It wasn’t a perfect day for the Panthers, but the trip to the West Coast ended in a 35-20 win over Stanford. Winners of five straight games, the Panthers head into the bye at 7-2 with the toughest stretch of the season coming up.
After a week off, the Fighting Irish come to town looking to end Pitt’s streak. Are the Panthers ready for the challenge? Thanks to Saturday’s win, Pitt has shown it has what it takes.
Heintschel’s rookie mistakes are necessary for the season’s final stretch
First-year quarterback Mason Heintschel has built plenty of goodwill among Pitt fans with his impressive start. However, Heintschel’s inexperience showed on Saturday, turning over the ball four times.
Three of those four turnovers came in the fourth quarter in Stanford’s red zone, and Stanford previously only had five takeaways all season. While Stanford wasn’t able to capitalize, Heintschel’s mistakes could have been costly against a stronger opponent.
While this may seem like a worrying trend that teams are starting to figure out the true first year, it’s good that Heintschel made these mistakes in a lower-stakes environment against a struggling Stanford team. Each turnover is an opportunity to learn and improve, and Heintschel will have some important lessons to learn coming into the final three games of the season.
Against Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and Miami, Pitt will have to play mistake-free football if they want a fighting chance. The entire season has led up to these three games, and Heintschel just played his fifth game as a starter. Saturday’s performance against Stanford is a crucial learning opportunity — one that Heintschel should be thankful for.
Ja’Kyrian Turner stepped up in a big way
Another true first year who has emerged as a big part of this Pitt offense is Ja’Kyrian Turner, a first-year running back who has filled redshirt senior running back Desmond Reid’s role. Reid has been on and off the field due to injuries, and in the meantime, Turner has become a focal point of the Panthers rushing attack.
Turner had the best day of his young career on Saturday, rushing 22 times for 127 yards, including a 37-yard rush in the second quarter. Turner also had a touchdown run in the first that was called back due to holding.
Turner is a big reason that the offense has been so prolific during this hot stretch, performing well when his number is called. It felt like the announcers were mentioning Turner nearly every other play when Pitt had the ball, and it’s encouraging to see him perform well, even when filling the shoes of a player as electric as Reid.
The ACC looks wide open. Can the Panthers make a run?
Saturday’s conference win moved the Panthers to 5-1 in ACC play, third behind Virginia and Georgia Tech. That early-season loss to Louisville is still haunting, but the Panthers have a chance to make some noise over their last three games. All games are must-wins, but the Panthers will face Georgia Tech, also 5-1 in the ACC, in Atlanta on Nov. 22, giving Pitt some control over its destiny.
Unfortunately for the Panthers, Virginia has a much lighter slate of games to end the season, facing Wake Forest, Duke and Virginia Tech to end the year. If the Cavaliers win all three, they would finish with an 8-0 conference record. Louisville, SMU and Duke are three other ACC teams with only one conference loss, but Louisville and SMU will also face each other on Nov. 22nd, in what could become a big day to decide who plays in the conference championship game.
Pitt can only control so much, but it can control how it finishes the season. All they can do now is beat who’s in front of them, with their first test coming against Notre Dame in two weeks.