Nov. 3, 2005

Radio: WKFB-AM 770
Alex Panormios (play-by-play) & Chris Kucharski (color)
On the internet at: www.redzonemedia.com

Complete Release in PDF Format
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DUKES HOST LA SALLE ON SENIOR DAY

Duquesne (5-3, 3-0) closes out the home portion of the 2005 schedule on Saturday, Nov. 5 versus La Salle at 1:00 p.m. (will air on WKFB-AM 770, www.redzonemedia.com).

The game, which is the final home outing for DU's senior class, also has Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League title implications. A Duquesne victory - in addition to clinching a 12th consecutive winning season - would also give the Dukes their seventh consecutive MAAC Championship.

La Salle needs to defeat Duquesne and Saint Peter's on Nov. 12 and have Marist lose at Iona on Saturday to win the title outright. Marist, which Duquesne defeated 22-14 on Oct. 22, can only win a share of the title if all three teams finish 3-1.

Duquesne will also honor its 1995 MAAC Champion football team - the first of eight Red and Blue squads to win the league championship - at halftime on Saturday. A reception and dinner will follow the game in recognition of the 10th anniversary of DU's first MAAC Championship.

The No. 3 Dukes, who have won 36 consecutive MAAC games - including the last 19 in a row at home - are coming off a 31-17 win at Iona last weekend. Freshman quarterback Kevin Rombach, who began the week third on DU's depth chart, entered the Iona game with the Dukes down 10-0 in the second quarter and guided the team to a season-high 31 points. Rombach, who completed 11-of-16 passes for 171 yards, was in for the injured Ben Palumbo (leg). Palumbo started the game in place of Scott Knapp who was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Knapp's status for the La Salle game won't be known until later in the week.

La Salle, which is off to a 3-6 start (1-1 in the MAAC) defeated non-conference opponent Kean, 38-36, on a 30-yard field goal by freshman Nick Scrivens on the final play of the game played at home last Saturday. Last weekend's heroes, Rombach and Scrivens, were named MAAC co-Rookies of the Week.

THE SERIES

Duquesne leads the overall series 6-0 - including a 3-0 mark at Rooney Field ... DU, which has scored a total of 118 points in the last two meetings, is averaging 43.3 points per game all-time vs. La Salle ... the Dukes, who are averaging 20.5 points per game this season, have never scored fewer than 30 vs. the Explorers ... last year, Duquesne, down 28-14 in the second quarter, rallied for five second half touchdowns to defeat La Salle, 56-35, at Philadelphia. (A full game recap can be found in the complete release linked above.)

DUQUESNE VS. LA SALLE

1999    W       H       32-32000    W       A       30-72001    W       H       34-02002    W       A       46-02003    W       H       62-142004    W       A       56-35

Overall: Duquesne leads 6-0
At Philadelphia: DU leads 3-0
At Pittsburgh: DU leads 3-0

DUKES "D" RANKED No. 1

Duquesne enters the La Salle game ranked first nationally in total defense, giving up an average of 202.25 yards per game. In three MAAC games, Duquesne has limited its opponents to 148 rushing yards on 94 carries ... for an average of 1.6 yards per rush. Duquesne has given up a total of 398 yards (an average of 132.7 ypg.) over that same three-game span. Look for La Salle to test the Dukes, as the Explorers enter the game ranked ninth nationally in passing offense at 295.78 yards per game. The Dukes rank second nationally in pass defense, giving up an average of 122.0 yards per game.

BULLOCK ON A TEAR

Senior defensive end Antoine Bullock (Houston, Texas / Sugar Land Kempner) became Duquesne's all-time sacks leader when he took down Marist's James Luft in the third quarter of DU's 22-14 win at Poughkeepsie on Oct. 22. Bullock's 24.5 career sacks eclipsed the old mark of 24.0 set by John Wojciechowski (1992-95). Bullock ranks fourth nationally with 9.0 sacks this season (1.13 per game). The Duquesne school record for sacks in a season is 12.5 set by All-American Ryan Tolan - Bullock's current position coach - last year. In his last four games, Bullock has topped his career single-game tackle high twice with 10 stops at Georgetown followed by 12 vs. Saint Peter's. Bullock has been named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week twice this year (9/12 & 10/17).

TWO FOR THE DEFENSE

Duquesne's top-ranked defense features a pair of two-time All-Americans in senior defensive lineman Josh Antinopoulos (Monaca, Pa. / Monaca) and senior middle linebacker Harry Carter (Lanham, Md. / Eleanor Roosevelt). Antinopoulos, who was named as the seventh-best returning defensive lineman in all of I-AA by the Sports Network in its preseason positional rankings, has lived up to his advanced billing with 6.0 sacks in DU's first eight games - good for tied for 23rd-best in I-AA. The 6-2, 265-pounder was also the only Mid-Major player named to the 75-man I-AA.org Preseason All-America Team and was one of 28 players named to the Sports Network 2005 I-AA Mid-Major Preseason All-America team.

Antinopoulos enters the La Salle game tied for second on the team (with offensive lineman Josh Martin) for most consecutive starts with 29. The Monaca, Pa. native posted seven tackles including 3.0 sacks (-27 yards) and forced two fumbles in the season-opener vs. Robert Morris and added seven more stops and a pair of sacks vs. Fordham. He came up one tackle shy of his career high with 11 stops (5 solo) and added a fumble forced and fumble recovered in addition to a sack at Columbia. Antinopoulos currently ranks fourth on Duquesne's all-time sacks list with 21.0.

Carter, who was also named to the Sports Network 2005 I-AA Mid-Major Preseason All-America team, has led DU in total tackles in each of his first three seasons. The Maryland native has ranked either first or second on the team in tackles in 26 of his 38 career starts and has 18 career 10-tackle games. He is averaging over nine stops per game for his career. Carter, who has started a team-high 38 straight games, ranks third on Duquesne's all-time tackles list with 372. He has three double-digit tackle games this season (11 vs. Fordham, a game-high 10 at Penn and 11 at Georgetown).

FRESHMEN STEP UP

A number of freshmen played key roles in Duquesne's big win at Marist on Oct. 22. In all, 16 of DU's 22 points scored came courtesy of freshmen. Kicker Mark Troyan contributed a field goal and extra point, fellow true freshman Travis Taltoan added a 12-yard TD catch (from redshirt freshman QB Scott Knapp) and freshman fullback Greg Hough caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Knapp. Redshirt freshman Aaron Strader, who was making his first career start at cornerback, picked off a pass and the biggest offensive play of the game - a 55-yard catch-and-run on DU's first play of the second half - was turned in by redshirt freshman Philip Hayes (on his first career reception). Last weekend, DU's freshmen continued their stellar play as Kevin Rombach came off the bench to complete 11-of-16 passes for 171 yards and a TD in leading the Dukes from a 10-0 deficit to a 31-17 win at Iona. Troyan added his ninth field goal of the season (a 37-yarder) and Strader picked off a pass for the second consecutive week.

SEVEN ROOKIES OF THE WEEK

Scott Knapp, who was named MAAC Rookie of the Week three times in the first three weeks as the award was given this season (Sept. 5, 12 & 19), saw the streak ended when teammate Mark Troyan was honored following the Columbia game. DU gave up its hold of the award in week five, when Iona's Maurice Thomas was named R-O-W. The award was not handed out on October 10 (Duquesne's off week) before Knapp earned Rookie honors for a league-high fourth time following DU's 24-0 win over Saint Peter's. Cornerback Aaron Strader became the third different Dukes rookie to win the award following Duquesne's 22-14 win at Marist and back-up quarterback Kevin Rombach made it rookie number four when he was named co-Rookie of the Week for his clutch relief performance at Iona. Of the eight times a Rookie of the Week has been named, a Duquesne player has won (or shared) it seven times (Knapp four, Troyan one, Strader one and Rombach one).

NOTES FROM IONA

Duquesne's conference win streak now stands at 36 games ... it is the longest active conference win streak among NCAA Division I-A and I-AA schools and ranks third all time behind Oklahoma (44 in the Big Eight from 1952-59) and Nebraska (39 in the Big Eight/Big 12 from 1992-98) on the all-time list for Division I-A and I-AA ... the Dukes also extended their series win streak to five in a row over Iona ... Duquesne began the game without starting quarterback Scott Knapp (Pittsburgh, Pa./Perry Traditional Academy), who was nursing a shoulder that was injured in the win at Marist on Oct. 22 ... back-up quarterback Ben Palumbo (Canton, Ohio/McKinley) went down with a combination ankle, knee, hip injury late in the second quarter forcing true freshman Kevin Rombach (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin) to enter the game with Duquesne down 10-0 ... Rombach promptly led the Dukes to a season-high 31 points by connecting on 11-of-16 pass attempts for 171 yards and one score ... his first career pass was a 29-yard completion to wideout Alex Roberson (Waynesboro, Ga./Curtis Baptist Upper School) ... Roberson benefitted the most from Rombach's appearance, posting his first career 100-yard game with four catches for 103 yards ... media covering the game, including the public address announcer and Duquesne radio, did not mention Rombach's name once throughout the afternoon ... Rombach, whose road jersey No. 6 is missing, was outfitted in jersey No. 17 which belongs to fellow freshman Brian Smoot ... no one in the press box was aware of the number change until after the game was over - thus Rombach was referred to as `Smoot' for the entire game ... James Jacobs (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) led all rushers with 67 yards on 17 carries ... Jacobs scored on runs of two and one yards ... freshman Aaron Strader (Pittsburgh, Pa./Allderdice), who was making his second career start in as many weeks at cornerback, picked off a pass for the second-straight week ... strong safety Michael Hill (Largo, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) set up a pair of second-half Duquesne touchdowns with a fumble recovery at the Iona 17 and interception return to the Iona 11 ... Hill, who finished the game with seven tackles (five solo) also was credited with two passes broken up ... Hill now has intercepted a pass in each of DU's last three games ... Duquesne held Iona to two yards on 11 third quarter plays ... DU scored twice during that span to make it 24-10 entering the fourth quarter.