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.
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For the Hokies, the challenge is clear enough. They have the edge on paper and are favored by a slim margin, but the margin for error should be thin against a Pittsburgh team built to make opponents work for every yard. With both sides protecting perfect conference records, this feels like the sort of game that could turn on field position, a handful of drives, or one of those tight fourth-quarter sequences that usually decide ACC football in late-season play. [Read more 🡒]