PITTSBURGH — James Conner’s constantly churning legs have spent the past two months trying to will enigmatic Pittsburgh into contention in the ACC.

When they finally tired on Saturday afternoon against No. 24 Duke, the Panthers’ chances of taking a significant step forward in 2014 likely went right along with them.

Kicker Chris Blewitt missed a 26-yard field goal that would have won it on the final play of regulation and Pitt’s defense yielded a pair of touchdowns in overtime and the Blue Devils escaped with a 51-48 victory.

Conner finished with a career-high 263 yards and three scores, but didn’t touch the ball in the second extra period.

The Panthers (4-5, 2-3) were forced to settle for a Blewitt field goal and Duke backup quarterback Thomas Sirk finished off Pitt with a 5-yard run that sent his teammates sprinting onto the field and the Panthers slinking to the locker room after their fifth loss in six games following a 3-0 start.

“Would have been a great opportunity to get back in the win column versus a good team who only had one loss,” Conner said. “Doesn’t feel too good.”

And it won’t look too good either. A week after fumbling it away six times in a 28-point loss to Georgia Tech, Pitt did nearly everything right.

The Panthers rolled up 594 yards, didn’t turn it over and controlled the ball for more than 41 minutes. They appeared poised to win after driving 71 yards in the final 2:56 to set up Blewitt. The Blue Devils called a pair of timeouts to make him think about it.

The snap was good. The kick, not so much. It hooked to the left giving Duke a second chance it didn’t let go to waste.