NFL
By: Moose Gibson
The Pitt Panthers and quarterback Mason Heintschel duked it out against the UCF Golden Knights this Saturday afternoon in a rainy, lightning-delayed battle. The original kickoff was slated for 3:30 pm but was moved back to 4:35 pm. This was ESPN2’s 3:30 pm game so it couldn’t be moved up to noon.
Miami Ohio
This game comes after the monster game that Heintschel had last weekend in their season opener against the Miami Ohio RedHawks. He would end the day going 31/41 in the air with 453 passing yards, seven total touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Each of his touchdown passes went to a different receiver. The sophomore quarterback looked right at home, just how we all imagined and hoped. He spread the ball around well, looked poised, confident, and focused on picking apart the entire Miami Ohio defense. He didn’t try to play hero ball or do too much, which at times got him in some trouble last year, although the stat sheet wouldn’t say it for the most part.
UCF
This weekend, the Heintschel-led offense and the Panthers offense were not as potent as last week’s, much ado to the wet weather. The receivers were dropping passes left and right to start the game, and Heintschel air-mailed and under-threw his targets on a few occasions as well. He never looked fazed, which is a big step up in the right direction from last year, which is what you want as a Pitt Panthers fan. The pass game was spread around once again as well, with seven receivers having at least two targets apiece. Wide receiver Blue Hicks would lead the militia once again, with his 3 catches for 64 yards. After last week’s five catches, 114 yards, and a touchdown performance. This week feels abysmal, but he played a major role once again. No one else had over 30 yards receiving for the Panthers. Heintschel would end the wet afternoon with 202 yards in the air, no touchdowns, no interceptions, completing 18/29.
Off-Season Learning
It does look like offensive coordinator and QB coach Kade Bell did a lot for Heintschel. It was said that they studied a lot of film of Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees this offseason. A big issue for the Pitt signal caller was scrambling too early, instead of making his reads and staying in the pocket. Brees relied heavily on moving quickly in the pocket and stepping up in the pocket to make throws rather than rolling out and running with the ball. If Heintschel can master that aspect of the game, he can take his talent to a new level because he has an arm. It is just a matter of settling in and making the correct reads and not scrambling too early. He is still only a 19-year-old sophomore, so he indubitably has time to learn and add more knowledge to his game.
The Answer that Pitt Needed
The Panthers quarterback carousel has been awry ever since Kenny Pickett left for the 2022 NFL Draft. They have experimented with many different quarterbacks before finding the talented Mason Heintschel. He looks to be the stopgap that this Pitt program needed at quarterback. He has all the traits that you would want in a quarterback and looks to command Pitt for the foreseeable future in Pittsburgh.
