Pittsburgh 35, Virginia Tech 17
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 15, 2012
Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Temperature:
64°
Head Official:
Jeff Heaser
Attendance:
48032
By SportsDirect Inc.
Pittsburgh 35, No. 13 Virginia Tech 17: Tino Sunseri tossed three touchdown passes and Ray Graham ran for two scores and caught another as the host Panthers shocked the Hokies and gave first-year coach Paul Chryst his first victory.
Highly touted freshman Rushel Shell had 157 rushing yards for Pittsburgh (1-2), which dealt future ACC Coastal Division rival Virginia Tech (2-1) its first true road loss since October 2009 to snap the nation's longest active streak at 13 wins.
The Panthers intercepted Hokies quarterback Logan Thomas three times and recovered a fumble all in the first half, and piled up 305 yards en route to a stunning 21-3 halftime lead. Pitt had not forced a turnover in losses to Youngstown State – their first-ever FCS defeat – and Cincinnati.
After not finding the end zone until the final minute of last Thursday's 34-10 loss to the Bearcats, Pitt marched 75 yards on just six plays of their opening possession to jump on the Hokies, 7-0, capped by Graham's 12-yard touchdown dash.
The Hokies' trademark special teams produced their initial touchdown, as Kyshoen Jarrett returned a Matt Yoklic punt 94 yards early in the third quarter to make it 21-10. But the Panthers quelled the momentum with a fourth-down stop on Virginia Tech's next drive, and immediately went 65 yards the other way for a 28-10 lead on Graham's 18-yard touchdown reception.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Thomas had thrown four touchdown passes without an interception in Virginia Tech's previous two games this season. He finished with 265 passing yards, while Sunseri had 283. … Graham added his second score of the first half on a 5-yard run, two plays after a fumble recovery, to push the Panthers' margin to 21-0 with 13:28 to go before halftime. … Virginia Tech still leads the series, 7-5, but the Panthers have now won four straight, including their last previous meeting in 2003.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Virginia Tech |
|
Pittsburgh |
Logan Thomas
|
Player |
Rushel Shell
|
7 |
Attempts |
23 |
28 |
Yards |
157 |
4.0 |
Avg Yards |
6.8 |
0 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Receiving
Virginia Tech |
|
Pittsburgh |
Marcus Davis
| Player |
Mike Shanahan
|
4 |
Receptions |
5 |
129 |
Yards |
111 |
32.2 |
Avg Yards |
22.2 |
1 |
Touchdowns |
1 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Virginia Tech
|
324 |
59 |
265 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1.0 |
1 |
Pittsburgh
|
537 |
254 |
283 |
5 |
0 |
3 |
2.0 |
2 |