Syracuse’s trip to Pitt on Sept. 17 lands against a Panthers team that looks familiar in all the usual ways: talented enough to matter, inconsistent enough to leave people wondering what exactly to make of them.
That was the story last season, too. Pitt went 8-5 overall and 6-2 in conference play, climbed as high as No. 23 in the AP Poll, and still somehow felt like a team that never fully kicked the door down. The big reason for the optimism was true freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel, who took over early and gave the Panthers a real jolt.
Heintschel opened the year behind sophomore Eli Holstein, but Holstein’s lingering injury issues pushed the freshman into the lineup for the second game of the season. By Week 5, Heintschel had locked down the starting job for good. What followed was a fast start: Pitt won the first six games Heintschel started, including victories at FSU and Syracuse, and he also threw for three touchdowns against NC State.
Then the momentum stalled. An expected home loss to Notre Dame was followed by a defeat at UMiami two weeks later, and the Panthers never quite recaptured that early rhythm. Heintschel still finished with 2,354 passing yards and 16 touchdowns, though the growing pains showed up in the eight interceptions that came with a freshman season.
Even with that uneven finish, Pitt brings back a lot. The Panthers did not lean heavily on the portal, unlike plenty of teams around them, and instead signed a class of 17 players that ranked 62nd nationally. Their most notable addition is Raion Strader from Miami (OH), a local product who was first team All-MAC as a freshman.
There are also pieces in place to help the defense. Linebackers Alex Sanford and Demarco Ward, who arrived from Purdue and Memphis, respectively, could give the Panthers a boost as they try to replace Kyle Lewis and Rasheem Biles. But the name to watch in that group is returning outside linebacker Braylan Lovelace.
On offense, the support around Heintschel is strong enough to matter. Running back Ja'Kyrian Turner and wide receiver Catarus Hicks are both back, giving Pitt more continuity around its young quarterback.
Turner broke out as a true freshman, starting five games and leading the team with 745 rushing yards while scoring seven touchdowns. Hicks is also coming off a productive season.
Pat Narduzzi enters his 12th year as Pitt’s head coach, and the usual expectations seem to apply again: 10-2 on the high end, 6-6 on the low end. The Panthers will have to make the most of a relatively soft schedule and get consistent buy-in on both sides of the ball if they want to push past that familiar middle ground.
For Syracuse, though, this looks like a chance to grab a rare road win in Pittsburgh. The prediction here is a 24-13 Orange victory.
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The search eventually led Syracuse in a different direction after Adrian Autrys three seasons on the sideline produced a 49-48 record, including a strong first year followed by two losing seasons. Wildhacks comments underscore how much the decision still lingers around the program, especially with Gerry McNamara later returning to the job after a national search and after proving himself elsewhere, a twist that only adds to the sense that Syracuses post-Boeheim reset was never going to be simple. [Read more 🡒]