Pitt football head coach Pat Narduzzi must have felt the sky falling on his Panthers’ season. Multiple blown leads to Louisville and interceptions from redshirt sophomore quarterback Eli Holstein put Pitt at 2-2 with neither win against a Power 4 opponent.
If the primary goal was to win the ACC and make the College Football Playoff, then Pitt needed to beat some ACC opponents. To make that happen, Narduzzi had to invoke the name of the last Pitt quarterback to win the ACC — Kenny Pickett.
“Last time we went with a starting freshman quarterback was the last game of the season when we beat No. 2 Miami, and it was Kenny Pickett,” Narduzzi said. Last Saturday against Boston College, Narduzzi turned to first-year quarterback Mason Heintschel.
In a performance that earned him ACC Rookie of the Week, Heintschel led Pitt to a 48-7 win over Boston College — the second-largest margin of victory against an in-conference opponent since Pitt joined the ACC in 2013, and the largest since 2016.
The blowout has earned Heintschel the sole starting spot on Pitt’s depth chart heading down to Tallahassee to face No. 25 Florida State, the Panthers’ first ranked opponent of this season, for another noon kickoff.
First Key: Build a roof and prevent explosive plays
The Seminoles, who only averaged 15 points per game last season, have benefited from head coach Mike Norvell giving up play-calling duties and hiring Norvell’s mentor and former UCF head coach Guz Malzahn. This season, heading into the in-state matchup against then No. 3 Miami, Florida State and Malzahn had the most prolific offense in the country averaging 53 points per game.
The Seminoles made their money with explosive plays — eight different rushers and eight different pass catchers have gains of 20 plus yards on the season.
On the ground, senior dual-threat quarterback Tommy Castellanos can make anything happen. Standing at 5-foot-11, 201 pounds, Castellanos leads the Seminoles with 57 carries that have produced 274 yards and four touchdowns. Redshirt junior running back Gavin Sawchuk compliments Castellanos in the backfield with 53 carries for 281 yards and six touchdowns.
In the passing game, Castellanos can hit deep passes to his playmakers such as junior wide receiver Duce Robinson, who has 23 catches for 433 yards and three touchdowns, including an 82-yard touchdown, on the season.
While Robinson certainly has speed to go deep, redshirt first-year wide receiver Micahi Danzy is the Seminoles’ speedster and gadget guy. A Tallahassee, Florida, native, Danzy is the type of player Malzahn tries to get the ball in any way possible — out of the backfield, on a screen pass or a deep shot. Danzy has nine catches for 197 yards, with 65 of those yards coming on one pass. On the ground, Danzy has seven rushes for 176 yards and three touchdowns.
Then, against Miami and one of the best defenses in the country, the Seminoles’ longest play was a 30-yard pass to Robinson, the shortest of any game this season.
The Seminoles still ended with more than double the first downs, more yards and fewer penalties than the Hurricanes, but drastically losing the turnover battle helped Miami get the win. So this key — limiting the Seminoles’ explosive plays — must pair with the second key to victory.
Second Key: Get after the quarterback and force mistakes
Despite dominating the box score against Miami and the Hurricanes getting set back over 100 yards through penalties, the Seminoles’ errors were much more costly. They threw an interception, fumbled, took a sack and suffered a 15-yard penalty on first down, all in the second quarter.
The loss was the second week in a row that the Seminoles turned the ball over three times. For the Panthers, a defensive group talented at taking away the football, the blueprint is in their hands. They forced three turnovers against Boston College and have recorded at least one in each of the last four games.
If Pitt’s defense and Florida State’s offense each repeat their three-turnover performance, Pitt’s 45-year streak of not losing in Tallahassee would likely continue.
But to make those three turnovers happen, Pitt’s defensive line will have to play its best.
Miami has one of the best defensive lines in college football. They were able to, for the most part, contain Castellanos’ rushes and pressure him fast enough so that routes down the field had less time to develop.
Lucky for Pitt, their defensive line is arguably the best in the country against the run, allowing an FBS-fewest 1.72 yards per opponent rush attempt. Pitt has the 25th best “stop rate,” an ESPN metric that tracks the percentage of opposing offenses’ drives that end in punts or turnovers of any variety. They’re No. 7 in the FBS in sack yards and No. 4 in tackles for loss.
Florida State will soon find out that Pitt’s defense, especially their front seven, is one of the best in the country — just like the situation the Seminoles ran into against Miami. If Pitt can get after Castellanos, it can potentially catch interceptions, force fumbles and set the Seminoles back with tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Third Key: Heintschel stays accurate and gets completions
It was reported in early August that Heintschel had gained respect from his teammates and coaches since he enrolled early at Pitt in January. He’s the first quarterback that offensive coordinator Kade Bell signed after arriving at Pitt last season.
“[Bell] wants to play fast,” Heintschel said. “I feel like I’m able to do that at a high level.”
After the blowout over Boston College, it’s on the table that Heintschel was right. He completed 73.2% of his passes for 323 yards and four touchdown passes against the Eagles. Most importantly, Heintschel did not turn the ball over despite putting the ball in tight windows in the intermediate part of the field.
Even with his high volume of passing yards, Heintschel only completed one pass of 20 plus air yards all game — a drastically different offense compared to the all-or-nothing passing game the Panthers ran the previous two weeks.
Against a much better opponent, it’s difficult to hold Heintschel to the standard he set last week. But if Heintschel can get completions and get the ball to Pitt’s playmakers in stride and with space to work, Pitt’s offense should do enough to fly out of Florida with a win.
