Oct. 21, 2006

Box Score | Notes

Scott Knapp threw for 327 yards and three scores and ran for a fourth touchdown in leading Duquesne (6-2, 2-0) to a convincing 40-10 Homecoming win over Marist (2-6, 1-1) at Rooney Field.

The victory was Duquesne's 39th consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League win, tying Nebraska (39 consecutive Big Eight/Big 12 victories from 1992-98) for the second-most consecutive league wins by an NCAA Division I-A or I-AA school. The record of 44 was set by Oklahoma in the Big Eight from 1952-59.

Knapp, who completed 24-of-37 attempts, threw touchdown passes of eight and 25 yards to Bruce Hocker in addition to a 30-yarder to Philip Hayes. Knapp also added his first career rushing touchdown on a one-yard plunge in the third quarter. Hocker, who has 13 TD catches this season, finished with seven receptions for 129 yards. Dan Spriggs added a career-high 10 catches for 112 yards.

Tailback Jeremy McCullough was also a member of the century club with 25 rushes for 123 yards as the Dukes outgained the Red Foxes 467-189.

John Simmons led a Duquesne defense that held the Red Foxes scoreless in the second half with eight tackles including a sack. He also recovered a fumble. Marist, which entered the game leading the MAAC with 115 yards per game rushing average, was held to 22 yards on 18 carries.

Duquesne scored on its first possession when offensive lineman Matt Kikta fell on a McCullough fumble in the end zone to end a six-play 66 yard drive that started with a 40-yard completion from Knapp to Spriggs on the game's first play from scrimmage.

Marist's Bradley Rowe kicked a 40-yard field goal following a Knapp interception to make the score 6-3 with 5:48 left in the first quarter.

Knapp completed an 80-yard drive with an eight-yard strike to Hocker on the first play of the second quarter, and Mark Troyan added a career-long 46-yard field goal with 5:11 left in the half to make it 16-3.

Marist's Steven McGrath answered with a 48-yard TD pass to Tim Keegan to pull the Red Foxes to within six at 16-10 with under three minutes to go in the half. Troyan tacked on a 22-yard field goal with five seconds on the clock to give the Dukes a 19-10 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Knapp marched the Dukes 60 yards before scoring on the ground on a broken play.

Todd Mills then forced a fumble that was recovered by Simmons at the Marist 30. Knapp hit Hayes for the 30-yard score on the next play to give Duquesne a 33-10 lead.

Mills intercepted a pass with 7:33 left to set up Knapp's 25-yard TD pass to Hocker on the ensuing play to close-out the scoring with 7:05 left.

McGrath finished 14-of-23 for 161 yards and one touchdown for Marist.

Duquesne enjoyed a 23-8 advantage in first downs and a 9:48 edge in time of possession.

BY QUARTER      1       2       3       4       FINALMARIST          3       7       0       0       10DUQUESNE        6       13      14      7       40
LEADERS
Rushing (Att./Yds./TD):  DU - McCullough (25-123-0);  MC - Anderson (4-13-0)Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD):  DU - Knapp (37-24-1-327-3);  MC - McGrath (23-14-2-161-1)Receiving (Att./Yds./TD):  DU - Spriggs (10-112-0), Hocker (7-129-2);  MC - Dulac (6-73-0)Tackles (Tot./Solo):  DU - Simmons (8/5);  MC - Correia (15/7)

The win extended Duquesne's Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League winning streak to 39 games, tying the second-longest all-time conference win streak in the history of Division I-A or I-AA football (Nebraska - 39 Big Eight/Big 12 games from 1992-98) ... only Oklahoma (44 Big Eight games from 1952-59) has had a longer conference win streak ... Duquesne's last conference loss was by a 62-50 score at Iona on Oct. 23, 1999 ... the win also upped Duquesne's all-time series advantage to 12-2 over Marist ... Dan Spriggs (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hill College) caught a career-high 10 passes for 112 yards in posting the third 100-yard game of his career and second in as many weeks ... Spriggs has caught 30 passes in DU's past four games ... sophomore quarterback Scott Knapp (Pittsburgh, Pa./Perry Traditional Academy) finished the game 24-of-37 for 327 yards and three touchdowns and one interception ... it was the fifth time this season he has thrown for at least three scores in a game ... Knapp, who has thrown for multiple touchdowns in all eight games, has 22 TD tosses this season ... junior receiver Bruce Hocker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) added seven catches for 129 yards and two scores ... he now has 13 TD receptions in 2006, good for fourth on the DU record list for touchdown catches in a season ... he needs three to tie the school record of 16 set by Reggie Harris in 2000 ... Hocker has caught at least one TD pass in seven of Duquesne's eight games ... tailback Jeremy McCullough (Bethlehem, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) carried 25 times for 123 yards in notching his fourth career 100-yard rushing game ... McCullough, who added two receptions for 21 yards, was three rushing yards shy of his career high (126) set at Bucknell in the season-opener ... outside linebacker John Simmons (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) led the Dukes with eight tackles (five solo) ... Simmons was credited with one sack, a one fumble recovery and 2.5 tackles for loss ... safety Todd Mills (South Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) set up Duquesne's final 14 points by forcing a third-quarter fumble that was recovered by Simmons at the Marist 30 and picking off a pass at the Marist 25 with just under eight minutes left ... both turnovers were followed by Knapp touchdown passes on the next play.