PREVIEW: Duquesne at Pitt, Week 1, 2025

For decades, “The City Game” was a basketball tradition, drawing Pittsburgh together each winter. Brother against brother! Judge against doctor! Everyone in the city knew what the game was, and many flocked to the Civic Arena for it every year. The hardwood rivalry may have gone quiet, but the football field is ready to carry the torch. It’s still lawyer against nurse—only this time, Duquesne and Pitt will collide on the gridiron. As a Yinzer myself, there is nothing more meaningful to me than talking about football in Pittsburgh- and, frankly, this is what college football is all about when it’s at its best. In a way, I’ve been waiting for this game to be played on turf ever since I started watching football religiously, over 30 years ago.

And as the publisher of NEC Blitz, let me just say it: this is it. It’s August. We’re writing about football games again. I’m so happy. But anyway, on with the game preview.

Pitt comes in with national firepower. Two All-Americans: Desmond Reid, who can play anywhere but will hurt you most at running back, and linebacker Kyle Louis, the face of their defense. The Panthers even snuck into the “others receiving votes” section of the AP poll (I understand it was one voter in Louisiana). But this is still a team licking its wounds after a brutal 0–6 slide to close 2024, so expectations are tempered.

Not even nearly across the entire city in Uptown, Duquesne’s no pushover. The Dukes received FCS Top 25 votes and landed eight players on the preseason All-NEC Blitz first team. Wideout Joey Isabella and DB Antonio Epps are names you’ll hear often this season, but it’s their line play that gives them a real chance to make this interesting. Defensive lineman Jack Dunkley (my pick for NEC Defensive Player of the Year) anchors a front that can cause trouble for anybody, even an ACC program. This is a team that won a lot of games last season and has something to prove with the way the year came to an end.

We do think this one is going to go a little differently than most warm-up games. Most FCS vs. P4 games are decided by raw talent. This one looks like it’s more about the experience and familiarity in the trenches. Pitt’s offensive line struggled mightily in pass protection last year, which is why they pored through the transfer portal for reinforcements. They brought in an all-AAC player in Kendall Stanley (Charlotte), a Michigan transfer in Jeff Persi, and they return three starters including Ryan Baer. The things we’re hearing out of camp (especially out of Baer) are all positive. But on snap one in August, they’ve got to block A.J. Ackerman and Dunkley. The usual argument here is easy: Ackerman and Dunkley are good, sure, but they’re good in the NEC.

Here’s the thing: there are no “FCS” or “P4” stamps on foreheads. Sometimes you can play, sometimes you can’t. And Duquesne’s front can play on either side of the ball.

On the offensive side, Duquesne’s offensive line is loaded with veterans like Brian Beidatsch Jr. and Michael Falla, which means Pitt’s pass rush won’t just tee off. Quarterback Ty Riddell (who seems to have been in college since the Civic Arena was still standing) has the experience to handle the moment. But he’ll have to deal with Pitt’s linebackers, the “Sharks,” who are the best linebacker room the NEC will see all season. They hit, they cover, and they love to bait quarterbacks into mistakes. A pick-six is a relatively safe bet against this group. That doesn’t mean the running game is favorable for the Dukes. Taj Butts and Shawn Solomon will be good players, but the Dukes can’t just plug in anybody to take the place of JaMario Clements (Wake Forest). They’ll have success on the ground this year, but Pitt’s a hard place to start learning how to run the ball again.

Then there’s the secondary. If you’ve watched a Pat Narduzzi defense, you know how well it runs when the corners are elite. Pitt doesn’t have lockdown guys this year, but they’ve got experience in Rashad Battle and Tamon Lynum. That leads me to believe that even with the sometimes “all-or-nothing” coverage this defense can play, Isabella won’t have an easy time getting downfield. Noah Canty, who is returning from injury, has to start his comeback effort by trying to find space against Pitt’s linebackers and safeties. The Panthers always seem to have an all-league guy at safety, so the names don’t really matter at this point. They’ll have talent and depth here.

If Pitt’s rebuilt OL comes out strong and gelled together, this probably goes how the point spread thinks it will. But if they’re shaky, this turns into the worst-case scenario for a Power Four program in this kind of a game: a slog. You go into these games as a fan expecting the favorite to pull away, but when it’s slow going it never happens. Suddenly it’s the fourth quarter, the underdog is still standing, and everyone starts to sweat.

And don’t forget the local angle. Plenty of Dukes grew up dreaming of Pitt, never got the call, and now wear red and blue instead of blue and gold. They’re full-fledged Dukes, but you don’t think that adds a little extra edge? That’s worth a couple points right there.

Now, the reality check. Last year, Duquesne went up to Boston College and got run off the field 56–0, down 42 at halftime. That’s what usually happens in these games. But this isn’t Chestnut Hill. This is going to be in Pittsburgh. There’s going to be a big, neutral-ish crowd- much more neutral than these games usually have. A city rivalry with history. Emotion in the air.

The Panthers are favored, no question. They’ve got more raw talent. But if Duquesne’s lines hold up, if Riddell stays upright, and if the Dukes hang around long enough to make Pitt nervous…. well, then the City Game might just remind this town why it should have never gone away in the first place.