PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s the first time College Gameday has been in Pittsburgh for a Saturday matchup in decades. On a five-game winning streak, Pitt is hosting a Notre Dame team that was in the national championship game 10 months ago. And the Panthers are here with a true freshman quarterback.
It’s because of Mason Heintschel that Pitt has an identical record as the Fighting Irish and in position to make the ACC Championship game. And Pat Narduzzi is going to allow Mason Heintschel to be aggressive in the biggest game of his early career.
Whereas many might play this game not to lose with a quarterback with five career starts, Pitt trusts its young QB and will go for it against the ninth-ranked team in the nation.
“It gives me confidence because of the way he prepares,” said Pitt offensive coordinator Kade Bell of his belief in Heintschel. “When he’s in here and he knows everything that is going on and when he has an opinion of things he does like and doesn’t like.”
Bell said he respects his quarterback because he said Heintschel approaches every play in practice like it’s the last drive of the Super Bowl. That makes Bell, the others coaches and his teammates confident.
“He’s a natural born leader,” said tackle Ryan Baer, who had an offer from Notre Dame out of high school. “Ever since he got here, being in the huddle with him, he doesn’t stutter. He’s ready. He knows he belongs there, which is rare as a young guy. You don’t see any worry in him. He doesn’t let the lights get too bright, he's special."
It’s those intangibles that helped get Bell’s attention recruiting him out of Oregon, Ohio (a suburb of Toledo). Bell calls Heintschel a late bloomer, who finally grew to 6’2”. He said Heintschel never went to a lot of football camps because he was playing multiple sports. He also attended a small high school, all of the led to a lack of attention.
Bell said he likes to wait until he sees a potential recruit go through his junior season before he seriously considers a player, especially a quarterback. After he watched Heintschel’s tape he showed it to the rest of the coaches. They all decided to make him an offer. It was the only Power Four offer Heintschel got until really late in the process when his father’s alma mater, Michigan, tried to get in. But he stayed loyal, and what a find for Pitt.
“He’s a mature pro,” Bell said. “I’m going to be honest with you, I played the game and I wasn’t near as mature as he was at his age. I’ve been around it my whole life with my dad. I’ve seen a bunch of different quarterbacks on different teams, I’ve never been around a true freshman that prepares like an NFL 10-year vet.”
“He really does, he prepares like he’s playing for the Steelers. He loves it. He wants to get better and learn. The one thing I love about him is that he won’t make the same mistake twice, once he makes a mistake he’ll learn from it. That’s what make it fun to coach him because he’s never satisfied.”
“He’s always trying to get better.”
Even after wins, Heintschel will look for areas where he can improve. It began before he became the starting quarterback when he would stay after practice just to throw and get to know his teammates better.
With wins against Boston College, Florida State, Syracuse, NC State and Stanford, , he lifted his team to a place few thought possible after losing two straight and falling to 2-2.
Now with this huge game, Bell said he won’t overcoach. He wants to let this freshman be the player who made this team believe.
“He’s handled it like a pro,” Baer said. “It hasn’t gotten too big for him. He’s Mason, he came in as a leader, he’s still a leader. He’s a different cat than most freshmen are. He’s ready for the light.”
That light will be bright and Pitt is confident he will embrace it Saturday.