Duke’s Comeback Effort Falls ‘Inadvertently’ Short Against Pitt

DURHAM, N.C. – A thrilling fourth quarter saw Duke take a four-point lead inside the final two minutes but ultimately fall to Pitt, 33-30, Saturday night at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium.

After getting out to a slow start offensively, the Blue Devils found their footing after halftime, responding with 183 yards and four touchdowns over the final two periods.

Duke would cut their deficit down to two points on a Harris rushing TD and would get the two-point conversion, but a mix up among the referees would lead to an ‘inadvertent signal’ by the line judge who called a touchdown and also signaled that the runner was short. The confusion led to the play being done again and the Pitt defense would hold strong on the second attempt to keep the score 26-24 in favor of the Panthers.

Deon Jackson was wide open down the middle of the field for a 44-yard touchdown from Harris to take the 30-26 lead after another failed two-point try.

Pitt put together a final scoring drive as V’Lique Carter would sneak behind the all-out blitz from Duke and received a perfect pass from Kenny Pickett to go 26 yards up the middle of the field to hand Duke its second loss of the season.

Redshirt senior quarterback Quentin Harris accounted for two touchdowns on the ground and one through the air while junior running back Deon Jackson had two scores – one rushing and one receiving – and wrapped up the evening with 60 yards on 19 carries.   

Defensively Duke was led by Koby Quansah’s 11 tackles, while Brandon Hill added 10. Junior Marquis Waters and redshirt senior Edgar Cerenord both recorded interceptions in a game plagued by turnovers.

Duke (3-2, 1-1 ACC) will return home next Saturday to host Georgia Tech at 12:30pm.