Pittsburgh dominates Syracuse, spoils Orange’s homecoming weekend

The Pittsburgh Panthers came to Syracuse, spoiling homecoming weekend by defeating the Orange 30-13. 

In an ACC rivalry dating back to 1916, Pitt leads the all-time series 46-32-3 over the Orange.  

Coming off a bye week, Orange fans brought the energy early, finally seeing their team in action since a Sept. 27 home loss to Duke.  

Since 2009, the Orange were 12-13 coming off the bye and were looking to bounce back, but the first drive of the game for starting redshirt sophomore quarterback Rickie Collins did not begin pretty, as his first pass of the game was intercepted by the Panthers’ Tamon Lynum. 

The Panthers pounced, as freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel tucked and ran the ball for a 36-yard score on 3rd and long to get his team on the board.  

The first drive of the game saw starting center Austin Collins go down with an injury; no player on the Orange has played more snaps this season than Collins. 

The Orange defense was alive during the game, as during the Panthers’ second drive, Heintschel’s pass was intercepted by sophomore defensive back Davien Kerr, picking up his 2nd INT of the season and setting up Syracuse on the Pitt 12-yard line.  

Collins wasted no time capitalizing on the defense’s efforts with an 11-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Darrell Gill Jr., tying the ball game up 7-7 near the end of the first quarter.  

Bouncing back is what Pitt did, as Heintschel would convert a 14-play drive into a 31-yard field goal by Trey Butkowski, as the Panthers would lead the Orange 10-7 early in the second quarter.  

What was looking to be a solid start to the game for Collins would change, as he threw his second interception of the game to Cruce Brookins. 

In the final minute of the first half, the Orange trailed by three when Brown elected for his team to be aggressive and push the ball down field. Syracuse went three-and-out, punting the ball back to Pitt,. Jack Stonehouse returned the kick 66 yards for a touchdown with two seconds left, giving the Panthers a 17-7 lead at halftime.   

The Orange decided to throw three straight passes in the final offensive sequence of the half, having coach Brown reflect on his coaching decisions post-game, saying it was one of the worst coaching decisions he’s made since his time here.  

“I feel as though I should’ve run the ball,” Brown said. 

The main storyline from the game came in the beginning of the second half with coach Brown pulling Collins for true freshman Luke Carney, who came in for two drives before Collins would finish the game. 

“I just want to be straight when it comes to the quarterback decision, right? We’re very young at quarterback,” Brown said. “And we have to develop. That was one of the reasons we got Steve (Angeli) at the second portal because we knew we were young. He (Collins) literally took no reps for three years. I’ve just got to do a better job of developing him.”

Collins would finish the game 15 of 31 with 126 yards, two passing touchdowns and three interceptions.  

Collins said that if the coaching staff felt Carney would be the one to create a spark for this team, he would be right there by the true freshman’s side. 

“I was all for it, whatever it takes for us to win,” Collins said. “He’s (Carney) more than capable of running the offense and running the show.”  

Brown reinforced the fact that Collins will be the starting quarterback going forward for the Orange, putting him in the best possible position to succeed.  

The Orange offense would struggle overall as a unit, converting four of 15 third downs, while only totaling 212 yards of total offense. 

A bright spot for the Orange was their defense, as the unit racked up seven sacks, which was led by the senior defensive lineman Kevin Jobity Jr., who had a team-high three sacks.  

Jobity Jr. felt like the unit played well tonight, but not up to their highest standards, despite forcing a turnover and holding the Panthers to convert four of their 15 third downs and Heintschel to just 13 of 24 passing for 143 yards. 

“We work hard as individuals and as a unit to get to where we wanna go because we have this bigger goal in mind,” Jobity Jr. said.  

The Orange fell to 3-4, losing their third straight game, the longest losing streak in Brown’s time here with Syracuse. 

Syracuse will be back on the road next Saturday against No. 12 Georgia Tech, who are 7-0 and first in the ACC. Kickoff will take place in Atlanta at noon on ESPN.