First Quarter: Duquesne at Pitt

15:00 to kickoff. Pitt band on the field. No sign of a Duquesne spirit band contingent, but the Dukes did bring the cheerleaders along. Duquesne (like all visiting teams at Acrisure) is allotted a corner of the stadium, but looks like scattered red throughout the visitor’s sideline. Blue of course, too, but hard to discern what’s Duquesne blue and what’s Pitt blue from up here…

But I’ve really missed you, college football.

8 minutes to go: Pitt running out with a city of Pittsburgh flag. I keep one of these next to the set in the NEC Blitz Studios- it’s a great flag and, you know, Yinzer and all that. But is this a special City Game thing? Will Duquesne have a Pittsburgh flag? (I really hope so).

4 minutes to go: No Pittsburgh flag from Duquesne.

Kickoff: “Pittsburgh Sound” by Wiz Khalifa. Good choice. Duquesne will receive, so we get our chance to see Ty Riddell right away. Keys here are the Duquesne OL against the Pitt DL.

Drive 1: Duquesne at the 25.

Yup. That line looks good for the Dukes. 17 yard pickup. Second play is more like what you’d expect from the Pitt line and it’s a 3 yard loss. So running on the Panthers is going to be tough despite play one. Riddell is pressured hard on 2nd down and has to throw it away while running wide. The OL not holding off the Pitt DL as much as they did initially. Another big rush and the pass was short of the first down at midfield. Dukes should stay on here… and it’s a ploy to get Pitt offsides which fails. Delay of game and now the Dukes will punt. The first play was what we had hoped for, and after that the Pitt DL looked a little too strong.

Punt return is an 88 yard touchdown return for Pitt, and the Panthers will go up 7-0 here with 12:14 in the City Game.

Drive 2: Duquesne at the 25.

Right tackle whiffs on the first play here and Riddell takes a shot and Pitt drops a pick here. Unfortunately, it looks the strength for the Dukes is going up against the bet front 7 they’ll see all year and one of the best in the ACC. Another loss here on a run and the Dukes are moving backwards. Riddell pressured again and they’ll punt. Kind of a line drive punt but that might be for the best to keep it away from Dez Reid, who’s an All-American and had the Pitt TD earlier. We’ll get a shot to see the Duquesne defense from the Pitt 34. I actually think Jermaine Johnson might be a plus matchup at WR but will the Dukes have the time to get the ball to him?

Drive 3: Pitt at the 34.

Dukes run defense looks stout on the first play and the pass coverage is good on play 2. If Holstein throws a step further behind it’s a pick six. Dukes timeout on 3rd and 9. Dukes stuff Dez Reid on the designed swing pass (Pitt used this play against Kent State last year) and it’s a 3 and out forced by the Dukes. Isabella fields it and gets out of bounds at the 21.

Drive 4: Duquesne at the 21.

Isabella gets the ball for the first time on offense on the short pass- Dukes adjusting to the pressure- and they pick up 2. Butts gets the ball here and gets 3 more. Big 3rd down with a makeable 5 for the Dukes and a chance to keep the Pitt defense on the field. Riddell scrambles and seems to have a hole that gets closed by the Pitt LB Lovelace quickly. 4th and 4 and the Dukes will have to punt again. Let’s see if it’s another squib to keep it from Reid…It’s another keepaway punt and Pitt starts at the 38.

Drive 5: Pitt at the 38.

The Duquesne DL continues to be strong against Pitt. Good pressure on the 2nd play but a sort of miracle throw to Kenny Johnson gets caught- could have hit the ground but you can’t tell from the video. Pitt has a false start rushing to the line but the delayed pitch to Reid goes for 13 on the next play. They went outside there and it worked better avoiding the Dukes line. The next play is up the guy and more predictably- this Dukes line is good- they get a loss of a yard. 3rd and 3 and a huge defensive stand for the Dukes. The Panthers fake the delayed pitch and run Holstein- 4th and 1 with Pitt staying on the field. You’d think they’d stop running into the teeth here- Duquesne seems to have a good matchup here- and the read option outside goes well outside for Pitt and a 16 yard first down. A pass to Hicks on the outside is a 13 yard gain and we’re at 1st and goal at the 5. Duquesne has to get stout here now. First throw is well covered and they avoid the coverage with a backwards pass- call it a run to Poppi Jones- and they get to 3rd and goal at the 1. This plays to Duquesne’s strengths, though... They stack the line and Pitt has to run to the outside and throw out wide. Jones makes the big tackle but Pitt is still on the field at 4th and goal from the 4. Touchdown pass to Hicks up the middle. Pitt will go up 14-0.

Duquesne showed the strength of the middle of their line here, and Pitt had to adjust but was able to quickly. The tendency to run up the gut early might have led to the big bite on the read option with the big Holstein gain that really put the Dukes in good position. Notable that Pitt had to go for it twice on 4th here.

Drive 6: Duquesne at the 25.

Butts able to run up the middle for a yard on the first play, but it looks like someone trying to dive through a swarm of blue jerseys. The Dukes have got to win some 1 on 1 matchups on the edge- and have the chance to get the ball off. Almost on cue, All-American Kyle Louis comes through unblocked and sacks Riddell hard. Timeout Dukes. They’re at their own 13 on 3rd and 22. Louis gets chipped on the next play, but the Dukes get sacked again for a loss of 8. 4th and 30 at the 5. Unfortunately, the breakdown for the Dukes is logical here but unfavorable- if you can’t run up the middle, you have to get to the outside where the DBs are in one on one coverage. But you need time to win those matchups, and they can’t get any of that. Punt is short and Pitt takes over at the 26.

Drive 7: Pitt at the Dukes 26.

Holstein doesn’t see a wideout uncovered down the middle and throws too long to Johnson- that was a scoring play that the Dukes will survive. He gets six on the designed QB delayed power on the next play up the guy. First quarter ends on a 3rd and 3, and we’re heading to a new thread.