Nov. 19, 2002
Duquesne University senior defensive end Bill Arbogast (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk) has been named the National Defensive Player of the Week by Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette for his performance in Saturday's 27-0 regular season-ending win over Fairfield. On Monday, Arbogast was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League Defensive Player of the Week.
Arbogast was a one-man wrecking crew in the Dukes' fourth shutout win in eight MAAC games. The 6-1, 225-pounder posted a team-high 11 tackles (9 solo) including three sacks (-10) and also forced a pair of fumbles. He finished the game with five total tackles for loss. Arbogast's 9.0 sacks on the season are just shy of the DU single-season record of 9.5 set by John Wojciechowski in 1995.
The win, which left the Dukes as the only unbeaten team in Division I-AA, was the school record 11th for the 2002 MAAC champions. Duquesne, whose defense is currently ranked No. 1 in I-AA, is the only team in either Division I or Division I-AA (240 schools) to have surrendered less than 100 points this season (91 through 11 games).
Duquesne (11-0, 8-0 MAAC) -- the top-ranked team in NCAA I-AA Mid-Major, the No. 21 team in all of Division I-AA, and the eighth ranked team in the ECAC Lambert poll -- heads to Albany, NY to face the University at Albany (7-4, 6-1 NEC) in the 2002 ECAC Classic on Saturday, Nov. 23. The ECAC Classic (nee ECAC Bowl) matches the MAAC champion and the winner of the Northeast Conference. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m. at UAlbany's University Field (Fox Sports Radio, WBGG-AM 970 locally, and on the internet at www.redzonemedia.com
