After a tough 66-31 loss at North Carolina last week, Duke is holding its own against Pittsburgh with backup quarterback Parker Boehme under center.
The redshirt sophomore signal caller received the starting nod—the first of his career—after redshirt junior quarterback Thomas Sirk suffered an upper-body injury in the contest against the Tar Heels and was deemed unable to go. Boehme accounted for 252 total yards yards and scored one touchdown on the ground as the Blue Devils finished the first half tied with the Panthers at 10-10 Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium.
On the first play of the game, Boehme completed a 22-yard pass to senior running back Shaquille Powell for a first down, and got things started quickly for the Blue Devils. However, the possession ended in a punt, and Pittsburgh scored on the very next drive.
Pittsburgh’s first possession—a 92-yard drive—resulted in a touchdown when redshirt junior quarterback Nate Peterman was rushed out of the pocket and threw a lob to the right side of the end zone, which redshirt sophomore wide receiver Zach Challingsworth caught over junior safety Deondre Singleton.
Later in the first quarter, Duke responded with a touchdown of its own. Boehme completed a 52-yard pass to redshirt junior wide receiver Anthony Nash on third-and-fifteen, which brought the Blue Devils to Pittsburgh’s one-yard line. The Jacksonville Beach, Fla., native then carried up the middle for a touchdown—his fourth rushing touchdown of the season.
Duke came close to taking the lead early in the game, when Boehme carried for 77-yards to the Pittsburgh seven-yard line on a designed quarterback run play—the longest run of the season for the Blue Devils. Duke brought the ball down to the one-yard line, but failed to capitalize with a touchdown. On the first play of the second half, Duke attempted a fake field goal at Pittsburgh’s goal line, which resulted in a incomplete pass by redshirt freshman Nicodem Pierre.
Toward the end of the second quarter, Boehme engineered a 76-yard drive, which resulted in a 27-yard field goal by redshirt senior kicker Ross Martin.
As the half was coming to a close, junior kicker Chris Blewitt—who missed a chip shot last year that would have won the game for Pittsburgh—hit a 51-yard field goal to knot the game at 10 apiece.
Here are some observations from the first half:
-Redshirt sophomore quarterback Parker Boehme’s first throw in the start was a 22-yard completion to senior running back Shaquille Powell for a first down.
-On the kickoff following Pittsburgh’s opening drive touchdown, Duke survived a scare when DeVon Edwards fumbled, but the Blue Devils managed to retain possession.
-Late in the first quarter, Duke freshman wide receiver T.J. Rahming suffered an apparent knee injury, and needed help moving off the field. He returned to the field in the second quarter.
-On Pittsburgh's last possession of the half, Peterman fumbled the football when the center snapped it while he was trying to call time out, which made Blewitt's field goal attempt significantly harder.
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Jacob Weiss is a Trinity senior. His column, "not jumping to any conclusions," runs on alternate Fridays.