TAMPA, Fla. —
Ray Graham rushed for a pair of touchdowns and went over 1,000 yards Saturday night to help Pitt become bowl eligible with a 27-3 rout of struggling South Florida.
Tino Sunseri threw for 211 yards and one TD for the Panthers (6-6, 3-4 Big East) to join Graham in giving Pitt a 3,000-yard passer and 1,000-yard rusher in the same season for the first time in school history.
USF (3-9, 1-6) finished its second straight losing season by losing nine of 10 following a 2-0 start, a slide that could cost coach Skip Holtz his job. A year ago, the Bulls dropped seven of eight following a 4-0 start that vaulted them into the Top 25 before a 44-17 loss to Pitt.
Graham scored on a pair of 1-yard runs, Sunseri tossed a 2-yard TD pass to J.P. Holtz, and a Pitt defense that’s allowed just nine points the past two weeks held USF to 117 yards and forced four turnovers, including three interceptions of Matt Floyd in the redshirt freshman’s second career start.
Pitt bounced back from losing its first two games to Youngstown State and Cincinnati to qualify for a postseason berth for the fifth straight season. Along the way, the Panthers gave top-ranked Notre Dame its toughest test before losing in triple overtime. They also rebounded from a disappointing loss to Connecticut to upset Rutgers 21-6 and put themselves in a position to extend their first season under coach Paul Chryst.
Despite forcing turnovers on the Bulls’ first three possessions of the game, Pitt only led 13-0 at the half. Jason Hendricks’ interception and 10-yard return to the USF 21 set up Graham’s TD and a sack-fumble led to Kevin Harper’s 25-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
USF failed to take advantage of Marcus Shaw’s long kickoff return to the Pitt 48 when Floyd was intercepted for the second time after moving his team to third-and-goal at the Panthers 5. Linebacker Todd Thomas broke on a throw intended for Demetris Murray and returned the pick 33 yards up the left sideline.
Sunseri extended his streak of consecutive passing attempts without an interception to 270. However, Pitt failed to establish much of a rhythm on offense before getting in the end zone twice within a five-minute stretch of the third quarter. Graham’s second TD put the Panthers up by 20, and Sunseri’s 19th TD pass of the season made it 27-0.
USF fell to 16-21 under Holtz, who led the Bulls to an 8-5 record and their sixth consecutive bowl trip two years ago. He inherited a program built from scratch with expectations of contending for Big East titles, but has gone 5-16 in the conference.
An announced crowd of 35,141 that appeared much smaller booed when USF’s career scoring leader Maikon Bonani trotted onto the field to kick a 25-yard field goal to avert a shutout.
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