Oct. 20, 2010
Complete Game Notes
Game #8 - Dukes in search of first road win
DUQUESNE (4-3, 2-2) at WAGNER (4-2, 2-1)
Saturday, Oct. 23 at 1:00 p.m.
Wagner College Stadium (3,300/FieldTurf) • Staten Island, N.Y.
RADIO: WMNY-AM 1360 with Alex Panormios (play-by-play) & Tad Maurey (color)
STREAMING AUDIO: RedZoneMedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
LIVE VIDEO & GAMETRACKER: WagnerAthletics.com
DUKES AT WAGNER: Duquesne (4-3, 2-2), which snapped a two-game losing streak with a 37-17 win over Sacred Heart last weekend, heads to Staten Island, N.Y. for a game at Wagner (4-2, 2-1) on Sat., Oct. 23 at 1:00. DU, which is looking for its first road win, took advantage of four SHU turnovers in last weekend's victory. Wagner, which scored nine fourth quarter points to win 22-14 at Saint Francis last Saturday, has won three in a row. The Seahawks are 2-1 at home.
DUKES AND SEAHAWKS: Wagner took a 3-2 series lead with a 23-17 overtime win at Duquesne last season ... DU took the first NEC meeting between the two, 14-0 at Wagner in 2009 ... the 2008 meeting was the first between the two schools since the 1995 ECAC Bowl ... in the first game between the two schools, Wagner defeated then-Division III Duquesne 31-6 at Staten Island on Nov. 14, 1992 ... the next season - DU's first at the I-AA non-scholarship level - the Seahawks defeated the Dukes 27-24 at South Stadium in Pittsburgh ... DU posted its first series win in the ECAC Bowl on Nov. 18, 1995 by a 44-20 score at Rooney Field ... current DU receivers coach Dave Loya, a sophomore quarterback at the time, completed 16-of-26 passes for then school record 333 yards and three touchdowns to earn MVP honors in the win ... the bowl appearance was Duquesne's first since the 1937 Orange Bowl ... two years ago, in a game played in steady rain and fog, Duquesne's defense stood tall, holding Wagner to 118 total yards ... Cleodis Williams carried a career-high 28 times for 114 yards and Kevin Rombach, in his first start of the season, completed 10-of-20 passes for 112 yards and one touchdown ... the DU defense, which entered the game giving up an average of 208 rushing yards per game, held Wagner to 26 yards on 29 carries ... last year, Jeremy Martinez scored on a six-yard run on Wagner's second overtime possession to give the Seahawks a 23-17 win on Rooney Field ... Duquesne had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but Eric Duale had two field goal attempts blocked in the final 12 seconds ... Wagner quarterback Nick Doscher threw for 203 yards and ran for 132 to lead the Seahawks ... Cleo Williams ran for a career-high 174 yards rushing for Duquesne.
ON THE DUKES: Duquesne has turned it over nine times in its three losses (three at Delaware, six vs. Monmouth and zero at CCSU) ... conversely, DU has turned it over twice in four wins ... the Dukes amassed 326 of total offense in its loss at now-No. 2 Delaware (7-0) on Sept. 18 ... it is the most yards the Blue Hens - whose total defense ranks third nationally - have given up this season ... DU also rolled up 461 yards in total offense, including 135 on the ground, in its win over Dayton ... Dayton (6-1) currently ranks sixth nationally in rushing defense ... DU ranks 48th nationally in total defense (341.9 ypg.) ... last year - with essentially the same personnel - the Dukes ranked 83rd (376 ypg.) ... sophomore running back Larry McCoy, who ranks ninth nationally in rushing (116.9 ypg.), has been the model of consistency with 81, 84, 88, 123, 74, 246 & 122 yards rushing in DU's seven games ... McCoy topped 100 yards in three of four NEC games ... a pair of Michigan State transfers lead the Dukes in receptions ... senior Connor Dixon, a converted quarterback, has 32 catches for 382 yards and two scores ... Dave Williams, who attended MSU with Dixon, also has 32 catches for 428 yards and five TDs).
NOTING WAGNER: Wagner head coach Walt Hameline is looking for his 200th career win (199-112-2) ... QB Nick Doscher, a 23-year-old sophomore, leads the NEC in total offense at 242.7 ypg. ... Doscher was an eighth round pick of the Kansas City Royals and played in that organization as a catcher for three years prior to enrolling at Wagner ... 2009 All-NEC senior center Cleveland Green is 24 ... the Seahawks rank 8th nationally in total defense, giving up an average of 276.8 ypg. ... this is Homecoming weekend for Wagner.
SACRED HEART LEFTOVERS: Duquesne scored 17 points off of four Sacred Heart turnovers ... Duquesne, which was turnover-free, scored on four of its first five possessions ... sophomore running back Larry McCoy (Wytheville, Va./George Wythe) carried 24 times for 122 yards in registering his third 100-yard game of the season and seventh of his career ... the 5-11, 215-pounder scored his sixth touchdown of the season on a 7-yard run in the third quarter ... sophomore kicker Eric Duale (Hinckley, Ohio, Highland), who tied Duquesne's school record with three field goals at CCSU on Oct. 9, matched that mark with three more (27, 23, 26) in the win ... his 13 total points against the Pioneers were one shy of the school mark for points by a kicker ... Duale, who has converted 10-of-12 field goal attempts this season, is closing in on the school single-season record of 12 set by Mark Troyan in 2007 ... the Ohio native is the sixth Duke to kick three field goals in a game and fourth to do it twice ... Troyan (at Sacred Heart in 2007) was the last DU player to kick three field goals in a game prior to Duale ... Duale is 19-of-19 on extra points ... senior Dave Williams (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) caught four passes for a game-high 87 yards ... Williams, whose 49-yard TD catch in the second quarter gave the Dukes a 21-3 lead, has three TD receptions in his past two games ... first-year Hofstra transfer Garrett Heron (South Orange, N.J./Columbia) posted a career-high nine tackles (7 solo) ... Heron's previous best was eight set against Delaware last season when he was at Hofstra ... junior defensive lineman Alex Inda (San Fernando, Calif./St. Genevieve) recovered a pair of fumbles including a 38-yard TD return that put DU up 14-3 late in the first quarter ... senior defensive lineman Thaimu Bangura (Lanham, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) forced the fumble that led to Inda's score ... Bangura added a pair of tackles for loss to bring his career total to 18.0 (4.0 this season).
THE REAL McCOY: Sophomore Larry McCoy (Wytheville, Va./George Wythe), a three-time NEC Rookie of the Week last season, ranks ninth nationally with a 116.9 ypg. rushing average. The 5-11, 215-pound Virginia native has been the model of consistency this season, having rushed for between 74 and 246 yards on no fewer than 18 carries in any game. McCoy, who entered 2010 as the Dukes' top returning rusher, topped the 100-yard mark four times (34-195 at Nicholls State, 14-118 at Dayton, 20-107 vs. Robert Morris and 20-121 at Sacred Heart) in leading all FCS freshman rushers with a 73.4 yards per game average (160 carries for a team-high 807 yards and eight touchdowns) in 2009. McCoy's 246 yards at CCSU on Oct. 9 were the most by a Dukes back since Mike Hilliard rushed for a school record 323 yards against La Salle in 2003. The Virginia native had runs of 51, t48 and 46 yards against the Blue Devils on his way to earning NEC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Earlier this year, McCoy carried 29 times for 123 yards and two touchdowns (25, 1) in the 28-17 win over Albany. The 25-yard scoring run came on a fourth-and-one play in the first quarter. The one-yard run put the Dukes up 28-14 in the third quarter. He also rand for 122 yards and a TD against Sacred Heart, giving him 100 or more yards in three of four NEC games. McCoy is accounting for 63 percent of Duquesne's carries this season.
