Sunseri’s throwing, Graham’s running lead Pitt by New Hampshire 38-16

Sunseri, Graham lead Pitt by New Hampshire 38-16

PITTSBURGH — Tino Sunseri threw for two touchdowns in a span of 5 minutes and backup running back Ray Graham ran for 115 yards and two scores to help Pittsburgh pull away for a 38-16 victory over New Hampshire on Saturday.

Pitt (1-1) bounced back from an opening game overtime loss at No. 20 Utah and denied the Wildcats (1-1) — ranked No. 6 in the Football Championship Subdivision — their sixth consecutive victory over an FBS opponent.

Sunseri, whose interception in overtime led to Pitt’s opening game loss, came back to throw a 2-yard scoring pass to Cam Saddler with 18 seconds left in the first half, making it 17-3. Sunseri followed that with a 56-yard TD pass to Jon Baldwin with 4:42 gone in the second half.

Sunseri went 24 of 34 for 275 yards and an interception, while Baldwin made six catches for 100 yards.

Graham, picking up the yards that starter Dion Lewis couldn’t gain, ran for touchdowns of 64 and 8 yards in the second half during his first career 100-yard game.

Lewis, a second team All-American while rushing for 1,799 yards as a freshman, was held to 27 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries and has 102 yards in two games — or 217 yards fewer than he had last season.

With Lewis struggling to gain yards early, Pitt turned quickly to Sunseri’s throwing. Sunseri, a sophomore and the son of Alabama assistant coach Sal Sunseri, repeatedly took advantage of mismatches in size and speed between Pitt’s receivers and New Hampshire’s defenders to keep drives going.

Sunseri found Saddler for 13 yards and Mike Shanahan for 10 yards ahead of Lewis’ 2-yard scoring run that gave Pitt a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter. Sunseri scrambled for 26 yards and a first down at the Wildcats’ 11 in the closing minute of the second quarter, and a pass interference penalty on Kyle Flemings led to Saddler’s touchdown.

New Hampshire, coming off a 33-7 victory over Central Connecticut State, drove 89 yards in 11 plays for Dontra Peters’ 2-yard touchdown run midway through the third quarter to get to within 24-10, but Graham’s two touchdowns gave Pitt a comfortable 28-point lead.

Peters was held to 15 yards on 11 carries after rushing for 197 in the Wildcats’ opener. R.J. Toman was 15 of 29 for 183 yards and an interception as New Hampshire was outgained 445-298.

Pitt is 9-0 against FCS opponents, with its closest call coming in a 48-41 victory over Villanova in 1998.