Blue Devils get past Pittsburgh

DURHAM – The situation at halftime on Saturday was similar for Duke’s football team as it was last weekend.

This time, the Blue Devils pulled away in the second half instead of falling behind. They’ve got a 30-19 win over Pittsburgh on Senior Day at Wallace Wade Stadium to show for it.

“Really challenged them at halftime to come out of the locker room with a much different mindset,” Duke coach Mike Elko said. “To play the third quarter they way we knew how to play football. And we did.”

This game offered the Blue Devils (7-5, 4-4 ACC) a reprieve for mistakes of last week.

Duke’s undoing against Virginia came with the score tied 10-10 at halftime, and the Cavaliers scoring two quick touchdowns in the third quarter.

Against Pitt (3-9, 2-6), it was 10-10 again at halftime. This time, after the teams exchanged field goals on the first possessions of the second half, Duke scored a couple of touchdowns to establish a two-touchdown lead for the fourth quarter.

The spark came on a third-and-6 scramble by freshman quarterback Grayson Loftis. He ran right and saw Jordan Waters come free, flipping to the senior running back for a 46-yard catch-and-run.

Loftis’ short pass to Jalon Calhoun turned into a 15-yard touchdown.

“He’s still young, but he handled his business still, though,” Calhoun said of the freshman QB who’s started Duke’s last four games. “He came out, got the Wake Forest win, got this win. Kept us in the game at UNC. He’s still doing his job. He’ll be a great player, for sure.”

Calhoun had a 32-yard catch-and-run on Duke’s next possession, which put over 3,000 receiving yards in his five-year career. He’s the fourth Blue Devil to eclipse that mark, joining Conner Vernon, Jamison Crowder and Clarkston Hines.

There will be a time, Calhoun said, when he’ll reflect on his career. He was only interested in basking in the Senior Day win, though, which came complete with a long embrace with Elko as they made their way off the field.

“It’s just, I had a long career here, as y’all know,” Calhoun said, taking several seconds to compose himself. “Coach Elko came in and just changed my life for the better, honestly. … I just love that man, he just changed my life. That was all that moment was, I’m thankful for him.”

Calhoun’s big play set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Jaquez Moore that put Duke ahead 27-13 in the first minute of the fourth quarter.

Calhoun had seven catches for 71 yards, and Jordan Moore (eight for 106) was Loftis’ other primary target.

Duke tied the game at 10-10 on Loftis’ 10-yard touchdown pass to Moore, converting a third down of its own. That came both after a timeout by Duke and after a 15-yard punt by Pitt gave the Blue Devils the ball at the 25-yard line.

Moore had a 31-yard catch to convert a third down early in the second half, and a 22-yard catch that set up Todd Pelino’s 48-yard field goal that gave Duke an 11-point lead with two minutes left.

“I think Jordan has really come into his own in the last few weeks,” Elko said. “We needed that, because Jalon Calhoun has gotten so much attention, double-teams in the slot and different things. It’s been really good to see Jordan Moore come on the last few weeks and really become a go-to guy.

“I told (offensive coordinator) Kevin (Johns) on the third down at the end of the game, ‘I don’t care what play we call, just throw it up to Jordan and let him go make a play.’”

Pitt’s two first-half scoring drives enveloped 13½ minutes of game time and saw the Panthers convert five third downs.

The first one was 60 yards on 13 plays, stalling at Duke’s 18-yard line. It came after Pelino made a 47-yard field goal for the first points of the game.

With the score tied at 3-3 and Pitt taking over at its 7-yard line, the Panthers went 15 plays on 93 yards — the last 21 of which came on a touchdown pass from Nate Yarnell to Karter Johnson. Pitt converted three third downs on that drive.

Pitt converted five of its first seven third downs; Duke’s defense got stops on six straight third downs for the rest of the game.

The adjustment was, well, it was a blunt assessment from Elko.

“We just started actually running the defense the way we’re supposed to,” Elko said. “That’s probably been the thing that’s gotten the most frustrating a little bit over the last couple of weeks. I just think we haven’t been focused enough to execute at the level that you need to to be a good defense.”

And the change occurred in the middle of this game … because?

“You know, maybe some words on the sideline? Maybe some, like, ‘Let’s get going?’” Elko said wryly. “Maybe it was very positive encouragement-type things? No, listen, it’s kids that have a lot of pride. … But it’s just like, ‘Let’s go, this is the day and this is what we’re here for,’ and we talked about finishing this thing the right way.”

Duke's defense did in that regard, and the Blue Devils as a whole finished the regular season the way they wanted.