PITTSBURGH — The Pitt Panthers are 3-0, kicking off their ACC schedule with a victory over the Syracuse Orange. With their third straight home win, the Panthers took control of the game early, and despite a sloppy night for both teams, they didn’t let go.
The Panthers won this one on the ground. La’Vell Wright started things off with a two-yard scoring run with just over three minutes left in the first quarter. Damon Ferguson Jr. added to the lead in the second quarter with a 32-yard burst up the middle. Then, to kick things off in the second half, Mason Heintschel added a score for himself with a nine-yard run.
Syracuse’s scores came back-to-back in the second quarter, kicking a 42-yard field goal to end the half after Ahmad Miller ended a drive early on a two-yard touchdown run.
Things didn’t get better for the Orange throughout the second half. Despite the Panthers only adding another field goal to their scoring total, Syracuse didn’t get much offensive momentum going until deep into the fourth quarter when they drove 71 yards on 12 plays and kicked a 30-yard field goal with just under three minutes left to play.
From there, Pitt took the clock down to zero to win their third game in front of their home crowd in 2026, defeating the Orange 27-13.
Heintschel finished the night with 123 yards, completing 10 of 23 passes and throwing an interception. He also rushed for 41 yards and a score.
Ferguson Jr. led Pitt in rushing on 10 attempts, 102 yards and a touchdown. Wright wasn’t too far behind with 14 rushes for 81 yards and a score.
Carson Kent led all receiving options with two catches for 63 yards. Bryce Yates’ three receptions for 36 yards was the only other Pitt player to have more than 10 receiving yards.
The defense collected two sacks, eight tackles for loss and two interceptions on the night.
Pitt has one more home game to start the year, hosting Bucknell in Week 4. They then travel to Virginia Tech for their first road game of the 2026 season. They come back home afterward to face North Carolina.
From there, they head to Boston College and down south to face No. 5 Miami.
They finish their home games against Georgia Tech and Florida State before traveling to No. 23 Louisville and Cal to end the regular season.
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