Duke football looks to maintain ACC Coastal momentum vs. Pitt

Duke football hopes to continue its momentum in the ACC Coastal when it plays division rival Pitt in Durham. Here’s everything you need to know.

Both the Blue Devils and the Panthers come into this game coming off of wins this past weekend, but their victories look drastically different.

The Panthers, with several key players out with injury — including starting quarterback Kenny Pickett — survived against the Delaware Blue Hens on a fourth quarter touchdown pass by backup quarterback Nick Patti. The Blue Devils pushed around the Virginia Tech Hokies in the trenches on both sides of the ball in Blacksburg en route to a 45-10 victory.

The Panthers have had no shortage of drama in their last two games. Head coach Pat Narduzzi dialed up a play he dubbed the “Pitt Special” to defeat the UCF Golden Knights two weeks ago at Heinz Field, and survived the Blue Hens of Delaware. Although there’s been no shortage of drama in their wins — they average margin of victory is 4.6 points — the one constant on their team is their defense. The Pitt defense has allowed 91.8 rushing yards per game and has 24 sacks this season.

The Blue Devils have won three in a row after an opening season loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide in Atlanta. Duke is averaging 43.6 points per game during their three game winning streak behind a rushing attack that is averaging almost 200 yards per game.

This is strength on strength in this ACC Coastal division match up when the Panthers make the trip from Pittsburgh to Durham.

Here’s more info about the game:

Date: Saturday, Oct. 5
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Durham, N.C.
Venue: Wallace Wade Stadium
TV: ESPN, ACC Network
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

This game embodies the cliche “styles make fights”. It’s Duke’s rushing attack trying to break through Pitt’s rush defense.

However, it might be Pitt’s rushing offense that could give the Panthers a shot against the Blue Devils. Duke is giving up 140 rush yards per game, and it surrendered over 100 yards to VaTech’s Deshawn McClease last Friday. The Panthers are susceptible to the pass, giving up over 300 yards to UCF two weeks ago.

Can the Duke offensive line hold up against Pitt’s fantastic pass rush? Can Duke get Pitt off the field on third downs?

Betting Odds

Courtesy of Bovada

Line: Duke -4
Over/Under: 48.5

Prediction

This one is tough to call. ESPN’s FPI is giving Duke a 74 percent chance of winning this game which is strange since they’re only favored by four points. Obviously FPI’s algorithms haven’t seen Pitt’s pass rush this season.

What could sway this game is whether or not Pickett starts for Pitt. Not having Pickett puts Pitt at a considerable disadvantage since they don’t have much punch in the running game. The Panthers have a punchers chance because they play defense so good, but I’ll go with my heart and pick Duke in a close one:

Final Score: Duke 17, Pitt 14