Duke football predictably demolished by Pittsburgh

The Duke football team was predictably blown out against Pittsburgh at home. 

It was another bad day for the Duke football program on Saturday afternoon at home against the No. 25 Pittsburgh Panthers.

Earlier in the week, the Panthers snuck into the first edition of the College Football Playoff Rankings, and it looked like Pittsburgh was going to drop out of the Top-25 after the Blue Devils got off to a quick start.

Duke scored every way possible to take an early lead. A field goal, safety, and touchdown lifted the Blue Devils to a 12-7 lead in the first quarter before the Panthers got their footing and started to pull away.

Pittsburgh scored 16 straight points to end the first half, but that was not the worst part for Duke.

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Starting quarterback Gunnar Holmberg, who took a beating in the first half, was eventually injured and forced to miss the second half after head coach David Cutcliffe told the broadcast that the signal caller was getting X-rays on his ribs and clavicle.

Riley Leonard took over in the second half and could not muster much more offense as Duke eventually fell 54-29.

Holmberg finished 16-of-23 for 174 yards and a touchdown while Leonard was 6-for-13 for 63 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Running back Mataeo Durant continued his impressive season with 89 yards on 24 carries and a touchdown, which put him over 1,000 rushing yards on the season, as well as four receptions for 39 yards and a score.

Duke football continues disappointing consecutive season

Duke will miss a bowl game for the third straight season, the first time the Blue Devils miss the postseason for three consecutive years since 2009-2011.

However, it is not all doom and gloom in Durham because Tuesday officially marks the beginning of basketball season as Mike Krzyzewski looks to end his historic tenure at Duke with a National Championship.

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Kara Lawson and the women’s basketball team will also be looking to turn some heads in her first full regular season.

The Duke football team will play next Saturday afternoon on the road in Blacksburg to face the Virginia Tech Hokies.