Aug. 6, 2004

Duquesne, a long-time power at the I-AA mid-major level, capped last season by earning the school's first ever national championship. With a pair of consensus All-Americans, a record-setting quarterback and a total of 13 all Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League players returning, look for the Dukes to make a spirited defense of that title. Leading the way for the fourth consecutive season is quarterback Niel Loebig (Sr., 6-3, 215, South Fayette, Pa.) - holder of 13 of 15 school passing records. Loebig, a three-time first team All-MAAC pick, has thrown for 7,883 career yards and 76 touchdowns in compiling a 27-7 record in three seasons as a starter. The 2003 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year has seen the Dukes average 428 yards and 33 points per game while never losing a conference game (19-0) under his guidance. Only two other returning quarterbacks at the I-A or I-AA levels (Grambling's Bruce Eugene and Hawaii's Timmy Chang) have thrown for more career TDs than Loebig. Gone from last year's offense is All-American running back Mike Hilliard, who was the Dukes' leading rusher for each of the last two seasons, and veteran receiver Yardon Brantley, who earned a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles this summer. Despite the loss of Hilliard and Brantley, Loebig will have a number of talented skill position players led by All-MAAC receiver Michel Warfield (Sr., 6-2, 205, Oxon Hill, Md.). Warfield, who pulled in 51 passes for a team-high 1,147 yards last season, is averaging over 22 yards per catch for his career. His 14 touchdown receptions last year were just two shy of the school record. A talented group of newcomers including Dan Spriggs (So., 5-9, 170, Baltimore, Md.), Bruce Hocker (Fr., 6-3, 190, Upper Marlboro, Md.) and Alvin Hill (Fr., 6-0, 170, Pittsburgh, Pa.) will bolster the passing game. Speedy sophomores James Jacobs (So., 5-8, 180, Norristown, Pa.) and Jeremy McCullough (So., 5-9, 190, Bethlehem, Pa.) will battle for Hilliard's spot in the backfield. McCullough is the Dukes' top returning rusher with 251 yards on 52 carries last season, while Jacobs averaged 6.2 yards on his 17 rushing attempts in 2003. Although, All-American center Rob Bowser has graduated, the Dukes still look to be formidable up front with 300-pound returning starters guards Mike Daniluk (Sr., 6-2, 315, Cranberry Township, Pa.) and Bob Healy (Sr., 6-4, 310, Pittsburgh, Pa.) and tackle Josh Martin (Jr., 6-4, 305) anchoring the offensive line. The Dukes defense - which returns a total of eight starters - will be led by a pair of All-Americans in junior defensive tackle Josh Antinopoulos (Jr., 6-2, 265, Monaca, Pa.) and junior middle linebacker Harry Carter (Jr., 6-1, 235, Lanham, Md.). Antinopoulos led all linemen with 72 tackles, including 17 tackles for loss last season, while Carter led the team with 114 stops. Carter, who has ranked either first or second on the team in tackles in 15 of his 20 career starts, is averaging 8.8 tackles per game for his career. Defensive end Antoine Bullock (Jr., 6-1, 220, Houston, Texas), who led the Dukes with eight sacks and four fumbles forced, is also back along with outside linebackers Ryan Tolan (Sr., 6-1, 230, LaVerne, Calif.) and Javonn Bradley (Jr., 5-11, 220, Rochester, Pa.) who finished second and third on the team with 79 and 74 tackles respectively last season. Armar Watson (Sr., 5-11, 190, Forrestville, Md.) brings a streak of 23 consecutive starts into the season at one cornerback spot while Michael Ford (Jr., 6-2, 190, Clinton, Md.) returns as a starter on the other side. Watson is DU's top returning career interceptor with eight, while Ford led the team last year with four. R.J. Romano (Jr., 6-1, 200, Carrollton, Ohio), who moved into the starting free safety spot in game three last season, finished the year with 53 total tackles. Hard-hitting converted linebacker Michael Hill (So., 5-11, 205, Largo, Md.) is the favorite to start at the strong safety spot. John Harris (Sr., 6-0, 205, Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Francisco Uribe (So., 6-0, 185, Villanova, Pa.) will battle for placekicking duties, while back-up quarterback Steve Lattin (So., 6-3, 205, Trenton, N.J.) is the frontrunner at punter. 2004 DUQUESNE FOOTBALL QUICK NOTES * Duquesne is the defending I-AA Mid-Major consensus National Champion (Sports Network, Don Hansen, Dopke.com) ... only three other Division I-AA programs have had more consecutive winning seasons than Duquesne's 10 (Dayton, Eastern Kentucky and Montana). * DU has won the last five Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League titles (1999, '00, '01, '02, '03) and seven of the last nine overall ... only Montana of the Big Sky Conference has a longer current streak of league titles (six). * The Dukes will enter the 2004 season with a 29-game MAAC win streak ... over that span Duquesne has outscored its league opponents 1,202 to 290. * Dukes are coached by 12th year head coach Greg Gattuso (90-29-0) ... Gattuso, who played for Penn State's 1983 National Championship team, enters this season needing two victories to become the winningest coach in DU football history ... Gattuso, the six-time MAAC Coach of the Year, has won 75.6 percent of his games at Duquesne including a 62-7 mark in the MAAC. * Duquesne will play arguably the toughest schedule of any of the I-AA Mid-Major schools ... in addition to four MAAC Football League games, the Dukes will also take on four Patriot League teams (Bucknell, Fordham, Georgetown and Holy Cross) in addition to Pioneer League power Morehead State and cross-town rival Robert Morris. * The Dukes return 12 starters from last year's 8-3-0 team (four on offense and eight on defense) ... a total of 13 returnees were either first or second team All-MAAC. * Returning Sports Network I-AA Mid-Major All-Americans include: DT Josh Antinopoulos & MLB Harry Carter. * Returning Don Hansen I-AA Mid-Major All-Americans include: Antinopoulos, Carter and QB Niel Loebig (honorable mention). * Leading the way on offense is senior quarterback Niel Loebig (6-3, 215, McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) ... Loebig, a three-year starter was the MAAC Offensive Player last season when he threw for 3,086 yards and 25 touchdowns ... he is 27-7-0 as a starter and has thrown for at least two TDs in a game 25 times ... he currently holds 13 of the 15 passing records kept at Duquesne ... three-time first team All-MAAC ... his career totals entering the season are 516-of-957 (.542) for 7,883 yards and 76 TDs (49 INTs) ... only two returning quarterbacks at the Division I-A or I-AA levels have thrown for more career TDs than Loebig (Bruce Eugene of Grambling, 83 and Timmy Chang of Hawaii, 79 ... Ben Roethlisberger had 84 before declaring for this year's draft) ... Loebig has thrown for at least 2,100 yards and 22 TDs in each of his first three seasons. * Loebig's primary target will be senior receiver Michel Warfield (6-1, 180, Oxon Hill, Md./Bishop McNamara) ... Warfield emerged as one of the top big play threats in I-AA last season in leading the Dukes with 1,147 yards receiving on 51 catches (an eye-popping 22.5 ypc.) ... he also caught a team-high 14 TDs ... ranked seventh nationally in receiving yards per game at 104.3 ... had six 100-yard receiving games last season. * Duquesne returns three 300-plus pound starting offensive linemen (LT Josh Martin, Jr., 6-3, 295; LG Mike Daniluk, Sr., 6-4, 310 and RG Bob Healy, Jr., 6-3, 305) who helped the team average 31 points and 455 yards per game (6.3 yards per play) last season as the Dukes finished fifth nationally in total offense. * Junior defensive tackle Josh Antinopoulos (6-2, 270, Monaca, Pa./Monaca) returns to anchor the defense ... Antinopoulos finished fourth on the team with 72 total tackles (29 solo) ... he was also second on the squad with 17 tackles for loss (-38 yards) and 5.0 sacks (-25 yards) ... he was also athletic enough to break up two passes and block a kick. * Junior middle linebacker Harry Carter (6-1, 235, Latham, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) returns as one of the top linebackers at the I-AA level ... Carter, who has ranked either first or second on the team in tackles in 15 of his 20 career starts, led the Dukes with 114 stops (52 solo) last season ... he also picked off four passes from his MLB spot. * Senior cornerback Armar Watson (Forrestville, Md./Suitland) is back to lead the secondary ... a two-year starter, Watson leads all returnees with 8 career interceptions for 165 yards ... he broke up a team-high 9 passes last year to give him a total of 19 PBU for his career. DUKES IN THE NFL: Duquesne had two players on NFL rosters last season in cornerback Leigh Bodden (Cleveland Browns) and fullback Josh Rue (Arizona Cardinals) ... they were the first Dukes to stick with NFL teams since Al Demao played for the Washington Redskins in 1953 ... Duquesne had 43 NFL players between 1933 & 1953 during its Division I glory days in the 1930s and 1940s.