Oct. 26, 2004

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Alex Panormios (play-by-play) & Chris Kucharski (color)
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DUKES HOST RED FOXES IN BATTLE OF UNBEATENS

First place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League is on the line as Duquesne (4-2, 2-0) hosts Marist (3-4, 3-0) on Saturday, October 30 in a battle of league unbeatens. The game, which is part of Duquesne's Homecoming weekend, is set for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff on Rooney Field (WKFB-AM 770, www.redzonemedia.com).

Duquesne, which is coming off its second bye in four weeks, will be taking on a Marist team that won its third consecutive MAAC game last weekend, 41-35 at La Salle. Marist can clinch an outright title Saturday with a win over the Dukes, while Duquesne would need to defeat Marist and have Iona defeat La Salle (1:00 at Iona) to lay claim to a share of its sixth consecutive MAAC crown and eighth title in 10 years.

The Dukes, who are 64-7 all-time in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League play, enter the Marist game with the longest conference win streak of any NCAA I-A or I-AA school at 31, in addition to a home win streak that stands at 14. The last team to defeat the Dukes in league play was Iona, which took a 62-50 decision at New Rochelle, N.Y. on Oct. 23, 1999. DU's last home loss was on Dec. 1, 2001 to Sacred Heart (31-15) in the ECAC Classic.

Duquesne, the defending I-AA Mid-Major national champion, begins the week ranked No. 5 in the Sports Network I-AA Mid-Major Top 10. DU entered the season ranked No. 1. Saturday's game completes the league season for Marist, which was picked to finish third in the MAAC in a preseason poll of league coaches.

DUKES AND RED FOXES

Duquesne leads the overall series 9-2 - including a 5-1 edge at Pittsburgh ... the Dukes have won the last nine in a row, holding the Red Foxes to 10 or fewer points in each of the last five matchups.

ABOUT THAT STREAK

Duquesne's 31-game MAAC win streak is the longest active conference streak in NCAA Division's I-A and I-AA ... during the streak, the Dukes have outscored their opponents by a 1,278-312 margin, with just one of the 31 games decided by fewer than 10 points.

QUICK NOTES & TRENDS

• Duquesne's 14-game home win streak is the second-longest in NCAA Division I-AA (behind Colgate's 16)
• The Dukes' home record to 29-2 since the `99 season
• Duquesne has rushed for 501 yards in two MAAC games (249 vs. Iona and 252 at Saint Peter's)
• Tailback James Jacobs has rushed for five scores in the Dukes' last two games ... he is coming off a 16 carry, 125-yard game at Saint Peter's
• Jeremy McCullough has run for 214 yards on 42 carries in DU's last two games
• DE Ryan Tolan has posted four of his team-high seven sacks in the last two games
• Javonn Bradley finished with 7 tackles including a game-high 4.0 tackles for loss at Saint Peter's on the way to earning MAAC co-Defensive Player of the Week ... Bradley picked off a third quarter pass and took it 29 yards for a score to put Duquesne up 27-8 ... Bradley is the 8th different Duke to earn Player/Rookie of the Week honors this season
• CB Armar Watson saw his streak of consecutive starts snapped at 28 when he missed the Saint Peter's game with a groin injury ... Watson ranks tied for fifth nationally - and tied for fourth on DU's career list - with career 12 picks ... his 233 career return yards rank fourth among active I-AA players and trail only the school record of 297 set by All-American Leigh Bodden (Cleveland Browns) from 1999-02
• WR Michel Warfield, the Dukes' leading receiver, suffered a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder in the third quarter of the Iona game ... the injury also kept him out of the win at Saint Peter's ... Warfield ranks tied for sixth among active I-AA players with 24 career TD catches
• Watson and Warfield are both questionable for the Marist game
• Kicker John Harris has been perfect so far this season (23-of-23 on extra points and 2-of-2 on field goals)
• Nine of QB Niel Loebig's 14 interceptions have come in DU's two losses
• Nine of the ten players to catch a pass this season are either freshmen or sophomores (senior Warfield is the lone upperclassman with a reception)
• 20 of Duquesne's 24 turnovers forced have come in the Dukes' four wins (+9 in the TO column) ... in two losses, DU has turned it over 11 times, while forcing just two (-7)