Duke Blue Devils vs Pitt Panthers Preview
The Duke Blue Devils have a tall order tomorrow. They have just gone through the two week beatdown that took them out of the ACC Coastal race. First there was the referee crisis against the Miami Hurricanes. Then there was getting outplayed by the North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Duke has to face the other team still hanging around the top of the Coastal, the Pitt Panthers.
If you were to judge the game by who needs it more, Pitt needs the game more than Duke does. Both of them are trailing the Tar Heels in the Coastal, but Pitt is trailing by fewer games. A Pitt loss matched with a Tar Heel win against Miami would deliver the Coastal to the Tar Heels.
Yet David Cutcliffe is not a top rated coach for nothing. One of those characteristics is getting his team ready to play every week as he will have to do here. Nor will it be a pretty game with both Duke and Pitt relying on defense to win.
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Opponent: Pitt Panthers (6-3, 4-1 ACC)
Date: November 14
Time: 12:00 PM
TV: ESPNEWS
Venue: Wallace Wade Stadium
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Speed was the great enemy of Duke against the Tar Heels. The Panthers do not have as much of it, but they do have Tyler Boyd at receiver. Duke needs to look for Boyd in the deep passing game if Pitt tries to replicate Carolina’s success in that area.
Power running should feature in this game too. Qadree Ollison was underused when the Panthers played the Tar Heels. Duke’s Jela Duncan likewise has come on lately. Expect Duke to bring Jeremy Cash in for run support and be around the ball.
Thomas Sirk will see his share the ball a good deal, as mobile quarterbacks have given Pitt some trouble the last two weeks.
Prediction: 17-14, Duke