Pitt holds a narrow 20-17 halftime lead over South Florida in their first Big East game of the season. So far, despite some mistakes, the Panthers have outplayed the Bulls for the most part.
USF turned a turnover on Pitt’s opening drive into an early 7-0 lead on a B.J. Daniels touchdown run. Freshman Darius Patton fumbled the ball on a trick play and the Bulls scored with little trouble. Pittsburgh settled down after that, though, with touchdown runs by Tino Sunseri and Ray Graham and two field goals by Kevin Harper, who after starting slow this season, has converted on his past six attempts.
Sunseri is having his best game of the season. He’s a modest 14-23 for only 118 yards, but has suffered several drops, including a sure long touchdown pass inexplicably dropped by a wide open Mike Shanahan. Shanahan then followed that up by another key drop and Pitt was forced to settle for a field goal.
Running back Ray Graham has been the star of the game thus far. He’s got the touchdown and already over 100 yards and has added three receptions for nearly 30 more yards.
South Florida will get the ball to start the second half.