Pitt to open 2025 football season against Duquesne for 1st meeting in 86 years
Pitt will open the 2025 football season against Duquesne on Aug. 30 at Acrisure Stadium, bringing together two schools located 2 miles apart for the first time since 1939, both schools announced Tuesday.
Kickoff time will be announced at a later date.
Because Pitt and Duquesne play football at different levels, their football teams have met only seven times. Pitt holds a 5-2 edge, and all five of its victories were shutouts. All but one game was played in the 1930s.
Duquesne’s 7-0 victory in 1936 was Pitt’s only loss that season. The next week, Pitt defeated Notre Dame, 26-0, on its way to a 21-0 victory against Washington on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl.
The teams first met Oct. 26, 1901, with Pitt recording an 18-0 victory. Duquesne won 21-13 in the most recent meeting Oct. 21, 1939, at Pitt Stadium.
Pitt regularly plays early-season home games against FCS teams, which is the level Duquesne competes at. Panthers opponents have included Youngstown State, Albany, Villanova, Delaware, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Wofford.
Duquesne has played Power 4 schools in the past, including TCU in 2021, Florida State in 2022, West Virginia in 2023 and Boston College in 2024.
Pitt will be Duquesne’s 12th FBS opponent, and the Dukes are 1-10 in those games, including a 28-26 victory against Ohio in 2021.
Duquesne shared the Northeast Conference regular-season championship last year at 5-1, finishing 8-3 overall. The Dukes have won 18 conference championships across the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and NEC since 1995 and made three trips to the FCS playoffs.
Pitt’s entire conference schedule will be announced later this month by the ACC. The Panthers will play Boston College, Louisville, Miami and N.C. State at Acrisure Stadium and Florida State, Georgia Tech, Stanford and Syracuse on the road.
Pitt’s other three nonconference games will be Sept. 6 at home against Central Michigan, Sept. 13 at West Virginia and Notre Dame at Acrisure Stadium at a date to be announced.
Jerry DiPaola is a TribLive reporter covering Pitt athletics since 2011. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in 1993, first as a copy editor and page designer in the sports department and later as the Pittsburgh Steelers reporter from 1994-2004. He can be reached at jdipaola@triblive.com.
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