I hope no one is assuming Duke is a gimmee at this point. Duke is a good team that has noticeably improved from the start of this season to this point. It was expected to be a rebuilding year for Duke, and it has. But there have been improvements in this team as the season progressed

Duke is sitting at 4-6, but it is not the same team that lost to Virginia and barely eked out a win over Army. They upset UNC the week before. They lost by only 3 to Virginia Tech the week before that. And last month they held Louisville and presumptive Heisman winner Lamar Jackson to by far their lowest offensive production of the season in a loss. (Plus, they beat ND which even if ND sucks, is worthy of giving them some props.)

The way Duke is, in-and-out of every season reminds me of the Boston College teams in the Big East of the late-90s and into the Aughts. Good team in the middle of the conference. Not great, but always giving a tough game. Pitt blew it open in the second half of last year’s game, but up until that point it looked like yet another game down to the wire between the two teams.

Duke Coach David Cutcliffe has been a perfect fit for Duke. He recruits players that fit. He doesn’t overreach on recruiting. Looking for players that he can develop and work into a system with the reasonable assumption that they will be at Duke for four years. It galls me to no end that I like and have respect for any aspect of Blue Devil athletics.

In the back of Pitt fans minds, should also be the recent history of falling flat after notching the big win or appearing on the cusp of something more.

• In the final game of the 2007 season, Pitt defeated West Virginia, 13-9, robbing the Mountaineers of an appearance in the national championship game. With high hopes, Pitt opened the next season with a 27-17 loss to Bowling Green at Heinz Field.

• In 2009, Pitt started 9-1 for the first time in 27 years by beating Notre Dame, 27-22. With the Big East championship on the line, Pitt lost its next two games to West Virginia and Cincinnati.

• In 2012, former coach Paul Chryst nearly orchestrated a stunning upset of No. 3 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., losing in triple overtime. Six days later — in a rare Friday night game — Pitt traveled to Connecticut and lost 24-17 to a Huskies team that had dropped four straight.

Nothing to see here. Moving on.

Then there is the injury aspect for Pitt. The defense is going to be without two of their three best players. Tyrique Jarrett is still out and Jordan Whitehead is gone for at least the rest of the regular season.

Jerimiah Taleni had a very good game against Clemson last week.

Taleni was able to trip and slow down Clemson running back Wayne Gallman on an outside sweep Saturday night, so linebacker Matt Galambos could finish him on the game’s key fourth down. And Taleni did it by using his head as much as his 6-foot-2, 290-pound body.

“Before the snap, I had a feeling they were going to take it outside because they were having a hard time running up the middle,” Taleni said. “I had a feeling based on formation, too. I saw that play coming.”

During his four seasons at Pitt, Taleni has struggled with climate and cultural differences between Hawaii and Pittsburgh.

“I hadn’t been competing where they wanted me to be,” he said. “But I eventually caught onto that. Now I can line up and play against anyone.”

The question will be whether he can be consistent from week-to-week.

With Whitehead out, safety has zero depth as Reggie Mitchell takes his spot. That means [gulp] Terrish Webb will be out on the field for a majority of the plays. Redshirt freshman Jay (not Manny) Stocker and sophomore Dennis Briggs are next up on the depth chart.