QB stability, winning streak give Pitt high expectations for 2nd half

At the halfway point of the regular season, Pitt is 4-2 (2-1 ACC), having seized back some momentum following earlier stumbles with dreams of competing for an ACC title still alive.

But nobody, in or outside of the Panthers locker room, could deny the script for Pitt this season has been flipped on its head.

Most notably, gone is the much-pumped preseason narrative regarding Eli Holstein’s return at quarterback, as freshman Mason Heintschel has taken over and solidified his standing as starter.

In contrast to a few weeks ago, when Holstein and the Panthers looked lost, Heintschel, in guiding the team to a blowout over Boston College and an upset at ranked Florida State, has Pitt refocused.

“We will see and we saw — he’s a competitor,” coach Pat Narduzzi said of Heintschel. “He does a great job leading the offense. He wasn’t shaken by the road (environment last weekend in Tallahassee), he wasn’t shaken by throwing a pick, wasn’t shaken by throwing a second pick — he continues to come back. He’s just got a swagger about him.”

There was little about Heintschel’s quarterbacking to critique Oct. 4, when, in his first collegiate start, he threw four touchdowns and guided Pitt to a 48-7 win over Boston College.

But versus the Seminoles, Heintschel threw two interceptions and fumbled twice.

The 18-year-old didn’t let those miscues sink him or the Panthers, though, instead battling back to put together a winning effort, of which he was a key part, despite some mistakes.

In doing so, Heintschel impressed his coach with the way he handled adversity.

“Different quarterbacks can come in at different times and they throw a couple different picks, and you see they don’t react well to it. (Their) face changes. (They) get big eyes or different looks on the face. (Heintschel) didn’t have a different look. He had the same look that he had on the first series of the game to the last series of the game.”

While undergoing turmoil at quarterback, Pitt also had to get by without one of its most dynamic players in tailback Desmond Reid, who missed most of the West Virginia game and all of the Louisville and Boston College contests because of injury.

Returning to action at Florida State, Reid immediately connected with Heintschel as the latter threw him eight passes for 155 yards and two scores.

As Narduzzi said postgame: “We’re obviously a different offense when Des is out there.”

Regarding Pitt’s offensive potential with Heintschel: “The playbook is open. We feel we can do anything with Mason.”

Pitt’s one-score losses to West Virginia and Louisville will remain frustrating memories for Narduzzi and his players, regardless of how many weeks pass.

Since topping Pitt, WVU (2-4, 0-3 Big 12) has lost three straight to open league play, losing to Kansas, Utah and Brigham Young by a combined score of 127-38.

Louisville (4-1, 1-1) could still be in line to do damage in the ACC, yet its win over Pitt saw the Panthers blow multiple multi-score leads.

“We gave two games away,” Narduzzi said. “We gave one conference game away. But we’ve got a really talented football team that’s fun to watch, I think, in all phases, whether it’s blocked punts, return yardage on punts and kickoff, to offense and defense.

“I think we’ve got a talented team that’s fun to watch, and we’ll be at every game the rest of the year. We’ve been at every game so far. It’s not like it’s been 38-10 blowouts, and we’ve lost and you’re coming in here hang-dogging.”

Those losses still have the potential to handicap Pitt down the line, with margin for error reduced significantly if the Panthers are indeed to have a shot at a conference title.

But more pressing for Narduzzi is Pitt’s upcoming opponent, Syracuse, with the Panthers traveling to JMA Wireless Dome on Oct. 18.

Then focus will turn to NC State and Stanford.

After that, the Panthers run a November gauntlet, facing No. 13 Notre Dame, No. 12 Georgia Tech and No. 2 Miami in a row to conclude the regular season.

Pitt is far from a team without question marks.

Heintschel, despite showing major promise, must continue to pass tests each week.

On both sides of the ball, Pitt must guard against injuries, which are testing depth at offensive and defensive line.

Defensively, the Panthers have plenty of areas to improve in, such as limiting explosive plays like Florida State’s late 58-yard touchdown.

Though his team is not a finished product, Narduzzi feels like things are on track.

Now it’ll be on the Panthers to execute and earn desired results the rest of the way.

“We’re going to be in football games,” Narduzzi said. “We’ve just got to take care of the business at hand and worry about being 1-0. What happens in the end will happen in the end, but we’ve got as good a chance as anybody in the country.”