Sept. 3, 2005

Box Score | Quotes | Notes

Redshirt freshman Scott Knapp made his first career start a memorable one as he threw for 365 yards and one touchdown to lead Duquesne to a 23-12 victory over cross-town rival Robert Morris Saturday afternoon at Rooney Field. Knapp, who won the starting job late in preseason camp, completed 23-of-42 pass attempts in amassing the seventh-highest single-game passing yardage total in school history.

Duquesne, looking to avenge a 34-14 defeat at RMU last season, scored on its first possession when freshman Mark Troyan capped a 14-play drive with a 36-yard field goal to put the Dukes up 3-0. On Duquesne's next possession, Knapp, who completed 6-of-9 passes for 97 yards in the first quarter, found Dan Spriggs down the left sideline for a 21-yard score to put the Dukes up 10-0.

Robert Morris, which was held without a first down in the first quarter, scored on a fourth-down, 3-yard pass from Drew Geyer to Jarvis Powers with 2:22 left in the half to make the score 10-6. The RMU touchdown was set up when Duquesne tipped and nearly intercepted a pass that fell into the arms of Michael Rogers who carried the ball 58 yards to the DU 6-yard-line.

Knapp answered by taking the Dukes 73 yards in 1:48 to set up a 25-yard Troyan field goal to make the score 13-6 at the half. Knapp began the second half by completing his first three passes for 47 yards to set up a nine-yard scoring run by James Jacobs to make the score 20-6. Troyan added another 36-yard field goal with 4:48 left in the third quarter to give the Dukes a 23-6 lead.

Robert Morris back-up quarterback Erik Cwalinski threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Rupert Rickards with 54 seconds left for the game's final score.

Knapp, who was in control from the opening snap, completed passes to eight different receivers on the afternoon. Sophomore Bruce Hocker led the Dukes with a career high eight catches for a career-best 163 yards. Fellow sophomore Alex Roberson added six grabs for 66 yards and Spriggs, a junior co-captain added four catches for 73 yards.

Jeremy McCullough led Duquesne's rushers with 44 yards on 16 carries. Geyer finished 12-of-24 for 146 yards for Robert Morris. Devin Wilson led the Colonials with 47 yards rushing on 16 carries. Duquesne, which averaged 5.6 yards per play, outgained Robert Morris 446-253.

All-American defensive tackle Josh Antinopoulos posted three sacks, forced a pair of fumbles and broke up a pass to lead the Duquesne defense. Paul Mulbah added a team-high nine stops for DU. Nelson Walker led Robert Morris with a game-high 11 tackles.

BY QUARTER      1       2       3       4       OT      FINALROBERT MORRIS   0       6       0       6               12DUQUESNE        10      3       10      0               23
LEADERSRushing (Att./Yds./TD):  DU - Jacobs (16-44-0);  RMU - Wilson (16-47-0)Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD):  DU - Knapp (42-23-1-365-1);  RMU - Geyer (24-12-1-146-1)Receiving (Att./Yds./TD):  DU - Hocker (8-163-0);  RMU - Rickards (3-47-1)Tackles (Tot./Solo):  DU - Mulbah (9/5), Antinopoulos (7/6);  RMU - Walker (11/8)