Third and goal: Pittsburgh vs. Duke

After dropping to 2-1 last week, Duke looks to bounce back against Pittsburgh in their first matchup as ACC foes. Kick off is at 12:30 p.m. at Wallace Wade Stadium. Here are the keys to this afternoon’s game:

Apply Pressure to Create Turnovers

Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback, Tom Savage, is a journeyman in the truest sense of the word. After starting as a freshman at Rutgers, Savage was sidelined with a hand injury early in his sophomore season. Unable to win the job back, he transferred to Arizona in 2010 and sat out in 2011. The hiring of Rich Rodriguez as head coach forced Savage to transfer again, this time to Pittsburgh, where he joined the team as a walk-on in 2012. Savage sat out last season and won the starting job with great showings this spring. Savage was once regarded as an NFL talent thanks to his remarkable arm strength, but has become notorious for occasional inaccuracy and poor decision-making. Last season, Pittsburgh had only ten turnovers, tying for the least in FBS. Savage, however, has had two interceptions in each of the Panthers’ games this year. Between turnover issues and questions at offensive line, where two redshirt freshmen, Gabe Roberts and Adam Bisnowaty, and a converted defensive end, T.J. Clemmings, see significant playing time, it is essential that Duke pressures the quarterback. The Blue Devils have only three sacks in three games, two of which came against a weak North Carolina Central team. Duke must run Savage out of the pocket and force him into bad decisions to create turnovers.

Continue to Run the Ball Effectively

Duke’s run game may have been their only bright spot last week against Georgia Tech. 132 of their 254 total yards and both of their touchdowns came on the ground. Running back Jela Duncan had a strong outing with 89 yards, a touchdown, and an average of 5.6 yards per carry. Coming into the season, there was no question that the offensive line would be able to protect the quarterback with guards Dave Harding and Laken Tomlinson and tackles Takoby Cofield and Perry Simmons, but there was concern that the unit would not create the holes necessary to run the ball consistently. That certainly has not been the case thus far, but in order to have continued success on the ground, Brandon Connette will have to establish the passing game to keep the defense honest. Duke’s run game may face their biggest challenge yet as Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald and free safety Jason Hendricks are two of the nation’s best at their respective positions and both excel at stopping the run.

Convert on Third Down, Lengthen Drives

Against Georgia Tech, Duke lost the time of possession battle by 17 minutes, converted on just three of 14 third down attempts and had only 13 first downs to Tech’s 28. In order to get the win against Pittsburgh, Coach Cutcliffe must find a way to keep his offense on the field for longer. Obviously, Duke must tie together a string of first downs to put points on the board, but it is essential that drives resulting in punts are lengthened as well. With the offense only on the field for short periods of time last week, the defense became fatigued and was unable to perform to the best of their ability. Not only is the unit responsible for providing the defense with a time to rest, but the offense must stay on the field in order to limit the opposition's offensive opportunities. With star receivers Devin Street and Tyler Boyd and a solid team of backs in James Conner and Isaac Bennett, Pittsburgh has too many weapons that are capable of putting up big numbers if given the chance.