The Sequel: Duke Blue Devils beat Pitt 51-48 in 2OT

By John Woodcock | Nov 1, 2014

There was no way that the Duke Blue Devils and Pittsburgh Panthers could possibly play a game to match last year’s 58-55 thriller in Durham. Except that they totally did. The Panther defense had no answer for long deep passes to wide receiver Jamison Crowder. Duke had no answer for the two-headed running attack of running back James Conner and quarterback Chad Voytik. All game long it seemed like the team that had the ball last would win.

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Pitt had the ball last, with 1:14 to go and drove down the field to leave their kicker with a 26 yard angular kick to win with two seconds left. Enter Chris Blewitt, who happened to have the wrong name at the wrong time. The kicker missed. The game went to overtime.

Nov 1, 2014; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Duke Blue Devils quarterback Thomas Sirk (1) rushes for a game winning five yard touchdown against the Pittsburgh Panthers during the second overtime at Heinz Field. The Blue Devils won 51-48 in double overtime. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

In the first overtime, the teams alternated touchdowns. In the second overtime, Pitt stranded itself and was forced to kick a field goal. Duke responded with a winning touchdown by backup quarterback Thomas Sirk. Thus Duke survived 51-48 to keep their lead in the ACC Coastal ahead of Miami and Georgia Tech.
Crowder had 165 receiving yards for Duke and two scores.

Conner ran for 263 rushing yards against the Duke defense and three scores. Wide receiver Tyler Boyd had 140 yards for Pitt. Again not a lot of defense in this game.

Duke’s schedule opens up from here with games against Syracuse and Wake Forest sandwiching two matchups against non-contenders in the Coastal, Virginia Tech and North Carolina.

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