Senior quarterback Tino Sunseri completed 18 of 24 passes for 344 yards and three touchdowns Saturday to propel the Pittsburgh Panthers to a 55-10 rout of Gardner-Webb at Heinz Field. The victory was Pitt's second straight and helped improve its record to 2-2 on the season, while the Runnin' Bulldogs, a Football Championship Subdivision program, remain winless at 0-4.
Pitts' senior running back Ray Graham carried the ball eight times for 92 rushing yards and one touchdown, a 78-yard burst that helped Pitt take an early 7-0 lead with 3:23 to go in the first quarter.
After a late first-quarter field goal form Gardner-Webb cut the Panthers lead to 7-3, Pitt used a 20-point second quarter to take a 27-10 lead into halftime. Freshman running back Rushel Shell and wide receiver Devin Street each scored touchdowns in the second quarter.
The Panthers cemented the game by scoring 28-unanswered points in the second half, the last two coming on rushes from sophomore running back Isaac Bennet who scored from three and 11 yards out in the fourth quarter. Bennett's two scores followed two third-quarter touchdown passes from Sunseri to senior wide receiver Mike Shanahan.
Shanahan finished the game with five catches for 144 receiving yards and two touchdowns, the last being a 77-yarder that helped give Pitt a 41-10 lead with a minute to play in the third quarter.
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