Pitt’s upset of Florida State produced plenty of highlights and explosive plays, but one call by offensive coordinator Kade Bell that wasn’t a touchdown or a massive gain was particularly interesting.

In the second quarter, on third-and-2 from Florida State’s 36-yard line, quarterback Mason Heintschel lined up in the shotgun, flanked by tailback Ja’Kyrian Turner.

After the ball was snapped, Heintschel rolled out to his right, with Turner positioned to receive an option toss.

Instead of feeding Turner on the perimeter, Heintschel flipped the ball to tight end Jake Overman, who then sneaked past the line of scrimmage for a 12-yard gain.

“We went back and looked at the Matt Canada offense and pulled out a couple shovel passes,” coach Pat Narduzzi said. “It’s a great wrinkle of our offense, and, every week, you want to have a different wrinkle of some sort, so that’s the one we used last week.

“It doesn’t work every week. Depends on who you are, what the defense is and that’s where game planning (comes in). How are they going to play this formation? What are they thinking they’re going to be in and can we execute it?”

Bunch Power Shovel Option pic.twitter.com/4z7NTLdtpn

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One play later, Pitt was in the end zone, as Heintschel threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Desmond Reid.

In the grander scheme of things, that play was insignificant.

But it was nonetheless a unique play that required perfect execution from all parties involved: Heintschel, Overman and the offensive line.

“There’s a timing aspect to it, but it was a great play call by coach Bell, the O-line executed it perfectly, Mason made the right read and I was able to kind of get the glory for it,” Overman said. “We’ve got a lot of stuff in the bag. Coach Bell knows when the right time to pull it out is.”

The play in the second quarter was not repeated, with Pitt going on to win 34-31.

But having tricks such as that presents advantages in keeping defenses off-balance.

“It constantly keeps defenses on their toes when we’re able to do things like that,” Overman said. “We have such a dynamic tight end room and, really, dynamic offense overall. Being able to throw in little wrinkles like that just keeps defenses guessing.”

The season has been an interesting one for Pitt’s tight ends room, with transfer Justin Holmes, Malachi Thomas and walk-on Josh Altsman having scored touchdowns heading into Saturday’s tilt against Syracuse.

Holmes has been a pleasant surprise, having joined the Panthers from Marshall, where he was utilized almost exclusively as a run blocker.

But in Bell’s offense, he has flourished as a receiver, leading Pitt tight ends with 10 catches for 96 yards and two scores.

Behind him is Thomas, who has made seven grabs for 93 yards and a touchdown.

Altsman, a Central Catholic alum, scored in Week 2 against Central Michigan and has five catches for 31 yards.

Statistically, Overman brings up the rear, having caught only four passes for 26 yards. However, he missed a pair of games (Central Michigan, West Virginia) because of injury.

By being options in Bell’s wrinkles, as well as through the air in general, Pitt’s tight ends continue to make an impact with their committee approach.

“I think we’ve shown that we can impact the game in all areas,” Overman said. “We have had games where we’ve had multiple tight ends in the end zone, and we’ve had games where maybe on the stat sheet, we’re not showing up, but we’re dominating in the run game.

“I think being able to have … multiple guys in the room who can go out and do their job. We’ve shown that, to be able to go out and affect the game positively in many ways.”

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