Pitt Rallying Around True Freshman QB

PITTSBURGH — For the first time in Mason Heintschel's young collegiate career, he faced a daunting challenge: Lead the Pitt Panthers to their first ranked road victory in over half a decade in only his second-career start.

The 18-year-old true freshman's first start resulted in a 48-7 dominating win over Boston College. A game where he impressed all those who watched as he passed for 323 yards, four touchdowns and completed 73% of his throws.

Heintschel's second start brought a greater challenge than the 1-4 Eagles did. Florida State was the No. 25 team in the country coming off a 28-22 loss to rival No. 3 Miami and a 46-38 overtime loss to Virginia the week before.

Beating a team coming off consecutive losses doesn't sound all that daunting, except Florida State stunned No. 8 Alabama 31-17 in Week 1. And with College Football Playoff aspirations, it was a do-or-die situation for the Seminoles.

The 10.5-point favorite Seminoles held a 21-14 lead at halftime. Heintschel picked off where he left off from the week prior, completing 10 of his first 11 attempts and scoring a touchdown. That was until he made two costly mistakes by throwing interceptions on consecutive drives to end the first half, one of which was in the red zone.

Florida State had the momentum leading into the final 30 minutes of the must-win game. Until it didn't.

Heintschel led the Panthers' offense to four scoring drives in the second half. He completed nine of 14 attempts for 197 yards, a touchdown and most importantly, no turnovers.

"I made sure that they knew that I wasn't gonna let that phase me," Heintschel said. "We still had two quarters to play, and there was a lot of game left, so we just had to bounce back and go get a dub."

Heintschel led Pitt on a seven-play, 85-yard drive to begin the second half, just a series after throwing the devastating red zone interception. He also made plays down the field the entire half, with just two passes completed for less than 10 yards.

"He's a competitor," Pat Narduzzi said. "He does a great job leading the offense. He wasn't shaken by the road, he wasn't shaken by throwing a pick, wasn't shaken by throwing a second pick. He continued to come back."

Pitt was already confident in Heintschel's ability to lead this offense and this team, but after witnessing his attitude towards his errors and still leading the Panthers to a top-25 conference win on the road, the team trusts the true freshman now more than ever.

"He's a leader," said All-American running back Desmond Reid. "He talks with us a lot. He threw two picks. He never came to the sideline with his head down. He blamed himself for it and said, 'We're gonna get it back.' I love Mason. He's a dog."

Reid was Heintschel's favorite target in his first game back from injury, as he led the Panthers with eight catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns.

"I knew Mason was a dog during the spring," Reid said. "I've seen how he plays. He just has a pro mindset."

Oct 11, 2025; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Pittsburgh Panthers quarterback Mason Heintschel (6) runs the ball in the first quarter against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak S. Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Myers-Imagn Images | Melina Myers-Imagn Images

Both of Heintschel's interceptions occurred in the second quarter. His first was essentially an arm punt on third down. He threw a jump ball to Cataurus "Blue" Hicks in double-coverage from his own 30-yard line, and it was picked and downed at Florida State's 18-yard line.

Narduzzi said he didn't mind taking a shot at Hicks, but Pitt's wide receivers coach had a different perspective.

"I tell my guys all the time, we've got a freshman quarterback, so it's never his fault, it's always our fault," JJ Laster said. "As a veteran receiver core, anytime something goes wrong, we're taking the blame. It doesn't matter whether he throws a pick or not."

Heintschel's second turnover came after true freshman safety Josh Guerrier blocked a punt that was downed at the Seminoles' 26-yard line. Heintschel squandered a scoring opportunity by firing for the end zone on another third down, but Kenny Johnson slipped and fell, and the pass hit Florida State safety Edwin Joseph in the chest.

"That's going to happen, especially with a young quarterback," Narduzzi said postgame. "Shoot, it's going to happen with an old quarterback, 10-year vets, throwing picks like that. So, he's a football player, and he didn't lose any faith. That's the difference."

Heintschel's response on the field was admirable. He showed resilience and maturity at a stage in his career when many other quarterbacks don't yet possess those traits. But what stood out more to his teammates was his attitude on the sideline.

Heintschel walked the walk and talked the talk.

"He didn't have a different look. He had the same look that he had on the first series of the game to the last series of the game in that four-minute victory offense," Narduzzi said.

Tight end Jake Overman said he was talking with injured defensive end Joey Zelinsky, who didn't make the trip and watched the game on TV. Zelinsky told Overman that he could see how positive and fired up Heintschel was on the sideline from the ESPN broadcast.

"I think we felt that, and it was cool that they showed that on the TV copy, too," Overman said. "It's just shows his confidence, his poise and his demeanor that he carries when he's out there on the field."

To Heintschel, though, he said he was only able to bounce back because of the support from his teammates and coaches.

"Everybody was very supportive of me," Heintschel said. "I like to put a lot of my shoulders, and I was a little frustrated with those two interceptions, but I knew we were still there, and I knew that the guys had my back for sure."

Heintschel and the Panthers will have another ACC road game this week at Syracuse. If there were any doubts about the 18-year-old's leadership skills and mentality as the Pitt starting quarterback, he has silenced them after last week's win.

"We've seen Mason. We've known what Mason can do," Overman said. "We knew that he'd be able to bounce back, and that's exactly what he did. He led us down to a game-winning drive, and he's going to do it again this week, and we're super excited to watch him go again."

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