Pitt left Blacksburg with a 35-33 win over Virginia Tech on Friday night, a result that should put the Panthers in the AP top 25 after they improved to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the ACC.
Pat Narduzzi made that case clear afterward, and he had plenty to point to. Pitt won on the road, rallied to pull out a thrilling comeback, and added a third victory against a power-four conference opponent.
But the bigger story coming out of the game is the health of quarterback Mason Heintschel.
Heintschel went down on the first series of the second half while scrambling for a first down and absorbing a heavy hit near the sideline. He immediately reached for his knee, stayed on the field for several minutes, and eventually needed help getting off. He could not put weight on the leg as he left and later watched the rest of the game from the sideline on crutches.
Backup Holden Geriner stepped in and kept Pitt afloat, but the offense clearly changed after the injury. Geriner did connect with Blue Hicks for a 29-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, yet the rhythm and the play-calling never looked quite the same.
That is the concern now for Pitt if Heintschel is forced to miss time, because the true sophomore had been carrying the offense at a high level. In four-and-a-half games, he had thrown for 1,304 yards, 14 touchdowns and just one interception. He also had two games with at least six touchdown passes, a huge reason the Panthers entered the season with real optimism in a wide-open ACC.
For a while, it looked as if Pitt might turn a strong road performance into a painful loss. The Panthers led by 11 points in the fourth quarter while also holding a plus-four edge in turnovers, only to watch Virginia Tech claw back late. A safety, then a Hokies touchdown on the next drive, and suddenly the home team had the ball deep enough to put kicker John Love in range.
Love got the chance, too. His attempt at the buzzer drifted just wide of the right upright, and Pitt escaped with the win.
In Other News...
Virginia Tech Suddenly Has A Discipline Problem James Franklin Must Fix
Virginia Techs latest setback fit an ugly pattern that has started to follow James Franklins team around. After leading at halftime against Cal, the Hokies let another winnable game slip away, adding frustration to a stretch that has featured turnovers, penalties and an offense that has not been able to find steady production on the ground. It was the second straight week Virginia Tech held a halftime edge and still walked off the field empty-handed, the kind of trend that quickly turns a promising start into a discipline issue.
Franklin and his staff now have to clean up the details before the season gets away from them. The problems are broad enough to affect every phase of the game, and the repeated mistakes have left little margin for a team that has already seen close games tilt the wrong way. Virginia Tech does not need a complete overhaul so much as a sharper, more consistent standard, but finding it in the middle of a season can be the hardest fix of all. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Heads Into Georgia Tech With Two Troubling Questions
Virginia Techs open practice ahead of its trip to Georgia Tech offered a useful look at where the Hokies stand entering the week. James Franklin spent part of the session updating the health of key players and the teams overall performance, with offensive line depth and discipline both in focus as the Hokies try to clean things up before the next road test.
Brody Meadows was active in practice and appears to be trending in the right direction, while Montavious Cunningham remained limited as the Hokies monitored his injury status. Franklin also pointed to the teams penalty problems and the ongoing competition on special teams, where the kicking and punting roles remain unsettled as Virginia Tech continues working through the details before Friday. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Gets An Early Warning For Must Win Georgia Tech Game
The ACCs first availability report for Virginia Techs meeting with Georgia Tech arrived well before kickoff and gave both sides an early look at who may or may not be ready to go Saturday in Atlanta. The conferences new game-week report, which sorts players into available, probable, questionable, doubtful and out, matters more in a matchup like this, where Virginia Tech is trying to steady itself in a conference game that already carries plenty of weight.
Virginia Tech shows up with 11 players on the initial list, a number that will be watched closely as the week goes on, while Georgia Tech has a key offensive piece in running back Justice Haynes tagged as doubtful. With the game set for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on the ACC Network, the Hokies will be tracking those designations all the way to the final report, hoping the picture looks a little cleaner by the time they take the field. [Read more 🡒]