Tino Sunseri put forth a tremendous effort, throwing for 419 yards and two touchdowns as the Pittsburgh Panthers coasted past the Connecticut Huskies, 35-20, on a rare Wednesday night meeting at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA.
Pitt (4-4, 2-1 Big East) took control of the game early on, grabbing a 21-3 lead by halftime and the Panthers never looked back. The Panthers recorded 529 total yards (433 passing, 96 rushing) while UConn (3-5, 1-2 Big East) had 316 yards (202 passing, 114 rushing) in the loss.
Johnny McEntee threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns on 17-of-33 passing and Lyle McCombs rushed for 124 yards on 25 carries for the Huskies. Kashif Moore caught six passes for 106 yards and a touchdown.
Sunseri opened up the scoring with an eight-yard touchdown run with 10 minutes left in the first quarter. Mike Shanahan then caught a 17-yard touchdown from Sunseri with 54 seconds left in the opening quarters.
Dave Teggart split the uprights on a 40-yard field goal to put UConn on the board with 7:17 to go in the second quarter, but the Panthers tacked on another touchdown on a three yard run from Zach Brown with 2:38 to go before halftime.
The Huskies controlled the second half, scoring three touchdowns, but they were unable to mount a complete comeback. Moore caught a 62-yard touchdown pass from McEntee with 11:35 left in the third quarter. Teggart kicked a 31 yard field goal with 4:08 left in the quarter, trimming the Huskies' deficit to 21-13.
Sunseri then found Shanahan for a 27-yard touchdown pass with 2:04 left in the third, giving the Panthers a 28-13 advantage. Pittsburgh score another touchdown, their final one of the game, on a 14-yard pass from Ronald Jones to Devin Street with 3:22 left in the game. McEntee threw his final touchdown, a 14-yard strike to Ryan Griffin, with 43 secnds left in the game.
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