Hall Leads Pitt Past Duke, 24-17
It wasn’t pretty. It hasn’t been all season long for the 2017 Pitt Panthers. Yet, they managed to get some big plays out of the running game led by junior tailback Darrin Hall en route to a 24-17 must-win road victory at Duke yesterday. Pitt moved to 3-5 (1-3 in the ACC) on the season.
After the teams traded punts to open the game, Duke was forced to punt on its second possession. That’s when the game’s hero took over.
On its first snap, Hall took the off-tackle hand-off and blast through a hole the size of North Carolina and 79 yards later found paydirt. Pitt 7 Duke 0.
Duke would counter with a Field Goal and the teams finished the first half in a defensive slugfest. Pitt 7 Duke 3 at half.
Duke took control of the game in the 3rd Quarter, including a pretty TD passese from sophomore QB Daniel Jones to a wide-open Shaun Wilson for 58 yards and later to WR T.J. Rahming for 39 yards. The second TD pass seem to beat both Pitt safeties Jordan Whitehead and Damar Hamlin.
Down 17-7, Pitt and Darrin Hall answered right back. Just before the end the 3rd Quarter, the junior dazzled with another off-tackle burst. This time for 92 yards. It was the longest TD run in Pitt Football history. Duke 17 Pitt 14 by the start of the 4th Quarter.
After forcing Duke to punt again, Pitt went back to work on offense. First, Hall started the drive with runs of 6 and 5 yards before losing a yard at the Pitt 15 yard line.
Then, sophomore QB Ben DiNucci, who struggled all game long, threw a nice pass to senior WR Jester Weah for 25 yards to the Pitt 40 yard. DiNucci went back to the well on the very next snap and threw a jump ball to Weah that looked like a Duke interception but was somehow ruled as a simultaneous catch (which by rule goes to the offense) for 49 yards at the Blue Devil 11 yard line.
Hall would then salt the drive with runs of 7 and 4 yards for the game-leading score. Hall would finish the day with 24 carries for 254 yards and 3 TDs, his biggest day by far as a Panther.
Pitt sophomore placekicker Alex Kessman would later add a 45 yard field goal and Pitt would lead 24-17 with a little over a minute left.
Jones would then lead the Blue Devils easily down the field on 7 plays for 51 yards. However, his last pass was deflected off the hands of Daniel Helm, who looked to be held by Pitt junior linebacker Elijah Zeise but was not called, and landed into the hands of Pitt safety Jordan Whitehead to seal the win for the Panthers.
Notes:
• Next up: Virginia at Pitt, Sat 10/28 at 12:20pm EST, TV AT&T SportsNet
• Pitt now leads the overall series with Duke 13-9 and have beaten the Blue Devils 4 out of 5 times since joining the ACC in 2013.
• True freshman QB Kenny Pickett dressed but did not play for the Panthers despite DiNucci’s struggles, who finished the Duke game with 8 for 18 passing for 149 yards with 0 TDs and 0 INTs.
