Mason Heintschel

#6 · QB · So. · Pittsburgh6′2″ · 215 lb · Oregon, OH · Clay

ZPR5059th of 119 QBs Last gameW 34–11vs Georgia Tech · Oct 31

Nextvs Florida StateFri Nov 13 · 7 pm ET

via pittsburghpanthers.com ↗

Did not play in Pittsburgh’s last 4 games.

Holden Geriner started the last one, W 34-11 vs Georgia Tech, Oct 31.

Pittsburgh’s next game: vs Florida State, Fri Nov 13, 7:00 p.m. ET · ESPN

Pittsburgh has won all five of the games played. A balanced passer.

Strongest: 8.8 yards an attempt, 24th best of 158 starters.

Plays most like Mandal, Fresno State.

Passing yards

1,304

98 of 148, 66%

TD–INT

14–1

8.8 per throw

NCAA rating

170.1

11th of 119

ZPR

59th of 119

How ZPR works

Graded Solid against Bucknell, the last full game; solid or better in 3 of 5 graded games.

Best by our grade: Miami (OH). Lowest: Syracuse, with 1 interception and sacked 2 times.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

Miami (OH)

W 59–14·Unranked

Great

Carried by the third quarter · 453 yds, 7 TD, 0 INT · Rush 5 for 23 · Sacked 1

Heintschel on pace for 84 TD passes this year. I think that’d be a record.
Pittsburgh fan

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 14 points of win chance. Win chance: 68% to 82%.

Full game page

UCF

W 12–7·Unranked

Solid

Steady all game · 212 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · Rush 7 for 13 · Sacked 1

Heintschel has a big time arm
Pittsburgh fan

Biggest swing: a Q1 incompletion cost the team 13 points of win chance. It flipped the game against the team: 62% to 50%.

Full game page

Syracuse

W 27–13·Unranked

Rough

123 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT · Rush 11 for 41, 1 TD · Sacked 2

What is wrong with Heintschel
Pittsburgh fan

Biggest swing: a Q3 run added 11 points of win chance. Win chance: 84% to 96%.

Full game page

Bucknell

W 59–0·FCS

Solid

403 yds, 6 TD, 0 INT · Rush 3 for 33 · Sacked 0

Biggest swing: a Q1 completion added 16 points of win chance. Win chance: 64% to 80%.

Full game page

at Virginia Tech

W 35–33·Unranked

Left in Q3

Last pass came in the third quarter; Holden Geriner finished the game · 113 yds, 1 TD, 0 INT · Rush 4 for 2 · Sacked 1

Heintschel is questionable? That’s good news
Pittsburgh fan

Biggest swing: a Q2 completion added 22 points of win chance. Win chance: 25% to 48%.

Full game page

North Carolina

L 17–21·Unranked

Did not play

at Boston College

L 21–27·Unranked

Did not play

We paid a lot of money for Heintschel. The backups are just bad.
Pittsburgh fan

at Miami

L 23–52·Ranked #1

Did not play

Georgia Tech

W 34–11·Unranked

Did not play

Season

Quarter by quarter

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Dashed outlines on the Season row are last season’s average. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Balanced

Why this word

Runs4.4 a gameRarelyA lot

Throws8.5 yards past the lineShortDeep

Completes62% by play-by-playFewerMore

Takes sacks4% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws at a middling depth and runs some. 4.4 carries a game. Closest matches: Mandal, Warren, Madsen, Coleman.

Where the throws go

Behind the line9%typical 17%

Short59%typical 47%

Middle19%typical 22%

Deep13%typical 14%

Runs 4.4 times a game; 52% of starters run less.

Closest in style

Nearer the middle means more alike.

Mandal Fresno State · Balanced
1,595 yards, 10 TD, 2 INT so far. Both are efficient and protect the ball.
Warren Stanford · Pocket passer
2,203 yards, 14 TD, 3 INT so far. Both protect the ball and avoid sacks.
Madsen Boise State · Chain-mover
1,681 yards, 15 TD, 1 INT so far. Both score a lot and protect the ball.
Coleman James Madison · Balanced
1,743 yards, 16 TD, 4 INT so far. Both avoid sacks and score a lot.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

RecordPittsburgh is 6-3.
Fans after Georgia Tech
This game just makes me sad about Heintschel’s iniury
Pittsburgh fan

What’s being said

38 stories in the last 60 days, from 21 outlets.

Stories per week. W and L: the team’s results.

Mason Heintschel injury update: Pitt QB suffers torn ACL, out for season

ESPN +2 Oct 3

All 58 stories this season

His most important play this season

Q2, 0:31 · Pittsburgh down 10Mason Heintschel finds Cataurus Hicks for a 22-yard touchdownPittsburgh at Virginia Tech, week 5Q2, 0:31 · Pittsburgh 21, Virginia Tech 24Pittsburgh scored with 0:31 left in the halfPittsburgh scored with 0:31 left in the halfM.Heintschel pass complete short right to C.Hicks caught at Hokies18, for 22 yards to the Hokies00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN, kick goodWatch from this play

All 6 of his plays on video

Mason Heintschel

QB · Pittsburgh · #6

Pushes it downfield on every look. Second year in the Pittsburgh quarterback room. The first one came in 2025: All-ACC. One game to point at: 453 passing yards and 23 rushing yards against Miami (OH) — Week 1, 2026.

1,304 passing yards · 14 passing TD · 112 rushing yards

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2026	Pittsburgh	98	148	66.2%	1,304	8.8	14	1	170.1	50
2025	Pittsburgh	201	316	63.6%	2,357	7.5	16	8	137.9	40
Career		299	464	64.4%	3,661	7.9	30	9	148.2	43

Season	Team
2026	Pittsburgh	30	112	3.7	1	21
2025	Pittsburgh	86	88	1.0	2	36
Career		116	200	1.7	3	36

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 5 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	Grade	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	SK	RUSH	Note
Wk 1	W 59-14vs Miami (OH)	Great	31/41	453	7	0	11.0	—	1	23	Season-high 453 yds
Wk 2	W 12-7vs UCF	Solid	18/29	212	0	0	7.3	44.1	1	13
Wk 3	W 27-13vs Syracuse	Rough	10/23	123	0	1	5.3	37.8	2	41
Wk 4	W 59-0vs Bucknell	Solid	29/37	403	6	0	10.9	88.6	0	33	6 TD passes
Wk 5	W 35-33@ Virginia Tech	Left in Q3	10/18	113	1	0	6.3	32.2	1	2
Total			98/148	1304	14	1	8.8	—	5	112

The season, game by game

W 35-33 at Virginia TechOct. 2113 yds10 of 18, 1 TD

Play by playOn the field

10 of 18 for 113 yards and a touchdown. He was 3 of 7 on third and fourth down.

4 of 8 of his drives scored
3 of 7 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked once
3 runs for 11 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
Punt0 of 2, 0 yds1
Punt0 of 1, 0 yds
Punt2 of 3, 8 yds
TD3 of 3, 42 yds2
Second quarterbegan down 14-7
TD2 of 5, 22 yds
Punt0 of 1, 0 yds
TD1 of 1, 22 yds
Third quarterbegan down 24-21
TD2 of 2, 19 yds3
FinalW 35-33

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
2-yard run on 3rd and 10. First quarter, down 7-0.
2
30-yard completion to Bryce Yates. First quarter, down 14-0.
3
7-yard run on 3rd and 8. Third quarter, down 24-21. Converted.

102030405030

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 59-0 vs BucknellSept. 26403 yds29 of 37, 6 TDBig game · Box score only

A big game: 29 of 37 for 403 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

3 more games, with the play by play

W 27-13 vs SyracuseSept. 17123 yds10 of 23, 1 INT

Play by playOn the field

10 of 23 for 123 yards and an interception. He ran 9 times for 56 yards, after 16 runs in his other four games combined.

5 of 10 of his drives scored
3 of 8 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked twice
9 runs for 56 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
Punt1 of 2, 38 yds12
TD2 of 4, 14 yds
Second quarterbegan up 7-0
TD0 of 1, 0 yds
FG1 of 3, 25 yds
Int3 of 6, 18 yds3
Third quarterbegan up 17-10
TD—
Punt1 of 1, 8 yds
Fourth quarterbegan up 24-10
Punt1 of 2, 2 yds
FG0 of 3, 0 yds
Half1 of 1, 18 yds
FinalW 27-13

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
38-yard completion to C. Kent. First quarter, tied 0-0.
2
Sacked for a 5-yard loss on 3rd and 11. First quarter, tied 0-0.
3
Intercepted. Second quarter, up 17-7. Picked off by Syracuse’s D. Kerr.

102030405038

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 12-7 vs UCFSept. 12212 yds18 of 29

Play by playOn the field

18 of 29 for 212 yards. He was 4 of 13 on third and fourth down.

2 of 10 of his drives scored
4 of 13 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked once
6 runs for 20 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
Downs1 of 3, 41 yds123
Punt0 of 1, 0 yds4
FG7 of 10, 62 yds
Second quarterbegan tied 0-0
Punt2 of 3, 28 yds
Punt1 of 2, 10 yds
TD2 of 3, 19 yds
Third quarterbegan tied 0-0
Punt—
Punt1 of 1, 18 yds
Fourth quarterbegan tied 0-0
Punt3 of 4, 24 yds
Punt1 of 2, 10 yds
FinalW 12-7

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
41-yard completion to Cataurus Hicks. First quarter, tied 0-0.
2
5-yard run on 3rd and 9. First quarter, tied 0-0.
3
Incomplete to Censere Lee on 4th and 4. First quarter, tied 0-0. Turnover on downs. Broken up by UCF’s A. Jackson.
4
Incomplete to Cataurus Hicks on 3rd and 8. First quarter, tied 0-0.

102030405041

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 59-14 vs Miami (OH)Sept. 5453 yds31 of 41, 7 TDBox score only

31 of 41 for 453 yards and 7 touchdowns.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

Highs and lows

Only games with 20 or more plays count for best and lowest.
Best by our grade	Miami (OH)	W 59-14 · Graded great · Carried by the third quarter · 453 yds, 7 TD, 0 INT · Rush 5 for 23 · Sacked 1
Lowest by our grade	Syracuse	W 27-13 · Graded rough · 123 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT · Rush 11 for 41, 1 TD · Sacked 2
Most talked about	Miami (OH)	Fans named the quarterback more in this game than in any other, W 59-14 · Graded great · Carried by the third quarter · 453 yds, 7 TD, 0 INT · Rush 5 for 23 · Sacked 1

Where he ranks

Stat	His	Nation	ACC
Passing yards	1,304	95th of 370	15th of 48
Yards an attempt	8.8	T-22nd of 152	6th of 19
Touchdown passes	14	T-31st of 370	T-6th of 48
Passer rating	170.1	13th of 152	4th of 19
Completion percentage	66.2	T-47th of 152	8th of 19
Rushing yards	112	100th of 370	10th of 48
Rushing touchdowns	1	T-117th of 370	T-12th of 48

Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game.

All ACC quarterbacks

Rk	Quarterback	Yards	TD	INT	Att	Y/A
1	Kevin Jennings	2,433	21	5	251	9.7
2	Darian Mensah	2,425	25	1	233	10.4
3	Davis Warren	2,203	14	3	308	7.2
4	Giovanni Lopez	2,176	18	1	228	9.5
5	Ethan Grunkemeyer	2,140	17	2	262	8.2
6	Lincoln Kienholz	2,094	12	3	208	10.1
7	Ashton Daniels	1,968	14	11	214	9.2
8	CJ Bailey	1,955	13	4	244	8.0
9	Billy Edwards	1,871	15	5	235	8.0
10	Alberto Mendoza	1,795	10	6	240	7.5
11	Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele	1,751	11	6	264	6.6
12	Walker Eget	1,641	9	3	215	7.6
13	Beau Pribula	1,587	14	3	212	7.5
14	Mason McKenzie	1,450	8	7	201	7.2
15	Mason Heintschel	1,304	14	1	148	8.8
16	Tait Reynolds	1,287	3	3	211	6.1
17	Steven Angeli	1,186	7	5	171	6.9
18	Holden Geriner	886	4	2	132	6.7
19	Jackson Brousseau	701	3	0	120	5.8
20	Malachi Nelson	532	3	2	70	7.6
21	Amari Odom	391	6	2	47	8.3
22	Corey Dailey	316	3	3	35	9.0
23	Eli Holstein	282	3	0	34	8.3
24	Luke Nickel	204	3	1	20	10.2
25	Dan Mahan	175	3	1	22	8.0
26	Grady Adamson	135	1	0	27	5.0
27	Bryce Baker	127	1	0	14	9.1
28	Ty Hawkins	117	2	0	14	8.4
29	Christopher Vizzina	102	1	2	23	4.4
30	Steele Pizzella	85	0	0	9	9.4
31	Trent Pearman	80	0	2	13	6.2
32	Danny Lauter	74	1	0	11	6.7
33	Femi Babalola	49	0	0	5	9.8
34	Mike Mitchell Jr.	46	0	0	10	4.6
35	Cole Geer	45	1	0	7	6.4
36	Terry Walker III	44	0	0	4	11.0
37	Will Wilson	35	2	0	12	2.9
38	Dereon Coleman	30	0	0	6	5.0
39	Briggs Cherry	24	0	0	2	12.0
40	Miles O'Neill	22	0	0	6	3.7
41	Kevin Sperry	21	0	0	5	4.2
42	Davin Wydner	19	1	0	4	4.8
43	Charlie Fiser	8	0	0	2	4.0
44	Cole Leinart	5	0	0	1	5.0
45	Brock Bradley	0	0	0	1	0.0
46	Charlie Mirer	0	0	1	1	0.0
47	Grayson Wilson	-1	0	0	5	-0.2
48	Ryan Zimmerman	-1	0	0	1	-1.0

Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.

Touchdown passes14tied for 6th in the ACC this season.

Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.

Opponents faced, by strength

Ratings of the games shown run from -4 to +9 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).

Pass targets

Hicks and Lee saw 52 of the 149 charted throws.

Receiver	Targets	Catches	Yards	Throw depth	After catch
Cataurus Hicks	29	14	286	15.8	7.9
Censere Lee	23	14	182	8.3	4.4
Bryce Yates	16	15	240	11.9	4.9
Carson Kent	15	12	157	5.5	7.4
Damon Ferguson Jr.	12	10	75	4.2	5.4
8 others	50	33	374	7.3	5.4
No receiver charted	4	The interception is among these

Play by play: 149 passes, 99 caught, 1,314 yards; the box score counts 148 attempts. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.

Passing profile

Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

98/148 (66.2%) · 14 TD · 1 INT

All 148 box-score attempts covered (play-by-play lists 149 passing plays)

146 of 149 attempts charted for true throw depth

Totals here are the box score's. Play-by-play lists 149 passing plays (99 completions) against the box score's 148 attempts (98 completions), and the depth buckets use play-by-play.

Adjusted ANY/A

9.847 of 185 QBs

Sack rate

3.3%32 of 185 QBs

Rarely sacked (32 of 185 QBs) and still 7 of 185 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

8% of attempts (12)

92%comp

Air -3.2 · YAC 12.0 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

56% of attempts (82)

70%comp1 INT

Air 4.3 · YAC 5.0 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

21% of attempts (30)

63%comp

Air 14.1 · YAC 3.9 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

15% of attempts (22)

41%comp

Air 27.1 · YAC 7.2 avg

Overall 66.2% completion on 148 attempts · 41% completion on 22 deep attempts (20+ air yds).

Teams and coaches

2 seasons under Pat Narduzzi, all balanced offenses — 14-8 over that span.

2025Pittsburgh8-5HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced

2026Pittsburgh6-3HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 47 (#76 of 146). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

47Rotational starter #76 of 146 · 2025?

12 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: epa / dropback (94th percentile). Strength: interception rate (92nd percentile). Concern: rush tds (30th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

EPA / dropback#10 / 157 · 94th pct

0.43

Interception rate#12 / 157 · 92nd pct

0.7%

Success rate#22 / 157 · 86th pct

49.3%

Sack rate#23 / 157 · 86th pct

3.2%

Explosive rate#32 / 157 · 80th pct

13.4%

Box-score rates (7)

Interceptions#5 / 159 · 93rd pct

Yards / att#23 / 159 · 85th pct

8.8

Pass TDs#32 / 159 · 78th pct

Completion %#49 / 159 · 69th pct

66.2%

Rush yards#81 / 159 · 49th pct

112

Pass yards#98 / 159 · 39th pct

1304

Rush TDs#98 / 159 · 30th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / dropback

66th → 94th percentile

Success rate

35th → 86th percentile

Explosive rate

56th → 80th percentile

Sack rate

12th → 86th percentile

Interception rate

37th → 92nd percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Zeitgeist Passer Rating

2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.

After 136 dropbacks

50Zeitgeist Passer Rating59th of 119 FBS QBs

NCAA passer rating 170.1 11th of 119 FBS QBs

ZPR ranks this quarterback 48 places lower than passer rating does: passer rating rewards the low interception count, which ZPR treats as mostly luck; and the schedule adjustment debits the defenses faced.

Positive-play rate weight 24%

46.6%47th pct of FBS QBs

share of dropbacks that gained expected points · -4.2% schedule adj.

Yards per attempt weight 56%

7.3440th pct of FBS QBs

sacks excluded · -0.7 schedule adj.

Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)

4.2%75th pct of FBS QBs

the input passer rating cannot see · +0.6% schedule adj.

Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (16 of 152 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. How ZPR is built.

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2026 season · 5 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home4g	298	3.2	8.6	0.2
Road1g	113	1.0	6.3	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-75g	261	2.8	8.2	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pat Narduzzi

Pass share

49.1%

315 pass / 326 run

Plays / game

71.2

9 games

Scheme: Balanced.

Pittsburgh’s quarterbacks

Mason Heintschel	Threw in 5 of 9 games · 98 of 148, 1,304 yds, 14 TD, 1 INT · 8.8 yards an attempt on 148 attempts · ran for 112 yds, 1 TD
Holden Geriner	Threw in 6 of 9 games · 77 of 132, 886 yds, 4 TD, 2 INT · 6.7 yards an attempt on 132 attempts · ran for 38 yds, 0 TD
Corey Dailey	Threw in 4 of 9 games · 17 of 35, 316 yds, 3 TD, 3 INT · 9.0 yards an attempt on 35 attempts · ran for 9 yds, 0 TD

Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Who threw in each quarter. Blue: Mason Heintschel. Gray: Holden Geriner, Corey Dailey. From the play by play.

Q1Q2Q3Q4Miami (OH)UCFSyracuseBucknell@ Virginia TechNorth Carolina@ Boston College@ MiamiGeorgia Tech

Awards

Player standing · 2026

148 pass attempts and 30 carries in 5 games

About as many passes and runs a game as a typical FBS quarterback who plays every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #11 of 17 ACC QBs

How the All-ACC base rate is computed

A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 22% of returning players who ranked #11–20 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 19–25%).

Mason Heintschel

Style of play

This week

What’s being said

His most important play this season

In the news in the last 60 days

What they’re talking about

In the news this season

What they’re talking about

Week by week

In the news across his career

What fans said

In the game threads

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

The season, game by game

Highs and lows

Where he ranks

Pass targets

Passing profile

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Pittsburgh’s quarterbacks

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Awards

148 pass attempts and 30 carries in 5 games

Two seasons at Pittsburgh

2025 10 games