Oct. 4, 2008
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PITTSBURGH, PA. - Albany turned two Duquesne fourth-quarter turnovers into 13 points to pull away for a 33-23 win over the Dukes at Rooney Field.
The Great Danes, who led 20-17 through three quarters, took advantage of a short field following an interception and fumble to put the game out of reach.
With the victory, Albany (2-3, 1-0) extended its Northeast Conference win streak to seven games. Duquesne dropped to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the NEC with the loss.
Tailback David McCarty was the offensive star for Albany with 230 yards on 37 carries. Duquesne's Connor Dixon was 21-of-46 for 338 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted three times.
Duquesne, despite being limited to 114 yards in the second half, outgained Albany 392-312. Both teams lost a pair of fumbles.
Cleo Williams scored from 20 yards out as Duquesne took the opening kickoff 69 yards in 11 plays for the game's first score.
Albany responded with a two-yard Colin Simmons run to tie the game a 7-7 with just over two minutes left in the first quarter. McCarty set up Simmons' touchdown with a 51-yard run to the Duquesne two.
Albany recovered a Williams fumble at the Duquesne 19 and turned it into a touchdown as quarterback Vinny Esposito scored on a two-yard run to give Albany its first lead of the game.
Duquesne started its next possession with back-to-back penalties before converting a third-and-20 when Dixon found Sean Bunevich for 23 yards. Two plays later, Dixon found Conrad Carter in stride for a 42-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14-14.
Dixon connected with Bunevich for a 30-yard gain to the Albany three, but Duquesne could not punch it settling on a Mark Troyan 20-yard field goal that gave the Dukes a 17-14 lead.
McCarty took a dump pass 24 yards for a score on a third-and-23 play with under a minute left to make it 20-17 Albany at the half.
The two teams exchanged turnovers early in the third quarter, but neither could capitalize as UA took a 20-17 lead into the fourth quarter.
L.B. McCloskey picked off a Dixon pass and returned it to the Duquesne 40 to set up a five-yard Esposito to Tim Bush touchdown. Herb Glass missed his second extra point of the game as Albany upped its lead to 26-17.
On Duquesne's next play, Michael Rasky had the ball stripped after a completion and Albany recovered at the DU 31. Esposito then hit Justin Petersen with a three-yard touchdown pass to make the score 33-17.
Dixon ended Albany's second-half shutout when he found Bunevich for a 41-yard touchdown with 2:35 left, but the Dukes' two-point conversion attempt failed.
Duquesne's Nathan Totino recovered an onside kick but the Dukes turned it over on downs with 1:31 to go.
Totino had a career-high 23 tackles and also forced a fumble in a losing effort.
Bunevich, who entered the game with nine catches for 178 yards in Duquesne's first three games, had eight catches for 163 yards, including seven for 122 yards in the first half. He eclipsed his career-bests for catches (four) and yards (92) in a game in the second quarter.
Esposito completed 10-of-18 passes for 38 yards, with three of the completions going for touchdowns.
Duquesne (2-2, 1-1) travels to Moon Township to face cross-town rival Robert Morris (1-4, 0-2) next Saturday at Noon. The game, which will be televised as part of the Northeast Conference package, will air locally on Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh.
BY QUARTER 1 2 3 4 FINALALBANY 7 13 0 13 33DUQUESNE 7 10 0 6 23
LEADERSRushing (Att./Yds./TD): DU - Williams (17-65-1); UA - McCarty (37-230-0)Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD): DU - Dixon (46-21-3-338-2); UA - Esposito (18-10-0-38-3)Receiving (Att./Yds./TD): DU - Bunevich (8-163-1); UA - McCarty (3-40-1)Tackles (Tot./Solo): DU - Totino (23/13); UA - Casale (9/6)
GAME NOTES
The win extended Albany's NEC win streak to seven games ... the Great Danes went 6-0 in winning the conference title last season ... David McCarty's 230 yards rushing (on 37 carries) were the most against Duquesne since Iona's Ralph Saldiveri ran for 248 yards on 31 attempts in a 62-50 win over the Dukes on Oct. 23, 1999 ... Duquesne, which had given up just two sacks in its first three games, saw Albany dump quarterback Connor Dixon five times ... sophomore linebacker Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle), extended his double-digit tackles streak to four games with a game- and career-high 23 stops (13 solo) ... Totino eclipsed his previous career high of 16 (10 solo) tackles set in the season opener at Bucknell ... Totino, who is averaging a team-high 15.0 tackles per game, also forced a fumble and recovered an onside kick late in the game ... tight end Sean Bunevich (North Ridgeville, Ohio/North Ridgeville), who caught three passes for a then career-high 92 yards last week against Dayton, set new career highs with 8 catches for 163 yards ... Bunevich, who entered the game with nine catches in DU's first three games, had seven catches for 122 yards in the first half ... sophomore quarterback Connor Dixon (South Park, Pa./South Park) threw touchdown passes of 42 and 41 yards ... he finished the game 21-of-46 for 338 yards ... Dixon, who entered the game with just two interceptions in his first 104 attempts, was picked off three times ... junior tailback Cleodis Williams (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle), who ran for 65 yards on 17 carries, saw his streak of consecutive 100-yards games snapped at two ... freshmen linebackers Chidozie Oparanozie (Pittsburgh, Pa./The Linsly School (W.Va.)) - who has been named NEC Rookie of the Week twice this season - and Wiley Brown (Waldorf, Md./Fork Union Military Academy) finished with 11 and 12 tackles respectively for the Dukes.
