Game Notes: Pittsburgh

DURHAM – Duke concludes the regular season on Saturday when it welcomes Pittsburgh for a 12 noon kick at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 12 noon, and the game will be broadcast live on the ACC Network.

Pittsburgh leads the all-time series between the two schools, 17-9, and has won 11 of the last 12 meetings. Duke's lone victory during that stretch occurred on Oct. 18, 2014 when quarterback Thomas Sirk bulled into the end zone from five yards out in the second overtime to lift Duke to a 51-48 victory in Pittsburgh. In the teams' last meeting on Nov. 19, 2022, the Blue Devils scored a touchdown with 47 seconds remaining on 4th-and-18 to pull within 28-26 but couldn't convert the two-point conversion to finish off the rally, dropping a 28-26 decision to the Panthers at Acrisure Stadium.

In five of the last six seasons, Duke has wrapped up its regular season slate at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Blue Devils are 2-2 when concluding the regular season at home over that stretch. The lone year where Duke did not finish the regular season at was during a COVID-ridden 2020 season when it added a game at Florida State.

Over the last 10 years, the Blue Devils have gone 6-4 in regular season finales with wins during the 2022, 2019, 2017, 2015, 2014, and 2013 seasons.

Saturday's ACC Network broadcast will feature Jorge Sedano, Orlando Franklin and Marilyn Payne on the call. The game can also be heard on the Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD through the Varsity app or goduke.com.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Pittsburgh (3-8, 2-5 ACC) at Duke (6-5, 3-4 ACC)
Saturday, November 25, 2023 • 12 NOON
Durham, N.C. • Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium (40,004)

TELEVISION • ACCN
RADIO • Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD
GAME NOTES • Duke Notes • Pittsburgh Notes
LIVE STATS • GoDuke.com
TWITTER • @DukeFOOTBALL

GAME NOTES
The Blue Devils are looking to go undefeated at home in ACC play for the first time since 1989.

Duke ranks sixth in the ACC, averaging 5.79 yards per play. The Blue Devils have averaged 5.0 yards per play in 7-of-11 games in 2023, missing the mark against No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 4 Florida State, No. 18 Louisville and Wake Forest.

The Blue Devils join Florida State and Louisville as the only ACC schools averaging 25.0 points or more per game (27.55 ppg, 7th) and allowing 20.0 points or less per outing (19.82 ppg, 3rd).

Graduate running back Jordan Waters ranks second in the ACC in rushing touchdowns (12), tied for third in points scored by touchdown (12), fifth in yards per rush (5.43), eighth in rushing yards (722), tied for eighth in scoring (72 points), and 10th in rushing (65.64 ypg). The Fairmont, N.C., native has scored one rushing touchdown in eight of Duke's 11 games this season.

LONG AND SHORT DRIVES
Duke has put together 21 scoring drives of eight-plus plays, including nine of 10-plus plays. Additionally, Duke has needed just three or less plays eight times to find the end zone.

REACHING SEVEN
With a Duke win on Saturday, the Blue Devils will reach seven wins for the sixth time in the last 10 seasons and will mark back-to-back seven-win seasons since 2017-18. Overall Duke has registered seven-plus wins on 30 prior occasions in program history.

500+ RUSHING YARDS
Running backs Jordan Waters and Jaquez Moore become the first pair of Blue Devils to both register 500-plus rushing yards in back-to-back seasons.

Waters leads the team with 722 rushing yards, while Ja. Moore follows closely with 591. Last season, Waters and Ja. Moore finished with 566 and 508, respectively.

Additionally the twosome are the 19th duo in program history to record 500-plus rushing yards in a single-season.

LOST YARDAGE
The Blue Devils have only lost 150 rushing yards on the year, marking the fewest in the ACC.

2,000 x2
The Blue Devils are 42 rushing yards and 72 passing yards away from 2,000 on the year in both categories. Over the last 10 seasons, Duke has achieved 2,000-plus rushing and receiving yards on seven occasions, missing the mark in 2016, 2019, and 2020.

MOST SEASONS WITH 500+ RECEIVING YARDS
Redshirt senior Jalon Calhoun became the 11th Blue Devil in program history to register 500-plus receiving yards in three seasons at Duke.

He is 67 receiving yards shy of becoming the eighth Duke player to earn 600-plus receiving yards in three seasons and would be the first since T.J. Rahming achieved the feat in three consecutive seasons in 2016-17-18.

STOUT DEFENSE
In 11 games of 2023, the Blue Devil defense has allowed only 29 scores in 38 offensive red zone possessions (.763) to rank 24th nationally.

Additionally, Duke has shut out Clemson, Lafayette and NC State this season in the second half, marking four second-half shutouts under head coach Mike Elko (Virginia Tech - November 12, 2022).

BREAKIN' UP
Duke's defensive back unit compiled 59 pass breakups in 2022 to rank fourth in the ACC, trailing only Clemson (70), Pittsburgh (67), and Wake Forest (63). The Blue Devils were one of two schools in the conference with five players with six-plus pass breakups on the year.

In Duke's 11 games of 2023, it has registered 43 pass breakups to rank third in the ACC behind Clemson (68) and Florida State (65).

FREEMAN FINDING RHYTHM
After Duke's game against NC State, linebacker Tre Freeman was tabbed the ACC Co-Linebacker of the Week after recording a career-high 15 tackles, to become the first Duke player to register 15-plus tackles in a game since Shaka Heyward (16) against North Carolina A&T on September 10, 2021.

Over his last seven outings, Freeman has compiled 69 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, one interception, one caused fumble and four quarterback pressures.

He is 10 tackles away from becoming the first player since Koby Quansah in 2019 to register 100-plus tackles in a single-season.

PELINO ON PLACEMENT KICKS
After starting the final six games of 2022, sophomore Todd Pelino took over kicking duties for field goals and extra points in 2023.

This season, Pelino has gone 12-of-17 on FGs (.706) and has converted all 35 of his PAT attempts. The Cornelius, N.C., native is now a perfect 58-of-58 on PATs during his Blue Devil tenure and ranks tied with AJ Reed for sixth all-time on Duke's consecutive PATs made chart. Additionally Pelino ranks tied for fourth in the ACC this season in PATs made, seventh in scoring by kick (71) and tied for eighth in FGs made.

Against NC State, Pelino connected on a career-long 52-yard field goal, tying him for the 11th-longest field goal in program lore. It also was Duke's longest field goal made since Ross Martin recorded a 52-yard boot against Indiana in the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl.

In Duke's game against Wake Forest, Pelino converted on the Blue Devils' game-winning 26-yard field goal to make them bowl eligible.

PUNTING EXPERIENCE
Redshirt junior Porter Wilson has been Duke's starting punter for the last four seasons. He has punted 207 times for 9,174 yards (44.31) with 75 boots downed inside the opponent 20-yard line against 12 touchbacks in 47 career games. He has 57 punts of 50-plus yards and registered a career-long 70-yard punt on two occasions against Georgia Tech in 2020 and Clemson in 2023.

He currently ranks first on Duke's all-time career chart for punting average, sixth in punting yards, and seventh in punts. Against No. 4 Florida State he became the eighth player in program history to reach 8,000-plus career punting yards after compiling 172 yards on three boots.

Additionally, Wilson ranks third in the ACC and 11th nationally in punting (46.26) this season. He was recently named a semifinalist for the 2023 Ray Guy Award, marking the second time in his career (2020).

#GoDuke

Players Mentioned

Jalon Calhoun

Tre Freeman

Shaka Heyward

Jaquez Moore

Todd Pelino

Jordan Waters

Porter Wilson

Duke information