What we learned from Duke’s loss to Pittsburgh in an ACC football game
A football season already in a downward spiral got worse for Duke on Saturday.
ACC Coastal Division-leading Pittsburgh routed the Blue Devils 54-29 at Wallace Wade Stadium, handing Duke its fifth consecutive loss.
The Blue Devils (3-6, 0-5 ACC) also saw starting quarterback Gunnar Holmberg suffer an upper-body injury late in the first half. He did not return to the game.
While Duke lost its top quarterback, one of the ACC’s better signal-callers had another strong day against the Blue Devils defense. Pitt’s Kenny Pickett threw for 416 yards, the sixth time this season he’s surpassed the 300-yard mark in a game.
Pickett completed 28-of-43 passes while throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for another. Pitt wide receiver Jordan Addison caught seven passes for 171 yards, catching one touchdown pass and running for another score.
Pitt (7-2, 4-1 ACC) took a 7-0 lead only to see Duke respond with 12 consecutive points to take the lead. Holmberg’s 32-yard touchdown pass to Jalon Calhoun was part of that surge as was a safety when Duke tackled Pitt running back Vincent Davis in the end zone.
Pickett’s 47-yard touchdown pass to Addison, giving him 11 receiving scores this season, put Pitt in front 14-12.
Duke bounced back again as Jaylen Stinson returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown that gave the Blue Devils a 19-14 lead.
But the Panthers scored the final 16 points of the first half on Pickett’s 22-yard touchdown run and three Sam Scarton field goals to lead 30-19 at intermission.
Pickett added a 29-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Bartholomew on Pitt’s first possession after halftime giving the Panthers a 37-19 lead.
Here’s what we learned from Duke’s latest defeat:
Holmberg injury hits hard
Duke starting quarterback Gunnar Holmberg suffered what Duke called an upper-body injury late in the first half and did not return to the game after being taken for X-rays. That’s a significant blow for Duke’s offense.
The 6-3, 205-pound Holmberg was injured while being sacked. His left shoulder (non-throwing side) hit the turf under the weight of two Pitt defenders and the X-rays were to examine his clavicle and ribs.
Prior to his injury, Holmberg completed 16-of-23 passes for 174 yards with a touchdown on Saturday. For the season, he is 178-of-257 passing (69.2%) for 2,034 yards with seven touchdown passes and six interceptions. He’s also run for six touchdowns.
True freshman Riley Leonard took over as Duke’s quarterback when Holmberg went down. He showed some promise, leading a scoring drive that culminated with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Mataeo Durant.
But Leonard’s overall performance was mediocre as he completed 6-of-13 passes for 63 yards with the one touchdown and one interception.
Mataeo Durant reached a milestone
Duke senior running back Mataeo Durant continued to put together a memorable personal season even while his team absorbs loss after loss.
After entering the game with 973 rushing yards for the season, Durant gained 89 yards on 24 carries to become the first Duke player in 18 years to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
The last Blue Devil with 1,000 or more rushing yards in a season was Chris Douglas (1,138 yards) in 2003. Durant is just the sixth player in Duke history to reach 1,000 yards.
With three games to go, Durant still has a solid chance to break Duke’s single-season rushing record of 1,236 yards, set by Steve Jones in 1972. With 1,062 yards, he needs 174 yards to tie the record. That’s an average of 58 yards per game.
The Blue Devils brought early passion
Given the uncertain situation with the coaching staff going forward, and coming off losing their past two games by a combined score of 93-7, the Blue Devils impressively brought the battle to heavily favored Pittsburgh.
The Panthers twice took leads only for Duke to jump back in front in the first half. Pitt took a 30-19 lead at halftime, but the Blue Devils didn’t look like a team that was mentally and emotionally defeated before it took the field. Given the way the season has gone lately, that was notable.
Duke’s defense remains porous
The Blue Devils entered the game last in the ACC in total defense, allowing 473.1 yards per game. Pitt became the latest team to gain yardage in big chunks as the Panthers amassed 636 yards.
The Blue Devils have now allowed 500 yards or more in three consecutive games and four times this season. In the past two games, Wake Forest and Pitt have each reached 600 yards of total offense.
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 3:38 PM.