Pitt football star Mason Heintschel gets major award after dominant Week 1 performance

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Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Heintschel had one heck of a start to the 2026 college football season on Saturday.

He was lights out against Miami (OH), helping Pitt win in blowout fashion, 59-14. Heintschel threw for 453 yards and seven touchdowns, helping Pitt get to 1-0.

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His performance was so strong that he earned Maxwell Award Player of the Week honors. He was also named the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week.

His seven touchdown passes tie a single-game record for Pitt football, and he’s the first FBS quarterback since Joe Burrow to pass for at least 450 yards and seven touchdowns without throwing an interception.

Another thing that stood out was Heintschel’s ability to distribute the ball to different wideouts. All seven of his touchdown passes went to different wide receivers.

This is Heintschel’s second season with the program after finishing the 2025 season with 2,354 yards through the air, 16 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He appeared in 10 games last year.

Heintschel and Pitt will get a tougher test this Saturday when UCF comes to town. UCF is coming off a 73-6 home win over Bethune-Cookman last Saturday.

This will hopefully be a good game, and it’s set to get underway at 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

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