Football: Pitt crushes South Florida to clinch bowl berth

In head coach Paul Chryst’s first season, the Pitt football team endured embarrassing losses like the one to FCS-school Youngstown State and near misses like the the triple-overtime defeat against national-championship game participant Notre Dame.

But in spite of the disappointment and drama, the Panthers (6-6, 3-4 Big East) will play in their fifth straight bowl game after a decisive 27-3 victory over a struggling South Florida (3-9, 1-6 Big East) Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

Pitt senior quarterback Tino Sunseri, who has received his fair share of criticism throughout his three years as a starter, led the team yet again, passing for 211 yards with a touchdown and eclipsing the 3,000-yard mark. And senior running back Ray Graham passed the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career, rushing for 93 yards and two touchdowns as Pitt crushed the Bulls to finish the regular season.

It became clear early on that South Florida was outmatched by the battle-tested Panthers.

After an unsuccessful opening drive by Pitt, junior safety Jason Hendricks intercepted a pass from South Florida quarterback Matt Floyd and returned it to the Bulls’ 21-yard line.

Eight plays later, Graham punched it in from one yard out. After the Panthers had the lead, the result was never in doubt.

Pitt outgained the depleted USF squad in yardage 327 to 115. The Bulls, who lost star quarterback B.J. Daniels three weeks to an ankle injury against Connecticut, committed four turnovers, giving the Pitt offense solid field position on multiple occasions during the game.

Led by Sunseri and Graham, the Panthers took advantage of South Florida’s mistakes.

Entering the second half with a 13-0 lead, Pitt quickly shut down the Bulls’ offense, ending the drive with a sack by junior defensive tackle Aaron Donald.

Pitt sophomore receiver Ronald Jones, who was playing in the place of suspended Panther senior Cam Saddler, returned the ensuing punt to the Bulls’ 31-yard line, and Graham scored on another 1-yard rush nine plays later to put Pitt ahead 20-0.

Pitt senior wide receiver Mike Shanahan shined on Saturday night in front of an announced crowd of 35,341, catching nine passes for 116 yards.

For USF, the performance was one they’ll likely hope to forget.

Starting in place of Daniels, Floyd passed for 93 yards with three interceptions and just 12 completions. The Bulls’ running game didn’t fare much better, with Demetris Murray gaining only 13 yards on 12 attempts.

A strong performance by Pitt’s defense stifled USF’s offense. Donald and the rest of the Panther front seven prevented the Bulls from establishing any sort of sustained attack.

The Bulls’ only points on the board came on a 26-yard field goal by kicker Maikon Bonani when Pitt led 27-0 with 5:08 left in the fourth quarter, to which the crowd booed.

With the loss to Pitt, South Florida finished the season losing nine of its final 10 games, and there have been suggestions that head coach Skip Holtz won’t be returning next year.

The Panthers now await an announcement on where they’ll play and who they’ll face in the team’s bowl game, which will give Pitt an opportunity to finish the season with a winning record.

Representatives from the Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl, the BBVA Compass Bowl and the Pinstripe Bowl have mentioned the Panthers as attractive candidate for bowl bids. The decision will be announced in the next few days.