Putting Up Numbers· college football

Pittsburgh’s passing yards with Mason Heintschel and without Mason Heintschel

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Against what the season’s ratings expected, Pittsburgh was 3.4 yards over with Mason Heintschel and 28.9 yards over without Mason Heintschel over its last 25 games, 13 games against 7. The plain averages are 280.6 and 266.3, a difference of 14.4. Expected was 22.4 yards higher with Mason Heintschel than without Mason Heintschel.

Mason Heintschel, quarterback: 3,658 passing yards, 464 pass attempts and 299 completions in 15 of those 25 games, 86% of Pittsburgh’s passing yards in those games.

passing yards a game over expected

A −25.5 difference in passing yards over expected with Mason Heintschel vs without Mason Heintschel is about what you’d expect.

A +14.4 difference in passing yards with Mason Heintschel vs without Mason Heintschel is about what you’d expect.

The games

with Mason Heintschelwithout Mason Heintschel
Pittsburgh’s games, last 25 games, each marked with Mason Heintschel or without Mason Heintschel
SideDateGameResultpassing yardsExpected
Nov 23, 2024@LouisvilleL190261.5
Nov 30, 2024@Boston CollegeL299250.0
Dec 26, 2024vsToledo (neutral)L137268.5
Aug 30, 2025vsDuquesneW302—
Sep 6, 2025vsCentral MichiganW340258.8
Sep 13, 2025@West VirginiaL303284.4
Sep 27, 2025vsLouisvilleL259225.6
Oct 4, 2025vsBoston CollegeW331257.4
Oct 11, 2025@Florida StateW321214.2
Oct 18, 2025@SyracuseW140258.9
Oct 25, 2025vsNC StateW423274.6
Nov 1, 2025@StanfordW304271.6
Nov 15, 2025vsNotre DameL149247.3
Nov 22, 2025@Georgia TechW226263.0
Nov 29, 2025vsMiami (FL)L199232.8
Dec 27, 2025vsEast Carolina (neutral)L256276.0
Sep 5, 2026vsMiami (OH)W480272.6
Sep 12, 2026vsUCFW212247.2
Sep 17, 2026vsSyracuseW123246.4
Sep 26, 2026vsBucknellW574—
Oct 2, 2026@Virginia TechW191248.9
Oct 10, 2026vsNorth CarolinaL219213.4
Oct 17, 2026@Boston CollegeL193173.8
Oct 24, 2026@Miami (FL)L334245.4
Oct 31, 2026vsGeorgia TechW180224.5

Method

Read against .

  • Expected is an offense and a defense a team, fit over every game of its season between two teams in the table with the game being read left out, plus 1.8 in 2025, plus 4.1 in 2026 for the home team (the edge the fit finds once strength is in), nothing at a neutral site.
  • Each expected number is then fit to the season’s games: a game bears out about 68% in 2025, 59% in 2026 of the difference the model predicts.
  • The shuffle keeps the season’s shape: the games are cut in two where one date leaves the least variance, each game is read against its stretch, and the sides are shuffled only inside each stretch.
  • Duquesne, Bucknell have no other game in the table, so those games have no expected number and sit out the second figure.
  • Who played is read from the schools’ box scores’ participation lists for 21 of these 22 games; in the other game a player is counted as in it when the box score has a stat for him.
  • With him means he was the team’s quarterback that game, at least half of its pass attempts; a game he left early or came into late reads as without him.
  • 3 games in 2024 are neither with Mason Heintschel nor without Mason Heintschel: Mason Heintschel had no game for the team that season, and sit out.