The Pittsburgh Football Podcast

Chris Gates | The Pittsburgh Football Podcast

Pitt walked out of Lane Stadium Friday night with one of its biggest wins in recent memory.

It also walked out a very different-looking football team.

The Panthers’ 35-33 win over Virginia Tech moved Pitt to 5-0, vaulted Pitt into the top 25, and gave Pat Narduzzi’s team another impressive Power Four win — this time on the road in a sold-out stadium against an undefeated opponent.

But the win came with an enormous cost.

Starting quarterback Mason Heintschel suffered a torn ACL and will miss the remainder of the season, ending what was developing into an incredibly promising year for the young quarterback.

There’s no point in minimizing what that means.

Everything changes now.

But Pitt’s season isn’t over.

Pitt’s ceiling undoubtedly changes

Before Heintschel went down, Pitt was beginning to find its rhythm against Virginia Tech.

The start was ugly. Virginia Tech jumped out to a 14-0 lead, Pitt’s offense went nowhere on its first few possessions, and Heintschel nearly threw interceptions on each of his first two passes.

Then Pitt settled down.

The defense adjusted. The offense started moving the football. And from late in the first quarter into the third, Pitt put together four touchdown drives over a stretch of roughly five or six possessions.

It looked like the Panthers had figured Virginia Tech out.

Then Heintschel went down.

That’s what makes the injury particularly frustrating. Pitt was 5-0, had just proven it could go on the road and compete in a major environment, and appeared to have a quarterback capable of giving this team a legitimate shot at reaching the ACC Championship Game.

That possibility isn’t necessarily gone.

But it certainly became much more difficult.

Heintschel gave Pitt an element that will be difficult to replace. His mobility, creativity and ability to make plays when things broke down created problems for defenses that probably won’t exist in the same way with Holden Geriner at quarterback.

Pitt can’t ask Geriner to be Heintschel.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to.

There’s reason to believe in Holden Geriner

What Geriner did Friday night shouldn’t be overlooked.

A fifth-year senior with very little meaningful college experience was suddenly thrown into one of the most difficult situations imaginable.

• Pitt was on the road.
• Lane Stadium was rocking.
• The game was tight.
• The Panthers had just lost their starting quarterback.

Geriner went 8-of-12 for 78 yards, threw a touchdown and didn’t turn the football over.

And even those numbers probably undersell how well he played.

Geriner delivered an excellent deep ball to Bryce Yates that had a chance to become a touchdown, but Yates was unable to locate it. Later, Geriner dropped another beautiful pass down the sideline to Blue Hicks for a touchdown.

The physical ability is there.

Geriner was an Elite 11 quarterback and a highly rated recruit coming out of high school who originally signed with Auburn. He never managed to find his way into a starting role there, or at Texas State last year in his second collegiate stop… But we’re not talking about a quarterback who lacks talent.

He’s big. He has a strong arm. And he showed Friday night that he’s capable of making throws Pitt will need him to make.

Now the challenge becomes building an offense around what he does well.

Pitt’s offense has to change

This probably can’t be the same offense Pitt planned to run with Heintschel.

Geriner isn’t the same athlete, and asking him to replicate everything Heintschel brought to the offense would be setting him up to fail.

Instead, Kade Bell and Pitt’s offensive staff need to adapt.

That probably means leaning more heavily on the running game.

Ja’Kyrian Turner is healthy again. Damon Ferguson and La’Vell Wright give Pitt additional options in the backfield. The offensive line has shown it can create movement in the running game.

But the Virginia Tech game also demonstrated why Pitt can’t simply become a run-first offense and expect that to be enough.

Once the Hokies realized Pitt wanted to protect its backup quarterback and lean on the run, they started loading the box and making life considerably more difficult.

Geriner is going to have to throw the football.

The key will be putting him in situations where he can be decisive.

• Quick throws.
• Defined reads.
• Get the ball out.

Get it into the hands of players like Blue Hicks, Censere Lee and Carson Kent and give them opportunities to make plays after the catch.

And when defenses start creeping toward the line of scrimmage, Geriner has already shown he has enough arm talent to attack them vertically.

Pitt doesn’t need him to become a superstar.

It needs him to be competent and run an efficient offense without making catastrophic mistakes.

The defense changes the equation

This is probably the biggest reason I’m not ready to dramatically lower expectations for Pitt.

The Panthers can play defense.

Virginia Tech averaged just two yards per carry Friday night. After scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions, Virginia Tech found life considerably more difficult against Pitt’s defense.

And in the second half — with Pitt’s offense struggling to sustain possessions and multiple defensive players dealing with injuries — the Panthers’ defense allowed just one touchdown.

That matters enormously now.

If Pitt can continue to stop the run, force opponents into obvious passing situations, pressure quarterbacks and create turnovers, Geriner doesn’t need to carry this football team.

Pitt can win games differently.

• Run the football.
• Play defense.
• Win field position.
• Create turnovers.
• Avoid giving opponents short fields.

And get enough competent quarterback play to score the points necessary to win.

It might not be as exciting as what Pitt could have become with Heintschel, but it’s a formula that can work.

Look at the schedule

This is the other reason I’m not ready to write off Pitt’s season.

Before the year, I predicted Pitt to finish 9-3.

Through five games, I expected the Panthers to be 4-1.

Instead, they’re 5-0.

They’ve already given themselves some margin for error.

Now look at what’s ahead.

North Carolina comes to Pittsburgh next. Then Pitt travels to Boston College before facing what appears to be its most difficult remaining challenge against Miami.

Georgia Tech, a team heavily in “rebuild mode” follows.

And when you look deeper into the schedule, some games that appeared considerably more intimidating before the season don’t look quite as daunting now.

Louisville has struggled and is 2-3. Cal has struggled and JKS doesn’t look like the same QB as last season.

There are still plenty of winnable football games on this schedule.

That doesn’t mean Pitt is guaranteed anything.

We still haven’t seen Geriner start and play an entire game. We don’t know how opposing defenses will attack him after having a full week to study his tendencies. We don’t know how Bell will reshape the offense or how Geriner will respond when Pitt falls behind and has to throw.

Those are significant questions.

We’ll start getting answers against North Carolina.

The goal shouldn’t change yet

Losing Heintschel is devastating because it felt like Pitt had found something special.

Hopefully his recovery goes smoothly and he gets another opportunity in 2027 to have the type of year it looked like he was beginning to build in 2026.

But this season still matters.

Pitt is 5-0.

It just went into Lane Stadium, fell behind 14-0, lost its starting quarterback and still found a way to beat an undefeated Virginia Tech team.

That doesn’t happen accidentally.

It happens because…

• Pitt has a legitimate defense.
• It has depth. It has running backs.
• It has playmakers.
• It has experienced coaches.

And apparently, it has a backup quarterback capable of being thrown into an incredibly difficult situation and helping his team win.

Does losing Heintschel make an ACC Championship Game appearance less likely?

Absolutely.

Does it make 9-3 or better impossible?

Not even close.

Pitt’s path has changed dramatically.

Its season doesn’t have to.