ATLANTA — Mason Heintschel completed 20 of 27 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday as visiting Pittsburgh pulled off a massive 42-28 victory over Georgia Tech in Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Freshman Ja’Kyrian Turner ran for a career-high 201 yards — including a game-sealing 56-yard rush — as Pitt (8-3, 6-1) built a 28-0 lead and held on. The Panthers have to beat Miami next Saturday to clinch a spot in the conference title game.
Georgia Tech (9-2, 6-2) would have clinched a spot in the ACC Championship Game with a win. Haynes King threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw two interceptions in the loss. King also rushed for 76 yards and a score for the Yellow Jackets, who face No. 4 Georgia on Friday.
Trailing by 14, Georgia Tech threatened to cut its deficit to a touchdown, but King was picked off by Braylan Lovelace, who returned it 100 yards to push Pittsburgh’s lead to 35-14 with 5:55 left in the third.
The Yellow Jackets pulled within 14 again at the 8:26 mark of the fourth, as Jamal Haynes’ 4-yard rush cut the deficit to 35-21.
Georgia Tech then forced a Panther turnover on downs, before King connected with Isiah Canion for a 5-yard touchdown pass with 4:51 left, trimming Pitt’s lead to seven.
Turner then iced the game with a 56-yard rushing score with 2:41 left.
Heintschel began the scoring with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Johnson with 7:49 left in the first quarter.
After Pitt stuffed Georgia Tech on fourth down, the Panthers doubled the lead on Heintschel’s 19-yard pass to Justin Holmes.
Kavir Bains-Marquez then picked off King in Yellow Jackets’ territory, before Juelz Goff’s 1-yard rushing score gave Pittsburgh a 21-0 advantage with 39 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The onslaught continued after Georgia Tech’s three-and-out, as Heintschel’s 3-yard rushing score stamped an eight-play, 69-yard drive with 11:47 remaining in the first half.
Georgia Tech finally found the end zone at the 4:45 mark of the second quarter, as King’s 5-yard rush pulled the Yellow Jackets within 21.
After a Pitt punt, Georgia Tech trimmed its deficit in half on King’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Canion with 1:08 left.
Pitt’s Sam Carpenter missed a 47-yard field goal as time expired, leaving the Panthers’ halftime-lead at 14.
Georgia Tech was 4 of 18 on third and fourth downs in the contest.
