Syracuse comes off its bye week on Saturday, hoping to get on track after back-to-back Atlantic Coast Confeence losses. The Orange will host longtime rival Pitt.

The Orange were sitting at 3-1 after a 34-21 upset win on the road over Clemson on Sept. 20. But it was a costly victory as starting quarterback Steve Angeli was lost to a season-ending Achilles injury, leaving inexperienced redshirt sophomore Rickie Collins to run the offense.

On the season, he’s completed 53 of 96 passes (55.21%) for 607 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions. After Syracuse averaged 38.3 points per game over the first four games, the Orange scored just 21 points total in losses to Duke and SMU.

 Head coach Fran Brown committed to Collins this week.

“Rickie is our quarterback. We’re sticking with Rickie,” Brown told reporters Monday. “I want to make sure you understand that. When something else happens, you’ll be the first to see if you watch the game.”

Brown said he is seeing improvement by his quarterback.

“He’s picking up on our offense,” Brown said. “He’s starting to understand a lot more and ID stuff better, so we’re excited about that.”

Pitt also has switched quarterbacks, shifting from sophomore Eli Holstein to true freshman Mason Heintschel in an effort to spark the offense and cut down on turnovers. Holstein was benched in the second half of the Panthers’ 34-27 loss to Louisville, and Heintschel has led the team to two straight wins: 48-7 over Boston College on Oct. 4 and a 34-31 upset at No. 25 Florida State last weekend.

In his second start, Heintschel was 21-of-29 passing for 321 yards and two touchdowns, adding 64 rushing yards. Against Florida State, he led the ACC in passing yards, yards per attempt (11.07) and total offense (385 yards).

How to watch Pitt at Syracuse

• Who: Syracuse Orange (3-3, 1-2 ACC) vs. Pitt Panthers (4-2, 2-1 ACC)
• When: Saturday, Oct. 18, 7:30 p.m. ET
• Where: JMA Wireless Dome, Syracuse, N.Y. (Capacity 42,774)
  
• TV: ACCN
• Announcers: Chris Cotter, Max Browne
• Radio: ESPN Syracuse 97.7 and 100.1 FM or 1200 and 1140 AM; SiriusXM 193 or 37``1
• Series history: Pitt and Syracuse are very familiar foes, their series dating to 1916. Pitt holds a 44-33-3 lead in the series. They’ve competed against each other as independents and Big East opponents and now as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Since the shift to the ACC in 2013, Pitt has a 10-2 lead. Pitt has won 19 of the past 23 games against Syracuse.
• Last meeting: The Panthers defeated the Orange by a 41-13 score in Pittsburgh on Oct. 24, 2024.