BC football handled by Pitt and freshman quarterback

The Boston College defense got undressed by a true freshman quarterback making his first career start.

Mason Heintschel completed 30-of-41 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns to lift the Pittsburgh Panthers to a 48-7 victory over BC in an ACC match on Saturday afternoon at Acrisure Stadium. Heintschel finished with a passer rating of 171.5.

“He did a great job and they had a good game plan for him,” said BC coach Bill O’Brien, who sounded more resigned than angry in the postgame press conference.

“They did a good job and he’s a good runner and he was poised.”

Pitt rolled up 503 total yards with 186 on the ground and 31 first downs. BC had 216 total yards with 27 on the ground and 11 first downs with three turnovers, two lost fumbles and an interception. BC quarterback Dylan Lonergan completed a pedestrian nine passes for 89 yards.

BC’s previous losses to Michigan State, Stanford and California could be described as hard luck. The loss to Pittsburgh was a humiliation. BC fell to 1-4 and 0-3 in the ACC and will host Clemson next Saturday night (7:30) at Alumni Stadium.

“Pitt did a great job, give Pitt a lot of credit,” said O’Brien. “We did a terrible job but a lot of credit to Pitt. I did a bad job. I did not have the team ready to play and I take full responsibility for what happened on that field.

“I have to do a better job. I have to figure out how to coach these guys better and get the staff and the players to understand how we want to play.”

Pitt coach Phil Narduzzi benched starting quarterback Eli Holstein during last Saturday’s 34-27 loss at Louisville and he was replaced by senior backup Cole Gonzalez. But Narduzzi elected to put Heintschel under center against BC.

It was obvious on the Panthers opening drive that Narduzzi did not put a lot on Heintschel’s game plate. Narduzzi employed a predictable vanilla base scheme that proved remarkably efficient. Heintschel marched the Panthers 76 yards on 11 plays and went up 7-0 on a 14-yard catch and run by tight end Justin Holmes with 7:22 to play in the first. Heintschel would become more emboldened as the game went on.

It also became obvious that BC was not going to establish a sustained running attack like it did versus California. BC went three and out on its first possession and turned the ball over on downs on its second on the Pitt 45.

“I don’t think it was all Dylan, we have to look at what was going on around him including us, what are we coaching and what calling,” said O’Brien. “We have to coach it better and we haven’t been able to do that.

“It’s disappointing but we just have to get back to work. We have to figure this out and see what we can do to get him going and in a better direction. Again, I don’t think it is all on him.”

BC caught a huge break when a 37-yard TD pass from Heintschel to Cataurus “Blue” Hicks was nullified by a holding call followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Despite being facing a first and 35, Heintschel converted on fourth and 11 to keep the drive alive. Pitt went up 10-0 on a 31-yard field goal by Trey Butkowski with 39 seconds to play.

Facing a third and nine from the BC 38, Lonergan connected on a 32-yard pass to tight end Jeremiah Franklin. While attempting to gain yards after the catch, Franklin was stripped by linebacker Kyle Louis who recovered the fumble on the Pitt 34. Pitt went 66 yards on nine plays and made it 17-0 on a 12-yard reception by Kenny Johnson with 6:25 on the board.

“There some protection issues, there was some route running and we weren’t running the ball,” said O’Brien. “I think we had minus rushing at halftime so it was not all on Dylan.”

Pitt went up 24-0 on a 12-play, 66-yard, drive that ended when tailback Juelz Goff plunged in from the 3-yard line with 1:56 to play in the half. Pitt went up 31-0 on a 6-yard run by Ja’kyrian Turner with 10 seconds on the board. Heintschel finished the half with 19 completions for 220 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions and a 169.5 passer rating.

BC fumbled on its first possession of the second half when Lonergan got strip-sacked and the Panthers capitalized on the miscue. Pitt went up 38-0 on a 10-yard pass from Heintschel to Deuce Spann with 9:08 to play in the third. O’Brien benched Lonergan for Grayson James on BC’s next possession and he promptly threw an interception.

BC avoided the shutout when third string QB Shaker Reisig completed a 3-yard touchdown toss to tight end Kaelan Chudzinski with 1:57 to play.

“When we pulled Dylan, it was 38-0 and Grayson is a senior,” said O’Brien. “It had nothing to do with anything except giving Grayson some reps and it was the same for Shaker at the end.”