PITTSBURGH—Not perfect, no problem.
The Duke defense looked far different from the fourth-best scoring defense in the nation, but it made plays when it needed to.
The Blue Devils and the Panthers put on an offensive clinic Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field, with quarterback Anthony Boone throwing for 266 yards and three touchdowns. But it was a key stop by the defense in the second overtime that proved to be just enough to put Duke in control of the ACC Coastal Division for the second straight season, winning 51-48 on a five-yard touchdown run by wildcat quarterback Thomas Sirk.
"Our defensive coaches were resilient," head coach David Cutcliffe said. "There are just days where things don’t go your way and you can’t lose [your players]. We had something left in overtime. After that kind of a day, we had something left in overtime to get a stop and force a field goal."
After Pittsburgh quarterback Chad Voytik completed a a 26-yard desperation heave to wide receiver Dontez Ford with 32 seconds to play in regulation, the Panthers looked poised to send the game-winning field goal through the uprights.
But with two seconds left and after two Duke timeouts, Pittsburgh kicker Chris Blewitt sent a chip shot wide left in the open end of the stadium, sending the game into overtime. The decision to take back-to-back timeouts was an unconventional move that would pay off for Cutcliffe's team.
"There is no question [I would call the timeouts], I had three," Cutcliffe said. "All you are trying to do is break a rhythm and maybe set your own rhythm. You don’t ever know [what is going to happen]."
On the six-year anniversary of the Blue Devils' last overtime game—a 33-30 loss Nov. 1, 2008 at Wake Forest—Duke seemed to handle the extra period with ease. Boone took control with his legs, rushing for 19 yards on the first drive of overtime, including a 12-yard touchdown scamper to put the Blue Devils ahead 45-38.
But as he had all game, Panther running back James Conner made Duke defenders look like bowling pins, punching the ball in from 14 yards out to tie the game and send the game into a second overtime with momentum in Pittsburgh's corner. The sophomore finished the day with 263 yards and three scores on a workhorse-like 38 carries.
In the second overtime, Conner was noticeably absent on the Panthers' first play from scrimmage and the Blue Devils stuffed back-up Chris James for no gain. On the next play, Voytik attempted to run out of the back field, but was stuffed by defensive lineman Jonathan Jones.
The sophomore faced pressure again on third down and lofted another deep pass, but this time the Duke defense had Boyd well-covered, forcing another Blewitt field goal—this time from 43 yards—which he sent straight through the uprights.
On its second overtime possession, Duke (7-1, 3-1 in the ACC) was too much on the ground for the Panther defense, as Shaquille Powell powered his way inside the Pittsburgh 10-yard line on a pair of runs. Facing a third-and-one from the five-yard line, Sirk entered the game and pushed his way into the end zone for the second time on the afternoon, giving the Blue Devils their seventh win of the season.
“I’m always confident when they call that play,” Sirk said. “Our offensive line has a great sense of trust in that play. I always trust them when we do call that play that they’re going to get great movement off the ball. Our running back did a great job paving the way both times today…. I just did my part and ran.”
Saturday's tilt closely paralleled last year's 58-55 Pittsburgh win in Durham. The teams combined for 1,032 yards and 99 points, leaving each defense with questions to answer following the game.
Both offenses were hot early in the game, going back and forth in the early minutes to set the stage for another shootout. After the Panthers (4-5, 2-3) botched a snap during a field goal attempt on their opening drive, Boone engineered a short drive that resulted in a Jamison Crowder 39-yard touchdown catch.
The touchdown catch was Crowder's first against an ACC opponent this season and with three early receptions, he passed former Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins to move into second place on the conference's all-time receptions list. Crowder finished the game with a season-best nine catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns.
"Both of them [Boone and Crowder] are healthier than they have been," Cutcliffe said. "All of them have had little nicks and other things and it has just shown at practice. I am very proud of those guys. I thought [Crowder] had that little sparkle in his eye before the ball game. Boy was I right."
Duke's defense, which had been one of the best in the nation in total defense heading into the game, struggled to tackle in the first half. Trailing 7-0, the Panthers offense opened up gaping holes in the Blue Devil defense, sending Conner up the gut time after time. He cashed in his hard work on a one-yard touchdown leap with 3:14 to go in the opening quarter.
After another Boone touchdown pass gave Duke a 14-7 lead heading into the second quarter, Pittsburgh seized control of the momentum. Wide receiver Tyler Boyd took a kick back 64 yards deep into Blue Devil territory, setting up a 13-yard quarterback draw by Voytik.
Voytik finished the day with 236 yards and two touchdowns and also torched the Blue Devils for 58 rushing yards, providing a steady counter-punch to Conner.
Both teams continued to light up the scoreboard, and the Panthers took the lead with 1:17 to play in the half when Voytik found a wide open tight end J.P. Holtz for the tight end's second score of the afternoon.
Instead of electing to head into the locker room down a touchdown, Cutcliffe stayed aggressive, calling pass play after pass play to set up the Blue Devils in Pittsburgh territory with 12 seconds to play in the half. Boone dropped back and lofted the ball to Crowder—a favorable target in single coverage along the sideline—with the wide receiver stepping out of bounds at the one-yard line.
After the play stood upon further review, Cutcliffe stayed with the aggressive mentality, keeping the offense on the field with three seconds left. Seconds later, Sirk ran behind his linemen to tie the game at 28 going into halftime.
The redshirt sophomore quarterback has scored five total touchdowns in Duke's last three games.
With the game tied 31-31 following field goals by each team, redshirt sophomore DeVon Edwards returned a Blewitt kickoff 99 yards to the end zone, which gave the Blue Devils a 38-31 lead. Edwards, who had two kickoff returns last season in November, continued to make his case for the "Mr. November" nickname he has earned from teammates and fans.
Again, the lead would not stand. The Panthers responded with Conner's second one-yard rushing touchdown, capping a 15-play, 81-yard drive.
"James Conner is a special football player," Cutcliffe said. "I don’t like watching him when it is our time to play them. As a football coach, watching them on tape, it is pretty special to watch a guy play the game the way he does."
With the chance to take the lead late in the fourth quarter, Boone dropped back to pass on third down and found Crowder for a three-yard completion, but the All-ACC receiver was just shy of the line to gain, setting up Pittsburgh's final drive of regulation.
The first half featured 56 points and 595 total yards of offense, but points were harder to come by in the second half. The Panther defense stifled the Blue Devil offensive attack, terminating Duke's opening third-quarter drive near midfield.
The Blue Devil offense got back its scoring ways. Boone completed 3-of-4 passes and rushed for another eight yards to lead the Blue Devils inside the Panther 10-yard line. But, the unit had trouble working with the short field and had to settle for a Ross Martin 23-yard field goal.
Even when things did not seemed to be going Duke's way—Pittsburgh finished the day with 594 yards of total offense—the Blue Devils found a way to squeak out the win in the fourth quarter and overtime. Duke is now 5-0 in its last five November games, a far cry from the 1-19 November record the team had in the Cutcliffe era prior to last season.
"We are better than what we displayed today," Cutcliffe said. "There is no question, we have all seen it. But we didn’t get it done today. I kept telling them they had enough [to win]. It is going to come down to the fourth quarter. Somewhere in there you have to make a play. We were able to make a couple of critical plays in that game, [and] sometimes that is it."
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