The Pitt Panthers’ offense continues to roll with true freshman Mason Heintschel at quarterback, as he and the team’s air raid attack defeated North Carolina State, 53-34, Saturday at Acrisure Stadium.
With star linebackers Rasheem Biles and Kyle Louis out, the Panthers knew they needed as much offense as they could get. They got that and then some, totaling 529 yards as a team.
This was Pitt’s fourth straight ACC victory, earning bowl eligibility.
Heintschel completed 28 of 48 passes for 423 yards and three touchdowns, setting a record for passing yards as a freshman.
This was the first 400-yard passing game since Nov. 6, 2021, when Kenny Pickett threw for 416 at Duke. This was also the first time since the 2021 ACC title game that Pitt tallied over 50 points against an ACC foe.
“Offensivley we’re really explosive,” coach Pat Narduzzi said. “Mason played at a high level today and that’s how you win football games.”
Heintschel’s longest throw was a dart to Blue Hicks on a deep post route for 84 yards. which broke a Pitt record for their longest touchdown pass in Acrisure Stadium. Hicks caught it and blew past the Wolfpack secondary, putting the Panthers up 40-21 in the third quarter.
This was their longest touchdown pass since John Turman connected with Antonio Bryant for an 84-yard touchdown on Nov. 4, 2000. Heintschel said they knew in the huddle they were finding the end zone.
“We knew in that formation we were in that we were going to get this kind of coverage,” Heintschel said. “It was beautiful. Right before we snapped the ball, I looked at coach Bell and thought to myself ‘Oh, this is going to be beautiful. This should be a touchdown.’ Blue does a great job of winning. We have great protection up front. It just makes my job easy. I put the ball out there and let a guy who’s just an absolute baller in Blue Hicks go make a play.”
Heintschel’s touchdown passes went to Poppi Williams for seven yards that put Pitt up 24-14. His 10-yard scoring pass to Kenny Johnson made it 31-21, and the TD toss to Hicks increased the lead to 40-21.
Hicks was his main target, hauling in four passes for 120 yards and a touchdown.
Johnson caught seven passes for 112 yards, all in the first half. Johnson’s touchdown came with 12 seconds left in the first half, but on the play Johnson was drilled near the pylon and didn’t return in the second half.
Johnson now has 502 receiving yards on the season, hauling in 33 passes and three touchdowns. Johnson posted 325 receiving yards and two touchdowns in the four games with Heintschel at quarterback. Their connection helped set the tone through the air.
“All of our receivers are phenomenal and they do a great job of creating separation and understanding what routes they need to run, and what depth they need to get to,” Heintschel said. “Kenny’s a great example of that. He trusts the system and trusts what he does and the work he puts in week in and week out. Even going through a quarterback change, everyone has been nothing but supportive of the offense.”
Williams also had a day, tallying five receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown.
Eleven different receivers notched receptions, six of them with multiple receptions.
“They work their tails off,” Heintschel said. “That makes my job really easy because I can trust them to be in the correct spots and make a play…all the receivers are absolutely balling right now.”
Heintschell gives Bell credit for him coming in and playing lights-out football. Narduzzi is impressed with Heintschel’s knowledge of the offense.
“He’s getting the ball out of his hand,” Narduzzi said. “He can give up zero sacks and throw 40-something times. He just knows where to go with the ball… Mason’s making plays, and guys are going to rally around those guys and make everybody look good.”
Regardless of his production to this point, Heintschel is focused on what he can do better.
“He’s upset he missed some throws,” Narduzzi said. “He thinks he could have done better. That’s just who he is. He’s not worried about what he did well. He’s worried about what he can fix, and you’ve got to love that.”
Six different Panthers were involved with scores with Heintschel while Ja’Kyrian Turner ran for two touchdowns and Desmond Reid one.
Even without Biles and Louis, the Panther defense got the offense back on the field when it could. Javon Mcintyre had five tackles and a tackle for a loss and Braylan Lovelace mustered five tackles.
Cam Lindsay forced a turnover on a hit on CJ Bailey, jarring the ball loose with Rashad Battle falling on it in the third quarter. That play led to a Trey Butkowski 35-yard field goal that put Pitt up 43-21.
Pitt forced two turnovers on downs in the third, along with starting the game two three-and-outs on NC State’s first two drives.
Pitt followed up both three-and-outs with scores, as Turner went in from a yard out on the opening drive and Butkowski converted a 34-yard field goal on the next drive to take a 10-0 lead.
Less than minutes later, the Wolfpack cut the lead to 10-7 when Bailey found Justin Joly for a 25-yard touchdown pass.
The Panthers finished a seven play, 83-yard drive with Reid’s 1-yard touchdown run.
NC State answered on the next play from scrimmage, as Hollywood Smothers busted a 65-yard touchdown run to make it 17-14, Pitt.
Heintschel and the Panthers offense continued to drive down the field after a few splash plays on a 28-yard completion to Deuce Spann and a penalty brought them well into Wolfpack territory.
Heintschel then found Williams in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown.
The high-scoring affair continued when the Wolfpack pulled off a flea-flicker when wide receiver Teddy Hoffman threw an accurate pass to a wide open Joly, but Joly looked to pull a hamstring and started hobbling at the 15-yard line. Joly powered through and was tackled, but nearly stripped of the ball as he crossed the goal line for a 59-yard touchdown to make it 24-21.
The Panthers, with limited time, scored on Heintschel 10-yard touchdown pass to Johnson before the end of the half.
Butkowski got his second field goal from 41 yards to extend the lead to 34-21 to start the second half.
Heintschel threw a bomb to Hicks for a 84-yard touchdown to extend their lead to 40-21.
Lindsay then forced a fumble with a hit on Bailey with Battle falling on it at the NC State 49.
Butkowski had back-to-back field goals on their next two drives to take a 46-21 lead.
Bailey found Hoffman for a 30-yard touchdown pass to cut it to 46-28.
Turner ran in a 6-yard touchdown to follow the NC State score.
The Wolfpack mustered a late touchdown when Bailey found Noah Rogers for a 2-yard touchdown.
Heintschel and the offense are red hot with Heintschel racking up 1,243 yards in four games. Pitt goes on the road next week at Stanford.
Heintschel said he wanted to get this win for lineman Lyndon Cooper, who transferred from NC State to Pitt.
“They put my face on the D-line room,” Cooper said. “They had 60-plus transfers come out of that school, but when it came to Coop, they wanted to make it a little personal. I wanted to make sure that we knew that was personal to me and to this team.”
Heintshel made sure everyone was ready to play for Coop.
“It was personal for all of us because we’re a family,” Heintschel said. “We’re a brotherhood here and I’m glad we could come out and get a win against a tough team. They are a talented team offensively and defensively, so its great to get a win not only for the university but for Coop.”
Photos by Mike Longo Jr.
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