Box Score Oct. 10, 2009
Box Score
ALBANY, NY - Albany used a quartet of big plays to jump out to a 41-7 halftime lead and cruise to a 55-10 win over Duquesne at University Field.
The win was the 16th in a row in Northeast Conference victory for the Great Danes, who scored on a 78-yard punt return, 56-yard fumble return, 81-yard touchdown pass and 32-yard touchdown pass all in the game's opening 30 minutes. Albany moved to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in league play, while Duquesne dropped to 2-4 (1-2 in the NEC), with all four losses coming on the road.
Albany, driving into a 20 mile per hour headwind, got on the board first when David McCarty, who finished with 145 yards and two touchdowns, capped an 80-yard drive with a one-yard plunge. The extra point attempt was blown wide.
UA added its second touchdown in less than two minutes when Justin Gannon took a punt 78 yards for a score to make it 13-0 after one quarter.
The Dukes drove from their own one into Albany territory before a fumbled snap was scooped up by Jon Morgan and taken 56 yards for a score to put Albany up 20-0 with 7:04 left in the half.
Albany held the Dukes on downs, and two plays later Vinny Esposito found a streaking Tim Bush for an 81-yard score to make it 27-0 with 3:39 left.
Esposito added a five-yard run, before Duquesne's Connor Dixon hit Jay Spinks with a 12-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left in the half to end an Albany streak of 11 quarters without giving up a touchdown.
Duquesne recovered the ensuing kickoff and Dixon was picked off by Jake Ciccarello at the Albany 42. Ciccarello returned the ball 26 yards as time appeared to run out. Both teams were waved back on to the field after the officials ruled that there was still one second left. It was then that Albany's John Lullen outjumped the Duquesne secondary to pull in a 32-yard Hail Mary pass from Esposito to make it 41-7 at the half.
McCarty went over the 100-yard mark in UA's first possession of the second half, which he ended with a 23-yard touchdown run.
Eric Duale kicked a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter for DU.
Albany back-up quarterback Andrew Smith scored on a 58-yard run early in the fourth quarter for Albany's final points.
Dixon was 20-of-31 for 194 yards before giving way to back-up Sean Patterson in the fourth quarter. Spinks tied his career high with seven catches and set a new career best with 74 yards for DU.
Esposito was 7-of-12 for 173 yards and two touchdowns for Albany.
Duquesne returns home to face Central Connecticut State (3-2, 2-0) at 12:00 p.m on Saturday, Oct. 17.
Scoring by Quarters
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| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL
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| DUQUESNE | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10
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| ALBANY | 13 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 55
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LEADERS
Rushing (Att./Yds./TD): DU - McCoy (22-55-0); UA - McCarty (18-145-2)
Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD): DU - Dixon (31-20-1-194-1); UA - Esposito (12-7-0-173-2)
Receiving (Att./Yds./TD): DU - Spinks (7-74-1); UA - Bush (4-101-1)
Tackles (Tot./Solo): DU - Totino (9/0); UA - Branaccio (9/3)
GAME NOTES
Albany now leads the all-time series 3-0 ... the Dukes were without starting flanker Dave Williams (shoulder) ... the 45 point defeat was the largest margin Duquesne has suffered since moving to the FCS level in 1993 ... the previous worst FCS loss was 41 at Penn (51-10) on Sept. 20, 1993 ... Duquesne went on to win the I-AA Mid-Major National Championship that season with an 8-3 record ... Albany's 55 points were the most scored against DU since Iona put up 62 in a 62-50 win over the Dukes on Oct. 23, 1999 ... Jay Spinks (Lanham, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt), who caught a 12-yard TD pass, tied his career high for catches (7) and broke his career best for yards (74) ... his previous top game was seven catches for 57 yards vs. Monmouth last season ... redshirt freshman Larry McCoy (Wytheville, Ga./George Wythe), who finished with 59 yards on 24 carries ... saw his streak of consecutive 100-yard games snapped at two ... junior Willie Milhouse (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone), who leads the Dukes with four interceptions did not play due to a knee injury ... senior wideout Michael Rasky (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one catch to 26 with five receptions for 46 yards ... junior Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) led the Dukes with nine assisted tackles ... the nine stops ended a streak of double-digit tackle games at two.
