Desmond Reid racked up 200 yards from scrimmage, Ja’Kyrian Turner scored two rushing touchdowns and Pitt rallied for a 34-31 upset of a depleted, 25th-ranked Florida State team in Atlantic Coast Conference action Saturday afternoon in Tallahassee, Fla.
Reid, who missed the last two games with a lower-body injury, returned in epic fashion against the Seminoles. He finished with 155 yards on eight catches, 45 rushing yards and a pair of receiving touchdowns.
After Florida State took a 24-21 lead with 5:41 left in the third quarter, the Panthers (4-2, 2-1 in ACC) scored the next 13 points. Turner made it a 10-point game on a 3-yard touchdown run with 2:28 left.
The Seminoles (3-3, 0-3) got a touchdown back on a 58-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Castellanos to Micahi Danzy with 1:45 left, but were unable to recover the onside and ran out of time.
The loss is Florida State’s third in a row after its 3-0 start which included a top-10 upset of Alabama. It’s also its eighth consecutive ACC loss dating back to September of 2024.
True freshman quarterback Mason Heintschel, making his first career road start, completed 21 of 29 passes for 321 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Panthers.
Down two starting receivers and a starting tight end entering the game and then losing leading receiver Duce Robinson in the second quarter, Castellanos threw for 245 yards and three scores. Danzy had two of those touchdowns on a career-high 133 receiving yards.
The Panthers got off to a quick start, scoring touchdowns on their opening two drives. Pitt capped off an eight-minute opening drive that saw three fourth-down conversions with a 10-yard Turner touchdown run.
After Florida State tied it up with a Caziah Holmes 1-yard touchdown, the Panthers reclaimed the lead on a 24-yard catch by Reid with 14:21 left in the half.
The Seminoles tied the score once more on a 33-yard pass from Castellanos to Danzy.
Heintschel, after a hot start, threw interceptions on each of Pitt’s consecutive possessions late in the first half.
The second of those by Edwin Joseph with 1:26 left set up a 7-play, 88-yard scoring drive that ended with a 25-yard pass from Castellanos to Landen Thomas with six seconds left to give FSU a 21-14 halftime lead..
Pitt got a stop out of halftime and then tied the game at 21 on another Reid touchdown catch, this one from 16 yards.
The teams traded field goals before Jake Butkowski put Pitt ahead for good with a 34-yard field goal with 7:15 left.
