Pitt was staggering after back-to-back losses. Then Mason Heintschel arrived

PITTSBURGH — Pat Narduzzi keeps putting tests in front of Mason Heintschel. And the Pittsburgh freshman quarterback keeps passing. The latest came at halftime last weekend at Florida State after Heintschel had thrown interceptions on consecutive possessions to give the Seminoles momentum. Narduzzi has been around plenty of quarterbacks during his 35-year coaching career. Not all of them handled adversity well. Their demeanor shifts. Not Heintschel's. "He continues to come back," Narduzzi said. "He's just got a swagger about him and a confidence that it doesn't matter." Two hours later, Heintschel was kneeling to finish off a 34-31 stunner, an upset the Panthers pulled off thanks in large part to a 321-yard, two-touchdown performance by their teenage quarterback who hardly looks overcome by the stakes or the stage. "I knew that the guys had my back for sure and they all told me that as well and they knew I wasn't going to let those two plays phase me," Heintschel said. And suddenly, a season that looked on the verge of spinning out of control after back-to-back losses to West Virginia and Louisville in September now looks considerably more promising. Heintschel's emergence, the return of do-everything running back Desmond Reid from a left leg injury, and the rise of a handful of other newcomers have combined to give Pitt (4-2, 2-1 ACC) a jolt. The Panthers head to Syracuse (3-3, 1-2) on Saturday with a chance to get right back into the mix in an ACC that appears to be wide-open behind early frontrunners No. 2 Miami and No. 12 Georgia Tech, both of whom are on the Pitt schedule in late November. "I think we've got a talented team that's fun to watch, and we'll be (in) every game the rest of the year," Narduzzi said. "We've been (in) 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. We're going to be in football games; we've just got to take care of the business at hand." He's not wrong. The Panthers had the lead in both of their losses well into the second half, only to let things get away late. Narduzzi pointed to the way Pitt responded against a Florida State team stinging after a loss to the rival Hurricanes as proof his group is maturing. "Our guys bowed up and knew it's a 60-minute game," Narduzzi said. "We came out and played four quarters. We played four better quarters than they did. That's what counts." Heintschel is hardly the only freshman making an impact. Cornerback Shawn Lee has fit in quickly in Pitt's aggressive press-man scheme. Running backs Ja'Kyrian Turner and Juelz Goff filled in capably — if not quite as explosively — while Reid recovered from a leg injury that briefly had him sporting a cast. Their production gave offensive coordinator Kade Bell options when Reid returned. Turner ran for a pair of scores against the Seminoles and the electric 5-foot-9 Reid did what he does as well as any back in the country: create havoc in open space. Reid had 200 yards of total offense, including 155 yards receiving, highlighted by a 16-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter that tied the game. While Narduzzi declined to call his current group of freshmen the best he's had in his 11 seasons, their development has created a kind of optimism that was hard to come by a few weeks ago. "It's opportunity," Narduzzi said. "Our guys have run with the opportunity."