Pitt QB Named Best in Nation

Heintschel's rise comes after a 53-34 blowout home win over the NC State Wolfpack. The freshman passed for 423 yards and three touchdowns in the win.

It was a historic performance for Heintschel as he set a new Pitt record for the most passing yards in a game by a freshman quarterback, was the first Pitt quarterback to surpass 400 passing yards in a game since Kenny Pickett in 2021, set the new Pitt record for longest passing touchdown in Acrisure Stadium history and was the first freshman quarterback to pass for 400 yards in a game in all of college football this season.

However, Heintschel still wasn't satisfied with his performance.

"Mason played great," Pat Narduzzi said postgame. "He's upset. He's in the locker room, upset that he missed some throws and missed that and could have done this better. But that's kind of how he is. He's not worried about what he did well. He's worried about what he can fix, and you gotta love that."

Heintschel has now completed 65.1% of his passes for 1,243 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions since taking over for Eli Holstein at the beginning of October. He has really excelled at home, completing 65.2% of his throws for 744 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions.

Heintschel was an overlooked three-star recruit out of Clay High School in Oregon, Ohio. Pitt was his only Power Five offer, as he received other offers from Akron, Toledo, Bowling Green, Kent State, Ohio, Liberty and Coastal Carolina.

Heintschel had an impressive high school senior year, where he completed nearly 70% of his passes for 2,444 yards and 35 touchdowns and led Clay to the 2024 NLL Cardinal Division championship in his final season.

Heintschel committed to Pitt in March 2024, signed his National Letter of Intent on Dec. 4 and early enrolled in January.