No. 25 Pitt traveled to Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham on Saturday to take on ACC Coastal Division rival Duke, and although the Blue Devils looked hapless coming into the game with a 3-5 record, they traded blows with the 6-2 Panthers in the first half and put on a show for the sparse crowd. Still, Pitt would eventually pull ahead to notch a 54-29 victory.
After winning the coin toss, Pitt elected to play defense first. It appeared that decision would go down as a mistake, as Duke quarterback Gunnar Holmberg led his team downfield with relative ease.