gonna go get it done," Heintschel said. "Our offensive line up front, they did a heck of a job today, and our receivers, we've got some of the best receivers in the country. So, just being able to get them the ball in space and just go make plays. It makes my job so much easier."

Pitt Still Misses Desmond Reid

This was the best rushing performance the Panthers have had since Desmond Reid's injury. Pitt rushed for 172 yards, found the end zone twice and averaged 4 yards per carry.

Ja'Kyrian Turner led the offense with 12 carries, 67 yards and a touchdown, Julez Goff had 17 carries for 59 yards and a touchdown and Heintschel had 10 carries for 28 yards.

Even though this was the best rushing game since Reid's injury, it was only 31 yards better than last season's run game average of 141.8 yards. The punt return game hasn't been the same, as Kenny Johnson had one punt return for a loss of a yard, and Goff and Turner totaled 60 receiving yards out of the backfield, just seven more yards than Reid's average per game in 2024.

Reid did dress and warmed up before the game, but was ruled out for the second consecutive week. All signs point to Reid returning soon, though, and he could bring another gear to this offense.

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