Nov. 19, 2002

Complete Duquesne Football Game Preview in PDF Format

• Complete ECAC Classic Release in PDF Format
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MAAC Champion, #1 DUQUESNE (11-0), at NEC Champion, #6 ALBANY (7-4)

Radio: Fox Sports Pittsburgh - WBGG-AM 970
On the internet at: www.redzonemedia.com

IT'S DUQUESNE & ALBANY IN ECAC CLASSIC

Duquesne, winner of the last four Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League titles, travels to Albany, N.Y. to face the Northeast Conference champion Albany Great Danes in the 2002 ECAC Classic on Saturday, Nov. 23 (kickoff at 1:00 p.m. - WBGG-AM 970, on the web at www.redzonemedia.com).

The ECAC Classic, resurrected in 2001 by the Eastern College Athletic Conference, matches the regular-season football champions from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and the Northeast Conference. The site rotates annually between the two conferences with the NEC Champion serving as the host this year. The ECAC Bowl Game was conducted from 1993 to 1997 as the season-ending game for the now defunct Intercollegiate Football Conference, which was composed of many of the MAAC and NEC members. This is Duquesne's fourth appearance in the ECAC Bowl/Classic (1995, 1996 & 2001)

THE ECAC CLASSIC

Duquesne earned a spot in the 2002 ECAC Classic by virtue of its MAAC-title clinching win over Canisius on Nov. 9. The Dukes - the winner of the last four MAAC titles - have won six of the last eight league crowns (1995, '96, '99, '00, '01 and '02). Albany clinched its first-ever Northeast Conference title with a 19-7 win over Monmouth last week.

The Dukes and the Great Danes were picked to win their respective league titles in coaches' preseason polls conducted by each league.

Duquesne has competed at the I-AA level since 1993, while Albany didn't move up to NCAA I-AA until 1999. The Dukes are associate members of the MAAC (since 1994) and the Great Danes are associate members of the NEC (since 1999). Duquesne is a full member of the Atlantic 10 conference, while UAlbany is a full member of the America East Conference.

POLL POSITION

Duquesne, who assumed the top spot in The Sports Network I-AA Mid-Major Poll on Sept. 30, cracked both The Sports Network (#24) and ESPN/USA Today (#25) I-AA polls for the first time in school history last week. The Dukes enter the ECAC Classic ranked #21 by both TSN and ESPN in all of Division I-AA.

Duquesne joins Dayton as the only other I-AA Mid-Major team to ever earn a ranking in either of the polls. Dayton, a member of the Pioneer Football League, was ranked as high as No. 20 in the 1997 ESPN/USA Today poll, before finishing the season with a No. 25 ranking. The Flyers reached the No. 18 spot in The Sports Network poll before finishing the 1997 season at No. 23. Dayton also was ranked No. 24 in the final TSN poll of 1996.

The Dukes have also moved up to number 8 in the ECAC Lambert I-AA poll. DU, which was #10 in the opening week, dropped to 11th place last week.

DU STILL MID-MAJOR NO. 1

Duquesne assumed the top spot in The Sports Network I-AA Mid-Major Top 10 following its 35-28 win at then-No. 1 Dayton on Sept. 28. This is the eighth consecutive week the Dukes have hung on to the No. 1 slot in TSN's and in Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette polls.

The Dukes achieved the top ranking in the TSN poll - which was established last year - for the first time last season. DU held the No. 1 spot for three weeks last year (ending 9/24). The I-AA mid-major champion will receive The Sports Network Cup, created in 2001, to honor the nation's top I-AA mid-major college football program. Sacred Heart received the award in the inauguaral season.

LOOKING FOR No. 12

Duquesne, who set a new school record with its 11th win last week vs. Fairfield, is looking for its 12th win of the season. Since 1900, DU has posted 10 wins six times (including this season). Dukes' head coach Greg Gattuso has now coached four of the six 10-game winners.

THE SERIES

This is the first meeting between Duquesne and Albany. The Dukes and Great Danes have one common opponent this season in the MAAC's Canisius Golden Griffins. Albany defeated the Griffs at home by a 44-14 count on Oct. 19, while the Dukes handed Canisius a 42-0 loss at Buffalo on Nov. 9.

ON THE ROAD

Duquesne is 38-13 on the road under head coach Greg Gattuso, including 28-4 mark in league play. DU has dropped just two MAAC road games in the last eight seasons (24-0 at Georgetown in 1997 and 62-50 at Iona in 1999 - a 34-21 loss at ineligible Fairfield in '97 didn't count in league standings). DU has won its last 11 MAAC road games, and last seven on the road overall.

MAAC ATTACK

Duquesne outscored its MAAC opponents by a combined 304-27 score in rolling to its fifth undefeated league record (7-0 in 1995, 8-0 in 1996, 7-0 in 2000, 6-0 in 2001 and 8-0 this year). Iona was the only MAAC team to score more than seven points vs. the Dukes this season, as DU shut out four of eight league foes.

IT'S ACADEMIC

In addition to success on the field, the Dukes are also taking care of business in the classroom as evidenced by the 2002 Verizon Academic All-District 2 Football Team released on Nov. 14. Receiver Jeremy Conley (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Allderdice), running back Mike Hilliard (Homer Center, Pa. / Homer Center), defensive back Joe Pavlick (Canton, Ohio / St. Thomas Aquinas), defensive end Philip Polony (Whitehall, Pa. / Whitehall) and tight end Matt Mrdjenovich (Harrison City, Pa. / Penn-Trafford)were all named to the academic squad.

Conley, a senior secondary education major with a 3.20 GPA, Hilliard a junior finance major with a 3.59 GPA, Pavlick, a junior information technology major with a 3.97 GPA and Polony, a junior accounting major with a 3.39 GPA, earned first team honors while Mrdjenovich, a senior marketing major with a 3.56 GPA, was named to the second team. No school placed more student-athletes on the first team than Duquesne. In fact, DU's five total honorees were tied for most in District 2.

It is the second first-team appearance for both Pavlick and Polony who earned a spot on the Verizon All-District 2 team last year. As first team members, Conley, Hilliard, Pavlick and Polony will have their names placed on the national ballot, with the 2002 Academic All-America Football Team to be released on Monday, December 2.

CHASING MATHIS

DU senior cornerback and co-caption Leigh Bodden (Hyattsville, Md. / Northwestern), who has picked off six balls in his last five games, is chasing Bethune-Cookman's Rashean Mathis for the NCAA I-AA career interception mark. Mathis picked off one pass last weekend, allowing him to increase his interception lead to two. Bethune-Cookman concludes its season on Saturday at home vs. Florida A&M:

91 IN 11

Of the 240 teams competing at the NCAA Division I-A and I-AA levels, only one team has yet to surrender 100 points. That team is ... Duquesne. The Red and Blue's 11 opponents have scored just 91 points.

The Dukes, who lead I-AA in scoring defense at 8.3 ppg., have given up just 10 touchdowns on the season. Of the 10, only eight have been scored on the defense (Dayton returned a fumble for a score and Lafayette turned a blocked punt into a TD).

The Dukes, who have posted four shutouts this season, have not surrendered a point in their last eight quarters.

ECAC Bowl Results

ALBANY NOTES

Albany captured its first ever NEC Championship and ECAC Classic berth with its 19-7 victory over Monmouth Saturday. The Great Danes bring a 7-4 overall and 6-1 conference record into Saturday's game with Duquesne.

• Quarterback Ryan Roeder completed 11 of 17 passes for 91 yards on a snow covered field. He also carried the ball 12 times for a career-high 62 yards and a touchdown.
• The Great Danes' defense limited Monmouth to just 104 yards, including four net rushing yards
• Running back Gary Jones recorded his sixth straight 100 or more yard game and broke the school's single-season record for all-purpose yards.
• Matt Crudo had three catches for 34 yards...Stan Zylinski added two field goals.
• The Great Danes, who rank among the national leaders in Division I-AA against the run, held an opponent to less than 100 yards on the ground for the fifth time this season.
• Josh Bazan paced the defense with eight total tackles and five solo. Josh MacAnn had two tackles for a loss totalling 13 yards and 1.5 sacks for 13 yards.
• On the year, Roeder is 127-205 with five interceptions and 1,337 yards and eight touchdowns. Crudo is the leading receiver with 36 catches for 466 yards and five touchdowns while Jones leads all rushers with 166 carries fro 1,315 yards and 20 touchdowns. Defensively, Bazan had a team-best 113 tackles including 75 solos, 13 tackles for a loss (-46) and 3.5 sacks (- 24). Ryan MacLean has 63 tackles with 47solos and five for a loss. Samson Brown has two interceptions including one return for a touchdown.