PITT (3-4, 2-1 ACC) vs. DUKE (5-2, 1-2 ACC)

October 27, 2018 • 3:30 p.m., ET

Heinz Field (68,400/Natural Grass) • Pittsburgh, Pa.

RSN (AT&T SportsNet) • Pitt IMG Sports Radio Network

PittsburghPanthers.com • @Pitt_FB

LINK (PDF): Pitt Game Notes (vs. Duke)

GAME STORYLINES

• Pitt opens the final stretch of the 2018 season by hosting Duke for a crucial ACC Coastal Division encounter. The Panthers are 2-1 in ACC play and looking to keep pace with Virginia Tech, which enters the week atop the Coastal at 3-0. Pitt finishes the season with five consecutive ACC games.
• Duke also remains a viable contender in the Coastal race despite last week’s 28-14 setback to Virginia. The Blue Devils are 5-2 overall and 1-2 in ACC play. Duke has gone bowling five of the past six years under David Cutcliffe.
• Since 2013, the Panthers own a 4-1 series advantage over Duke in ACC play. (Pitt leads the overall series, 13-9.) Three of the five ACC games have been decided by single digits, including Pitt’s 24-17 victory in Durham last year.
• The Blue Devils’ last win in the series occurred in 2014, a 51-48 double-overtime triumph at Heinz Field that came despite a 263-yard rushing day by the Panthers’ James Conner.
• With 646 total rushing yards this season, Qadree Ollison ranks third among ACC ball carriers. (His average of 92.3 yards per game ranks second.) Ollison is striving to become only the sixth player in Pitt history to achieve multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
• The Panthers boast one of college football’s most dangerous return men in junior Maurice Ffrench. Named a “Midseason All-American” by multiple outlets, Ffrench is tied for the national lead with two kickoff return touchdowns.
• Maurice Ffrench also ranks second nationally (first in the ACC) with a 33.8-yard kickoff return average. Duke is yielding just 17.82 yards per kickoff return, the third lowest in the ACC.
• During the Pat Narduzzi era (since 2015), Pitt ranks second nationally and first among ACC teams in total kick return touchdowns with 12 (seven on kickoffs and five via punt).

SERIES NOTES

This is the 23rd meeting between Pitt and Duke in a series that dates back to 1929…it is also the sixth Atlantic Coast Conference matchup between the two schools…Pitt and Duke meet annually as members of the ACC’s Coastal Division…the Panthers lead the overall series, 13-9, and have won seven of the past eight meetings…Pitt leads the ACC series, 4-1, and triumphed at Wallace Wade Stadium last year, 24-17…in the last game played in Pittsburgh (2016), the Panthers rolled, 56-14…Pat Narduzzi is undefeated in three games against Duke…in addition to the 2016 and ’17 contests, Pitt also defeated the host Blue Devils, 31-13, in 2015, Narduzzi’s initial year as head coach…Duke’s last victory over Pitt occurred in 2014, a 51-48 decision in double overtime at Heinz Field…the 2014 game snapped a four-game series losing streak for Duke and marked its first win over Pitt since 1966…there have been some milestone moments in the Pitt-Duke series…on Sept. 29, 1951, Duke defeated Pitt, 19-14, in the first live nationwide telecast of a sporting event…NBC was responsible for the landmark broadcast…the inaugural game of the series was on Oct. 5, 1929, when Pitt defeated host Duke, 52-7, in the first game ever played at “Duke Outdoor Stadium,” later renamed Wallace Wade Stadium…the 1937 and 1938 games featured two of the nation’s very best teams and a pair of legendary coaches in Pitt’s Jock Sutherland and Duke’s Wallace Wade…on Nov. 27, 1937, the No.1-ranked Panthers defeated the No. 18 Blue Devils, 10-0…Pitt would finish 9-0-1 to claim the national title (Duke finished 7-2-1)…on Nov. 26, 1938, the No. 3 Blue Devils blanked the No. 4 Panthers, 7-0, in what would be Sutherland’s final game as Pitt’s coach…Duke finished the 1938 regular season unbeaten (9-0), untied and unscored upon, but lost to Southern California in the Rose Bowl, 7-3…Pitt, which did not go to a bowl, finished 8-2.

BROADCAST INFORMATION  

Television • RSN (AT&T SportsNet in Pittsburgh)

Wes Durham (play-by-play), James Bates (analyst), Rebecca Kaple (reporter)

Pitt Radio • 93.7 The Fan & the Pitt IMG Sports Network

Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play), Pat Bostick (analyst), Larry Richert (reporter)

SiriusXM Satellite Radio

Sirius Channel 98, XM Channel 193, Internet Channel 955

WPTS Radio (Pitt Student Station) • 92.1 FM

Pitt IMG Sports Network Online Audio Options

PittsburghPanthers.com

Pitt Panthers Gameday App

TuneIn (free live and on-demand content)