Boston College Eagles at Pittsburgh Panthers

True freshman Mason Heintschel leads Pitt to 48-7 rout of Boston College

The 18-year-old Heintschel, a true freshman, made his first career start for Pitt (1-1, 3-2) in place of redshirt sophomore Eli Holstein. Heintschel is the first true freshman quarterback to win his first career start at Pittsburgh since Kenny Pickett in 2017.

Holstein was pulled after throwing two interceptions during last week’s home loss against Louisville. Holstein saw fourth-quarter action on Saturday with the result already decided.

“It was not my intention to mislead you,” said Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi, who told reporters during the week that Holstein was still the starter. “I wanted to eliminate distractions during the week. We needed to focus on what we needed to do and I think we accomplished that.”

Heintschel completed 30 of 41 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns against Boston College (0-3, 1-4), as Pitt raced to a 31-0 halftime lead and piled on 503 yards of total offense.

Kenny Johnson caught a career-high nine passes for a personal-best 115 yards and a touchdown, while Juelz Goff and Ja’Kyrian Turner rushed for scores with AP All-American running back Desmond Reid sidelined for a second straight game. Justin Holmes, Deuce Spann and Zion Fowler-El also caught Heintschel touchdowns, as Pitt snapped a seven-game losing streak against Power Four teams.

“I thought (Heintschel) delivered the ball and made good decisions,” Narduzzi said. “The biggest thing is we didn’t turn the ball over. When you don’t turn the ball over, you have a chance to win football games.”

Boston College entered with one of the top passing attacks in the country, but the Eagles suffered their fourth straight loss. Boston College had 136 yards of total offense until a late 80-yard scoring drive.

Dylan Lonergan completed 9 of 18 passes for 89 yards before he was pulled in the third quarter for Grayson James. Shaker Reisig threw a touchdown to Kaelan Chudzinski in the final two minutes of the game.

Boston College had 69 yards of total offense in the first half, including minus-9 yards rushing, as the Eagles punted four times, fumbled and turned the ball over on downs on six first-half drives.

“We did a terrible job,” Boston College coach Bill O’Brien said. “I did a bad job. I did not have them ready to play. I take full responsibility for what happened on that field.”

Fast start Heintschel guided Pitt to five scores in six first-half drives, including four touchdowns and a field goal.

Heintschel led the Panthers to a touchdown on his first drive, an 11-play, 76-yard series. Heintschel was 4-of-4 for 29 yards including a 14-yard touchdown pass to Holmes.

Pitt scored three touchdowns in the second quarter, including two scores in the last two minutes of the half. Johnson caught a 12-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1 to complete a nine-play, 66-yard drive. Goff rushed for a 3-yard touchdown and Turner added a 6-yard rushing score to give Pittsburgh a 31-0 lead 10 seconds before halftime.

“We have the guys around me to make my job easier,” Heintschel said. “I’m just trying to be as efficient as possible with this offense. We have a lot of work to do, but this is a step in the right direction.”

The takeaway Boston College: California handed Boston College a late loss last week, but Saturday’s game against Pitt wasn’t close. The road won’t get any easier starting next week with a home game against Clemson.

Pitt: Pittsburgh rebounded from a loss in which Louisville trailed by 17 points at one point. The Panthers also appear to have put any quarterback questions behind them thanks to Saturday’s four-touchdown showing from Heintschel.

Up next Boston College: Hosts Clemson next Saturday.

Pitt: Travels to No. 18 Florida State next Saturday.