Oct. 18, 2006
MARIST (2-5, 1-0) at #7 DUQUESNE (5-2, 1-0)
Saturday, Oct. 21 at 1:00 p.m.
Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field (4,500) -- Pittsburgh, Pa.
Ranking listed is from The Sports Network I-AA Mid-Major Top 10
DUKES FOOTBALL WILL BE INTERNET-ONLY THIS SEASON
Alex Panormios (play-by-play) & Bob Healy (color)
*Bob Healy & Brad Salvatore will call the Marist game*
On the internet at: www.redzonemedia.com
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
DUKES HOST MARIST IN HOMECOMING MATCHUP
Duquesne (5-2, 1-0), coming off a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference-opening 35-21 win at Saint Peter's, returns home to face Marist (2-5, 1-0) in a match-up of the league's two preseason favorites. The game, which is also Duquesne's Homecoming, is set for a 1:00 kick (internet-only at www.redzonemedia.com).
Duquesne enters the Marist game with a 38-game MAAC Football League win streak. The streak is the longest in I-AA history and the third-longest among Division I-A and I-AA schools. (Oklahoma won 44 Big Eight games in a row between 1952-59 and Nebraska won 39-straight Big Eight/Big 12 games from 1992-98.) The last team to defeat the Dukes in MAAC play was Iona, which took a 62-50 decision at New Rochelle, N.Y. on Oct. 23, 1999. Only three of the 38 wins have been decided by fewer than 10 points, including the past two games versus Marist (7-3 at Pittsburgh in 2004 and 22-14 at Poughkeepsie last season). DU has claimed nine league championships in the past 11 seasons (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 & 2005).
Duquesne, currently ranked No. 7 in The Sports Network Mid-Major Top 10, went 4-2 in non-conference play with wins over Northeast Conference foes at Robert Morris, Saint Francis and Sacred Heart. The fourth win was at Fordham (Patriot League). DU's two losses have come by a total of five points (31-28 in overtime at Bucknell and 21-19 to West Liberty State). Marist and Duquesne share two common opponents in Sacred Heart (both wins) and Fordham (which Duquesne defeated, 20-17, and Marist lost to last weekend, 13-9).
ALL-TIME LONGEST CONFERENCE WIN STREAKS
- DIVISIONS I-A & I-AA
44 Oklahoma Big Eight 1952-5939 Nebraska Big Eight/Big12 1992-9838 DUQUESNE Metro Atlantic 1999-
THE SERIES
Duquesne leads the overall series 11-2 - including a 6-1 edge on Rooney Field ... the Dukes have won the past 11 in a row, limiting the Red Foxes to 10 or fewer points in each of the past seven matchups ... two year's ago in Pittsburgh, Bruce Hocker's grab of a Niel Loebig pass with 12:42 left in the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winner as Duquesne clinched its sixth consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League title with a 7-3 win over Marist at Rooney Field ... last year, the Dukes defeated the Red Foxes 22-14 at Poughkeepsie ... it was the first time DU had entered a MAAC game ranked lower than its opponent in The Sports Network Mid-Major Top 10 (Marist was No. 4, Duquesne was No. 8).
DUQUESNE LATELY
Duquesne leads the nation in passing offense at 292.14 ypg ... sophomore quarterback Scott Knapp, who has completed 62.6 percent of his passes for 2,035 yards and 19 TDs (11 to junior receiver Bruce Hocker), is the only I-AA QB with over 2,000 yards passing this season ... he is also just the third quarterback in DU history (joining Niel Loebig and Tony Zimmerman) with a 2,000-yard passing season ... Knapp needs one more TD toss to join Loebig & Zimmerman as the only DU QB's to throw 20 touchdown passes in a season ... Knapp ranks fourth nationally in total offense (284.71 ypg.) and 12th in passing efficiency (155.17) ... Knapp has thrown for 966 yards in his past three games ... senior receiver Dan Spriggs has 20 receptions in DU's last three games ... he is coming off his second career 100-yard game with 120 yards on six grabs - including a career-long 65-yard TD - at Saint Peter's.
SCOTT KNAPP
Sophomore Scott Knapp (Pittsburgh, Pa./Perry Traditional Academy), who won MAAC Rookie of the Week honors a league-high four times as a redshirt freshman, has picked up where he left off having won MAAC Offensive Player of the Week honors four times so far in 2006.
Knapp, who leads all I-AA quarterbacks with 2,035 passing yards, has completed 62.6 percent of his passes (147-of-235) and has a 155.17 efficiency rating this season. Knapp got out of the blocks quickly, completing a then career-high 24 passes in 36 attempts for 348 yards and two scores (32 & 34 yards) in DU's season-opening overtime loss at Bucknell. Knapp, who completed 49.8 percent of his passes (104-of-209) for 1,337 yards and 10 touchdowns last year, has already eclipsed his TD total with 19 scoring passes in DU's first seven games. He set a new school record with 35 completions (in 48 attempts) in throwing for 363 yards and three TDs in DU's 20-17 win at Fordham on Oct. 7. He also threw for 381 yards in a 21-19 loss to West Liberty State and added four TD tosses in a win over Saint Francis, Pa. on Sept. 16.
The 6-3, 230-pound Knapp, who threw for 4,647 yards in leading Perry Traditional Academy to a 37-4 record and three City League championships from 2001-03, stepped into the shoes of four-year starter - and current assistant coach - Niel Loebig, who finished his career as one of just five players in I-AA history to throw for over 10,000 yards (10,254) and 100 touchdowns (103). Duquesne has had an impressive run of quarterbacks beginning with Dave Loya in 1994. Loya, who became the starter in the second game of his sophomore year, broke 13 of 15 school passing records in this three years as a starter (1995-97). Tony Zimmerman, who began his career at Pitt, transferred in and started for three years (1998-00), breaking 11 of 15 records. Loebig followed Zimmerman - who is also a DU assistant coach - and broke 13 of 15 passing marks in his four years as a starter (2001-04). Knapp missed DU's last three games of last season due to a shoulder injury suffered in the Oct. 22 Marist game.
DU's TOP ALL-TIME PASSING GAMES
438 Tony Zimmerman Iona 2000411 Niel Loebig at Dayton 2002391 Tony Zimmerman at VMU 2000381 Scott Knapp W. Liberty 2006373 Dave Loya Siena 1997372 Niel Loebig Siena 2003370 Niel Loebig at Iona 2003365 Scott Knapp Robert Morris 2005363 Scott Knapp at Fordham 2006
NCAA's I-A & I-AA 2,000-YARD PASSERS
(through games of Oct. 14)
2,271 Colt Brennan, Hawaii 6 232,218 Curtis Painter, Purdue 7 132,137 Graham Harrell, Texas Tech 7 192,095 Kevin Kolb, Houston 7 162,035 Scott Knapp, DUQUESNE 7 192,018 Chase Holbrook, New Mexico State 5 16
NOTES FROM SAINT PETER'S
- The win upped DU's all-time series advantage to 13-0 over Saint Peter's
- Senior Dan Spriggs (Baltimore, Md. / Calvert Hill College) caught six passes for 120 yards in posting the second 100-yard game of his career ... Spriggs, whose 65-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was a career-long, has caught 20 passes in DU's past three games
- Sophomore quarterback Scott Knapp (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Perry Traditional Academy) finished the game 17-of-34 for 222 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions ... it was the fourth time this season he has thrown for at least three scores in a game ... Knapp has thrown for multiple touchdowns in all seven games ... Knapp has 19 TD tosses this season
- Junior receiver Bruce Hocker's (Upper Marlboro, Md. / Eleanor Roosevelt) two catches for 35 yards were a season-low ... however he did catch one touchdown pass giving him 11 on the season, moving him into a tie for fifth-most TD catches by a DU player in a season ... Hocker has caught at least one TD pass in six of Duquesne's seven games
- Sophomore fullback-turned-linebacker Greg Hough (Gibsonia, Pa. / Pine-Richland), who picked off his first career pass and added a sack two week's ago at Fordham, totaled nine tackles and blocked a punt against the Peacocks
- Freshman defensive lineman Ronnie Garvin's (Aiken, S.C. / Aiken) 10 tackles were a game- and career-high
