PITTSBURGH—After coming back to beat then-No. 15 North Carolina last Thursday, Duke looked like it was still living in the past Saturday.
On a cold, blustery afternoon, Pittsburgh blew out the Blue Devils 56-14 at Heinz Field. After initially fighting back from a slow start to cut the deficit to 21-14, Duke struggled to move the ball and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ unit failed to find an answer for the Panthers’ physical offense, which gained nearly eight yards per play.
“There [were] breakdowns in every aspect,” Blue Devil head coach David Cutcliffe said. “When that happens and they win the offensive and defensive lines of scrimmage, it’s a tough day.”
The loss—Duke’s worst since a 62-13 defeat to Alabama in 2010—is a significant blow to the Blue Devils’ chances of continuing their four-year bowl streak. Duke must now defeat Miami next Saturday and get some help from other teams to sneak in as a 5-7 squad thanks to its academic performance rating.
But if the Blue Devils play like they did for much of Saturday’s game next week, they will almost certainly miss the postseason.
After Duke ran for more than 200 yards against North Carolina, the Blue Devils (4-7, 1-6 in the ACC) registered just 25 rushing yards against Pittsburgh and the longest run of the day was a 14-yard scamper by redshirt freshman quarterback Daniel Jones.
The struggle in the running game meant that Jones faced heavy duress all game. Led by defensive lineman Ejuan Price, the Panthers registered five sacks and prevented Duke from attacking downfield.
“If you don’t move the ball between the tackles, it’s hard to run the ball. They leverage you outside with their alignment, so they challenge you to run between the tackles,” Cutcliffe said. “Our quarterback got hit a lot and we couldn’t run the ball. That’s never a good combination.”
Duke’s lone offensive touchdown came early in the first quarter with the Blue Devils down 7-0 following a lost fumble by junior running back Shaun Wilson and Pittsburgh’s first touchdown.
On a five-play, 59-yard touchdown drive, Jones briefly found a rhythm throwing screen passes, one of which went to sophomore T.J. Rahming for 43 yards. Duke then knotted the score when Jones connected with redshirt sophomore wide receiver Chris Taylor in the middle of the end zone for a six-yard touchdown.
That was as close as the Blue Devils would get, though.
Pittsburgh (7-4, 4-3) quickly responded with two consecutive touchdowns to build a 21-7 lead. One of those scores came when speedster Quadree Henderson took a jet sweep along the right sideline 52 yards into the end zone.
Knowles’ unit failed to find a solution to the Panthers’ various shifts and motions as redshirt junior running back James Conner and Henderson gashed the Blue Devils for 174 of Pittsburgh’s 224 rushing yards.
Henderson also returned a punt for a touchdown early in the third quarter to make it 42-14, and quarterback Nathan Peterman had no trouble finding open receivers downfield, compiling 237 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 completions.
“Their scheme was great,” Blue Devil cornerback Bryon Fields said. “Coach Knowles and the defensive staff had us prepared. We made some [mistakes] and let some guys run free that we shouldn’t have.”
Despite its early struggles, Duke had opportunities to come back. In the middle of the second quarter, Fields jumped a route before returning an interception 36 yards for a touchdown.
Although the Panthers answered with a 56-yard touchdown pass from Peterman to Jester Weah, the Blue Devils once again could have cut into the lead in the final minute of the half. Duke drove to the Pittsburgh 13-yard line, but freshman kicker A.J. Reed missed a 31-yard field goal. Reed is now 3-of-9 on field goal attempts this season.
“We could have been sitting there 28-17 and maybe recovered. We did anything but that,” Cutcliffe said. “I’ve always believed the first possession of the third quarter can affect the game. Unfortunately, so can the last possession of the first half.”
The second half was all Panthers. They quickly added to their lead when Peterman found Weah again for a 39-yard pass and Conner scored before Henderson delivered a knockout blow on the punt return.
The Blue Devils will now try to regroup before facing the Hurricanes on the road next Saturday in their regular-season finale.
“The thing we have to do is focus on how we’re going to respond to this. Responding to being shell-shocked like that is never easy,” Cutcliffe said. “We have to move on. We have an outstanding Miami team looming.”
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.