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Duke cannot overcome turnovers, referees in heart-breaking loss to Pitt

By Kevin Connelly

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 05: V'Lique Carter #19 of the Pittsburgh Panthers scores the game-winning touchdown against the Duke Blue Devils during the fourth quarter of their game at Wallace Wade Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. Pittsburgh won 33-30. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - OCTOBER 05: V'Lique Carter #19 of the Pittsburgh Panthers scores the game-winning touchdown against the Duke Blue Devils during the fourth quarter of their game at Wallace Wade Stadium on October 05, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. Pittsburgh won 33-30. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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The Duke Football team was unable to overcome its turnovers and the referees in a loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers on Saturday night.

In a 33-30 loss to the Pittsburgh Panthers, the Duke Blue Devils held the lead for four minutes and 37 seconds in the entire game.

Duke was able to strike first, with a 14-play opening drive, but the Blue Devils had to settle for a field goal, taking a 3-0 lead nonetheless.

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That was the only positive thing to happen in the first half for Duke as Pittsburgh took a 19-3 lead into halftime.

The Blue Devils offense looked inept outside of the opening drive, turning the ball over three times in the first 30 minutes.

Things didn’t get much better for Duke to start the second half as Pittsburgh was able to get on the board first, taking a 26-3 lead and in its first four drives of the third quarter, Duke turned the football over twice.

Like last week against Virginia Tech, it was a turnover that was able to flip the switch for the Blue Devils and the offense finally woke up.

After a muffed punt from Pittsburgh, Duke only needed one play to get in the end zone to cut the Panthers lead to 26-10.

On the ensuing possession, Duke was able to force a fumble on the first play of the Pittsburgh drive, and the Blue Devils were able to turn that into a touchdown, while successfully making the 2-point conversion, and creating a one-possession game at 26-18.

The Duke defense was able to force another turnover on the following Pittsburgh drive, this time an interception by defensive lineman Edgar Cerenord. The Blue Devils offense kept rolling and turned that into a touchdown, also.

Then the controversy hit.

Duke was lining up to go for a 2-point conversion to tie the game. Quentin Harris took the snap and went right up the middle, looking to be just short of the goal line. No whistles blew and Harris got an extra push from his offensive line to get him into the end zone.

The referees ruled the try good, and we had a tie game at 26-26.

So we thought.

As the ACC Network went to commercial, Duke was getting ready for the kickoff before the referees huddled together and ruled there was an inadvertent signal and they had to re-try the attempt.

Duke was unable to get the re-try of a two-point conversion as Pittsburgh maintained its 26-24 lead.

Both defenses stiffened as Duke forced two Pittsburgh punts and the Panthers were ready for a Duke fake-punt and broke up the pass attempt.

Duke got the ball back with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter and Harris led the Blue Devils right down the field, connecting with Deon Jackson for a 44-yard touchdown pass, putting Duke up for the first time since the first quarter, 30-26.

The Blue Devils opted to go for two points once again but were unsuccessful in the attempt.

A lifeless Pittsburgh offense rejuvenated itself with 1:30 left to go in the game, needing a touchdown to re-take the lead.

Kenny Pickett surgically moved the Panthers down the field, finding V’Lique Carter open in the middle of the field for a 26-yard touchdown after the Blue Devils brought everyone on a zone blitz.

Down 33-30, Duke only had 38 seconds to move down the field for a game-winning touchdown on a game-tying field goal attempt, but the Blue Devils were unable to move the ball, as Quentin Harris was sacked and fumbled.

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Pittsburgh recovered and went on to win the game, 33-30, as the Panthers moved to 4-2 (1-1 ACC), while Duke dropped to 3-2 (1-1) in the ACC.

Quentin Harris completed 18-of-43 passes for 165 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions, while losing three fumbles.

The Duke Blue Devils will try to get back on track against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Saturday, October 12 at 12:30pm EST from Wallace Wade Stadium as the game can be seen on ACC Network Extra.

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