Pitt Goes Out With a Whimper in Season Finale Loss to Duke

Duke’s Vincent Anthony Jr. dragged Nate Yarnell down from behind on 4th-and-5 with just under two minutes left in the game, and it didn’t just end the game — it ended the Pitt season.

Pitt was sloppy, across all three phases, and it cost the Panthers a win in the season finale, falling to the Blue Devils 30-19 at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C. And in a season that many expected the Panthers to roar, they left with little more than a whimper.

Yarnell completed 25-of-35 pass attempts for 265 yards and two touchdowns in another strong all-around performance, but the run game was woefully ineffective, there were stretches of bone-headed decisions and sloppy play and Pitt simply wasn’t good enough — a story that has been proven true all season.

Pitt racked up just 308 yards, committed nine penalties for 93 yards and couldn’t generate much pressure at all on a true freshman Duke quarterback. And the mistakes were many and often, from the coaching staff down, and those mistakes started early.

Caleb Junko has been a problem for Pitt all season, and while he’s shanked some bad balls at times, a 15-yard boot from the end zone may have been the worst yet.

And the Blue Devils made Pitt pay — a 10-yard connection between Grayson Loftis and Jordan Moore locking the game back up at 10. I mean, Duke only needed to drive 25 yards after the shanked punt. And it was that 25-yard drive that made the difference in the first half.

Pitt allowed just 87 yards of offense in the first half, but that 25-yard drive allowed Duke to enter the halftime break with a 10-10 tie.

Nate Yarnell continued to look very comfortable leading the Pitt offense throughout much of the first half, orchestrating a 13-play, 60-yard scoring drive and a 15-play, 93-yard scoring drive — Ben Sauls nailing a 37-yard field goal on the former and Yarnell hitting Karter Johnson for a 21-yard touchdown on the latter.

As was the case against Boston College, Yarnell stood in the pocket and read the field, but he evaded pressure — for the most part — when it arrived and used his deceptive athleticism, as the ACC Network crew said, to keep the Duke defense honest.

As was the case in the first half, Pitt and Duke traded field goals to open the second half. Todd Pelino struck a 25-yarder through the uprights to take the 13-10 lead, and Sauls nailed a 47-yarder to level it once again.

But defensive breakdowns on the ensuing Duke possession set up a 15-yard walk-in touchdown for Duke wideout Jalon Calhoun, taking a quick screen into the end untouched to reclaim the lead. And after Yarnell was stripped from behind on the following Pitt possession, setting up a 2nd-and-22 from the Pitt 2, it ultimately resulted in another Junko punt.

Duke simply wore down the Pitt defense on the way to another touchdown, driving 59 yards and scoring twice — although only the 3-yard touchdown dive from Jaquez Moore counted.

Pitt trailed 27-13 with just under 12 minutes left, and what looked to be a promising drive fizzled out rather predictably with an interception in the end zone. The offense didn’t miss with another chance, Yarnell hitting Bub Means in the back of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown, but the two-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Pitt forced Duke into a 3rd-and-11 with about five minutes left, but the Blue Devils converted a deep ball down the sideline, Samuel Okunlola was called for a roughing the passer penalty and it sort of summed up the entire season.

Duke hit another field goal to stretch its lead to 11 points, and that was all she wrote on the Pitt season.

The 2023 season has come to an end for Pitt football, and with a 3-9 (2-6 ACC) record, it’s the worst season in a quarter-century.