Pitt rallies to stun No. 10 S. Florida

Northern Iowa romped past Nicholls State, 34-14.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

TAMPA, Fla. — LeSean McCoy ran for two touchdowns and Bill Stull threw for another as Pittsburgh upset No. 10 South Florida 26-21 on Thursday night.

The Panthers (4-1, 2-0 Big East) have beaten the last three nationally ranked teams they have faced, including No. 23 Cincinnati and No. 2 West Virginia in 2007. They have won two of the last three games with South Florida (5-1, 0-1) in Tampa.

Stull finished 16-for-27 for 228 yards.

Quarterback Matt Grothe accounted for most of South Florida’s offense, but the Bulls didn’t score any points on offense in the first half. Grothe was 11-of-20 for 129 yards and rushed 11 times for 25 yards, including a 1-yard keeper for a TD in the third.

Grothe threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Jessie Hester in the fourth quarter to give the Bulls a 22-20 lead.

But Pittsburgh came right back to take the lead, covering 60 yards on three plays in a quick drive that ended with a 3-yard run by McCoy. The 2-point attempt failed.

N. Iowa 34, Nicholls St. 14.

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Pat Grace ran for two scores and threw a touchdown pass to lead Northern Iowa.

Grace ran for 92 yards and passed for 152 for the Panthers (3-2). He scored on two 2-yard runs and went 9-for-15 with a 36-yard TD pass to Jarred Herring.

The Panthers, who finished with 378 yards of total offense, scored the last 20 points of the game after Nicholls State tied it at 14-14 early in the third quarter. The Colonels (0-2) were playing for just the second time this season after having their first two games canceled due to hurricanes in the Gulf area.

Nicholls State finished with 376 yards. Vincent Montgomery passed for just 106 yards, but that included a 36-yard touchdown to Antonio Robinson.