Batko: Sunseri, Panthers find redemption in stunning win

With time winding down in the fourth quarter at Heinz Field on Saturday, a chorus of…

Facing adversity and criticism, Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri (12) played the best game of his career Saturday as the Panthers upset Virginia Tech.

Sheldon Satenstein, Senior Staff Photographer

With time winding down in the fourth quarter at Heinz Field on Saturday, a chorus of “overrated!” and “Go home, Hokies!” chants rang out from the Pitt student section.

In perhaps the biggest upset of the weekend in college football, first-year head coach Paul Chryst and the Panthers routed No. 13 Virginia Tech, 35-17, while erasing all of the festering frustration following Pitt’s two abysmal losses to start the season.

Make no mistake, those blemishes against Youngstown State and Cincinnati are still in the record book. But they might as well be buried under old “high octane” shirts and posters.

Pitt’s win at home over the previously undefeated Hokies came as a day of atonement for the Panthers involved in the upset.

First and foremost, Chryst notched his first career win as a head coach, and after the game it wasn’t hard to see the usually reserved former quarterback holding back his joy.

Senior running back Ray Graham — a Heisman candidate before tearing his ACL last October — scored his first touchdowns of the season and was a big part of a Pitt triumph for the first time in more than 10 months.

Rushel Shell, Graham’s freshman counterpart in the backfield, played a huge role in a Panther victory for the first time ever.

Barreling through the Virginia Tech defense for 157 yards on 23 carries, the western Pennsylvania native left not only linebackers and safeties in his dust, but also an early season suspension that sidelined him for the opener against Youngstown State.

Junior safety Jason Hendricks, like Graham, was also having a career year last year before missing the final five games of the season.

Hendricks, who started every game in 2011 before injuring his shoulder, opened the 2012 season as a second stringer on Pitt’s depth chart. His two interceptions on Saturday, along with the two other turnovers the Panthers forced, were the first signs of life the Pitt defense has shown under Chryst.

Early on in the fourth quarter, senior wide receiver Mike Shanahan dropped a perfectly thrown sure-touchdown pass from Tino Sunseri that would have put the game away.

Just four plays later, Sunseri came back to Shanahan again, lofting the ball to him in the back right corner of the end zone. He caught that one.

It was around that time when swarms of orange and maroon filed out of the stadium, much like Panther fans are so accustomed to doing.

And then, after the final second ticked off the clock and each side took to midfield to shake hands, the players danced and celebrated in front of the students who cheered them on all game.

But one player in particular remained stoic throughout all the hoopla.

Sunseri, standing in one of the end zones that he and his teammates found so often on Saturday, raised the game ball high above his head and pointed it slightly toward the stands in a show of appreciation.

“The student section was down there cheering the whole game. I felt like this was the loudest that I’ve seen Heinz Field,” Sunseri said after completing 19-of-28 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns. “The fans were into it, and I was just saying ‘thank you.’”

Following the game, when reporters asked how he manages to stay focused amid the incessant public scrutiny, Sunseri’s mood quickly soured.

“I don’t know. I just go and do my job,” he responded sharply.

Staring firmly straight ahead, Sunseri didn’t flinch when prompted again.

“I just do my job.”

Whether the hardened starting quarterback will continue to do his job — and whether we’ll see that post-game pose again this season — is anybody’s guess.

But I can guarantee that the often disparaged Sunseri, who constantly deals with those same fans he acknowledged calling for him to be benched, has seldom felt so good.

Contact Brian at bkb22@pitt.edu.