Duke Lost To Pittsburgh 28-26 Saturday At The Home Of The NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers Though, They Came Back
Duke lost to Pittsburgh 28-26 Saturday at the home of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers thoough, they came back.
In the 1st quarter Ben Sauls kicked 47 yard field goal giving Pittsburgh 3-0 lead before Duke responded with touchdown as Jalen Calhoun caught 28 yard pass from Riley Leonard, Todd Pelino kicked extra point giving Duke a 7-3 lead. Though, that lead would be brief as Israel Abanikanda would run for 6 yard touchdown extending Pittsburgh 7-10 before Ben Sauls kicked extra point . In the 2nd quarter Ben Sauls kicked 51 yard field goal to extend Pittsburgh lead yet again this time to 13-7 before Duke would take a 14-13 lead on Riley Leonard 1 yard run, Todd Pelino kicked extra point before Pittsburgh took a 20-14 lead as Jared Wayne caught 15 yard pass from Kedon Slovis , Ben Sauls kicked extra point. In the 4th quarter Brandon Hill had a 30 yard fumble return while Israel Abanikanda run for 2 point conversion before Duke came back scoring 2 touchdowns as Jordan Moore caught 49 yard pass from Riley Leonard, Two-Point conversion failed making score 28-20 Pittsburgh before Jaylen Coleman caught 19 yard pass from Riley Leonard, Jordan Moore ran for 2 point conversion making final score 28 26 Pittsburgh.
Following Duke’s 28-26 loss Saturday at the home of NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers though they came back Duke Head Coach Mike Elko had this to say in opening statement on what the call was on final 2 point conversion on what Pittsburgh did defensively to pester offense.
Obviously hats off to Pitt. They made the plays they needed to make today to win the football game. Obviously very disappointed with how we played offensively through three quarters. We really struggled to establish the line of scrimmage and we couldn’t get the run game going. We were very inconsistent in the throw game. We turned the football over and special teams wise we had some critical mistakes in the return game that really hurt us. Defensively, I thought we battled for the better part of the game and other than the one two-minute drive at the half, I thought defensively we did everything we could to keep us in that football game. Again, credit to our kids because they don’t quit, and they don’t stop. They are resilient as heck and for as bad as we played up until the fumble that they returned for a touchdown to go up two [scores], we put together two 85-plus yard drives together to give us a chance to end the game and go into overtime. In our mind we were going to play that fourth quarter playing to win. We have talked about this before from an analytic approach, that you are going to go for two up 14 when you get that touchdown there. We didn’t feel like the wind conditions and how we were struggling to run the football, we didn’t think overtime was going to be the best way to win that football game. That was the reason for that decision. We’ve got one left and we need to get our guys ready and get them back for Wake next week and send our seniors off the right way. Proud of our fight, but on an execution standpoint didn’t do enough to win on the road.”It is a reverse with an option for Jordan [Moore] to throw it coming off of it. Their defensive end won clean on the backside. We were supposed to pin him to get around the edge on the back side and we didn’t pin him at all, and he just blew the play up.”“The third quarter was tough because we were going into the wind. The first and third quarter without us being able to get anything going in the run game, became such a struggle. There was too much on Riley [Leonard] having to throw the ball into the wind as much as he had to. There was a really strong gusting wind in the first and third quarter and we just could not establish the run game. Because we couldn’t, we were behind the chains a lot and behind in down and distance situations a lot and that just plays into exactly what Pitt wants to be about. Again, credit to them. They are the ones that physically won the matchup, but we have to find a better way to run the football better.
“According to goduke.com”
Duke who is a member of Coastal Division Of Atlantic Coast Conference has a record of 7-4 is now going to prepare for final regular season game hosting Wake Forest Saturday afternoon in Durham who like them has a record of 7-4 though, unlike them is a member of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Though, it won’t be like that much longer as as the Atlantic Coast Conference became the latest conference to get rid of divisions in favor of a new scheduling format Starting in 2023, the league announced it will move to a 3-5-5 format, in which each team has three permanent rivalry games played annually, with the other 10 opponents rotating on an every-other-year basis.
The plans for a shift back to a single-division format gained steam during the league's spring meetings in May, with the ACC hoping to improve its TV inventory of marquee games and set up a league championship game that would include its two best teams annually. Interestingly, the new format would not have altered the teams playing in the ACC title game in seven of the past eight years.
“According to David M. Hale’s article on espnapp”
Kickoff is set for 3:30pm from Brooks Field @Wallace Wade Stadium!
The game is going to be televised on ESPN2 or ACC Network!