DURHAM, N.C. — Week after week, senior center Artie Rowell's days at Pitt slip away, and he realizes there might not be many games to savor such as the 31-13 victory Saturday against Duke.
It was a thorough beating, to be sure, with the Panthers coming off two consecutive disheartening defeats. Pitt recorded its most decisive road victory since it joined the ACC in 2013, holding Duke without a touchdown for the final 47 1⁄2 minutes.
That's nice, but it meant a bit more to Rowell and the other seniors than a notch in the victory column. It represented a big step toward one of their goals.
“One of my individual goals at the beginning of the season was pretty simple, It was to leave the program better than what I found it in,” he said.
Rowell, one of four captains, verbalized that goal in a speech to his teammates before the season, and the victory against Duke accomplished that — at least by the numbers.
Pitt (7-3, 5-1) won a seventh regular-season game for the first time since 2010, the year before Rowell arrived on campus. Pitt also improved its road record to 5-1, its best away from home since 2008.
But Rowell and outside linebacker Mike Caprara mentioned something else that is obvious: The season isn't over and opportunities still abound for this team.
“We still have a lot to prove,” said Caprara, who recorded two sacks and a fumble recovery.
Winning the ACC Coastal probably disappeared with Pitt's loss to North Carolina, which only needs to win one of its remaining two games to nail down the division title. Pitt can do nothing about that.
Pitt has plenty of control over the product it will put on the field for the final three games — against Louisville and Miami at Heinz Field and in the bowl.
The victory against Duke represented the model upon which to build.
“We were kind of waiting for this,” coach Pat Narduzzi said. “This was about as complete of a win as you could have.”
The game was tied at halftime, 10-10, but that's when Pitt started a streak of scoring on four consecutive possessions.
It started with Chris Blewitt's 51-yard field goal at the end of the first half and continued when Pitt scored touchdowns on its first three drives after halftime.
What was most impressive is that the offense draped itself in a new look. All-ACC wide receiver Tyler Boyd avoided the annoying double teams by running for a career-high 79 yards, and other pass catchers stepped up to take his place in the end zone.
Wide receivers Zach Challingsworth and Dontez Ford and tight end J.P. Holtz caught touchdown passes from Nathan Peterman, who completed his sixth of eight starts without throwing an interception.
Challingsworth caught only three passes for 57 yards, but each one converted third down into first down. And the first was a touchdown in which he outleaped a defender for the football near the sideline to give Pitt an early 7-0 lead.
Plus, it demonstrated the strong relationship he is forming with Peterman.
“I saw Nate scramble (away from pressure),” Challingsworth said, “thought it was short, so I just came back to it and jumped up and made a play.”
He said he also made eye contact with Peterman before a later catch where both players noticed the coverage leaning toward Boyd and silently knew what to do.
“I spoke to Dontez before the game,” Challingsworth said, “and I said, ‘Today is going to be our day. We are both going to make big plays. I feel touchdowns for both of us.'
“I might have to say that before every game.”
The result may be less heat on Boyd.
“That adds a whole different dimension,” Challingsworth said. “That's pretty scary.”
What's even more impressive about the victory is that Pitt's defense allowed Duke only 13 points after it gave up 106 to the Blue Devils in the past two games.
“That's one of the first things I thought of when we came down here,” Caprara said.
Pitt physically dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, even with defensive tackles Tyrique Jarrett and Mark Scarpinato out with injuries.
Qadree Ollison ran for 111 yards — his fourth triple-digit game of the season — and the defense took away Duke's ground attack and forced backup quarterback Parker Boehme to the air. Which is the design of Narduzzi's defense.Then, there's this from Duke coach David Cutcliffe:
“There's no reason to sugarcoat this,” he said he told his team. “We got whipped in every phase badly.”
Jerry DiPaola is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
It was a thorough beating, to be sure, with the Panthers coming off two consecutive disheartening defeats. Pitt recorded its most decisive road victory since it joined the ACC in 2013, holding Duke without a touchdown for the final 47 1⁄2 minutes.
That's nice, but it meant a bit more to Rowell and the other seniors than a notch in the victory column. It represented a big step toward one of their goals.
“One of my individual goals at the beginning of the season was pretty simple, It was to leave the program better than what I found it in,” he said.
Rowell, one of four captains, verbalized that goal in a speech to his teammates before the season, and the victory against Duke accomplished that — at least by the numbers.
Pitt (7-3, 5-1) won a seventh regular-season game for the first time since 2010, the year before Rowell arrived on campus. Pitt also improved its road record to 5-1, its best away from home since 2008.
But Rowell and outside linebacker Mike Caprara mentioned something else that is obvious: The season isn't over and opportunities still abound for this team.
“We still have a lot to prove,” said Caprara, who recorded two sacks and a fumble recovery.
Winning the ACC Coastal probably disappeared with Pitt's loss to North Carolina, which only needs to win one of its remaining two games to nail down the division title. Pitt can do nothing about that.
Pitt has plenty of control over the product it will put on the field for the final three games — against Louisville and Miami at Heinz Field and in the bowl.
The victory against Duke represented the model upon which to build.
“We were kind of waiting for this,” coach Pat Narduzzi said. “This was about as complete of a win as you could have.”
The game was tied at halftime, 10-10, but that's when Pitt started a streak of scoring on four consecutive possessions.
It started with Chris Blewitt's 51-yard field goal at the end of the first half and continued when Pitt scored touchdowns on its first three drives after halftime.
What was most impressive is that the offense draped itself in a new look. All-ACC wide receiver Tyler Boyd avoided the annoying double teams by running for a career-high 79 yards, and other pass catchers stepped up to take his place in the end zone.
Wide receivers Zach Challingsworth and Dontez Ford and tight end J.P. Holtz caught touchdown passes from Nathan Peterman, who completed his sixth of eight starts without throwing an interception.
Challingsworth caught only three passes for 57 yards, but each one converted third down into first down. And the first was a touchdown in which he outleaped a defender for the football near the sideline to give Pitt an early 7-0 lead.
Plus, it demonstrated the strong relationship he is forming with Peterman.
“I saw Nate scramble (away from pressure),” Challingsworth said, “thought it was short, so I just came back to it and jumped up and made a play.”
He said he also made eye contact with Peterman before a later catch where both players noticed the coverage leaning toward Boyd and silently knew what to do.
“I spoke to Dontez before the game,” Challingsworth said, “and I said, ‘Today is going to be our day. We are both going to make big plays. I feel touchdowns for both of us.'
“I might have to say that before every game.”
The result may be less heat on Boyd.
“That adds a whole different dimension,” Challingsworth said. “That's pretty scary.”
What's even more impressive about the victory is that Pitt's defense allowed Duke only 13 points after it gave up 106 to the Blue Devils in the past two games.
“That's one of the first things I thought of when we came down here,” Caprara said.
Pitt physically dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, even with defensive tackles Tyrique Jarrett and Mark Scarpinato out with injuries.
Qadree Ollison ran for 111 yards — his fourth triple-digit game of the season — and the defense took away Duke's ground attack and forced backup quarterback Parker Boehme to the air. Which is the design of Narduzzi's defense.Then, there's this from Duke coach David Cutcliffe:
“There's no reason to sugarcoat this,” he said he told his team. “We got whipped in every phase badly.”
Jerry DiPaola is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at jdipaola@tribweb.com or via Twitter @JDiPaola_Trib.
