Box Score Sept. 11, 2010
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PITTSBURGH - Sean Patterson hit Sean Bunevich with an eight-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds left to give Duquesne a dramatic 35-31 win over Dayton at Rooney Field.
The game-winning score came after Dayton had taken a 31-28 lead with 1:24 left.
The win upped Duquesne's record to 2-0, while Dayton fell to 1-1.
Duquesne took over on its own 34 with 1:18 left after Dayton's Steve Valentino gave the Flyers a 31-28 lead on a 26-yard pass to Justin Watkins.
Patterson, who was 27-of-40 for 326 yards and three touchdowns on the afternoon, completed 5-of-7 passes for 57 yards on the winning drive.
Patterson's effort overshadowed a 22-of-32, 248-yard, three touchdown performance by Valentino.
"We went into that last drive with the idea of taking one chunk at a time," said Patterson, a sophomore making his fourth career start. "Our offensive line was playing great. We just had guys making plays when we needed them."
"It felt like the ball was in the air for an hour," said Bunevich, a 2008 second team All-NEC tight end who missed last season with a knee injury, of the game-winning catch.
"We were very mentally tough today," said Duquesne head coach Jerry Schmitt. "And so was Dayton. It was just a great, back-and-forth college football game. We knew going in that Dayton is an extremely well-coached and talented football team. They can play with anybody."
Duquesne outgained Dayton 461-374 and enjoyed a 25-21 edge in first downs. Larry McCoy carried 21 times for 84 yards and two scores for the Dukes. Brian Mack had 58 yards on 13 carries for Dayton.
Valentino added 47 yards, including a touchdown on the ground and Patterson added 49 yards on 14 carries for DU.
Connor Dixon (77 yards) and Dave Williams (63 yards) had seven catches each for Duquesne. Nick Collins had seven receptions for 94 yards and Watkins added six catches for 106 yards and a touchdown for Dayton.
Valentino took the Flyers 56 yards on five plays to open the scoring with a five-yard touchdown pass to Collins just over four minutes into the game.
Duquesne answered with a four-yard McCoy touchdown run on its first possession to tie it at 7-7. Patterson completed 6-of-8 passes to four different receivers in the 72-yard drive.
The Dukes moved into Dayton territory on their next possession before Matt Pfleger picked off a Patterson pass at the UD 31 on the final play of the first quarter.
Dayton converted the turnover into a score when Valentino found Collins again, this time from six yards out, to make it 14-7. Valentino set up the score with a scrambling 24-yard toss to Collins on a 2nd-and-9 play from the Duquesne 45.
Valentino passed and ran for 69 of 75 yards - including a 9-yard touchdown run - to cap an 11-play drive that put Dayton up 21-7 with 4:37 left in the half.
The Dukes answered with a pair of Patterson touchdown passes in the final 2:45 to tie it at 21-21 at the half.
First, Patterson found a streaking Akeem Moore down the right sideline from 31 yards out to pull the Dukes within seven. Then, following a Dayton punt, he drove the Dukes 66 yards in seven plays before finding Dixon in the left corner of the end zone from 13 yards out on the final play of the half. Patterson, running a hurry-up offense, set up the score with a 33-yard pass to Joe Cangilla on a 4th-and-4 play that put the ball on the Dayton eight with seven seconds left.
Dayton turned a botched Duquesne punt into a 27-yard Nick Glavin field goal to retake the lead at 24-21. The Flyers took over at the DU 34 after a punt snap sailed over punter Charlie Leventry's head, resulting in a minus-four yard boot.
Valentino hit Collins for a gain of 16 yards before Devin Duggan popped the ball loose and Nathan Totino pounced on it at the Duquesne 47. McCoy nearly single-handedly turned the turnover into a score, carrying on seven of eight plays, the last a four-yard score, to make it 28-24 Duquesne with 2:28 left in the third quarter.
McCoy gained 51 yards on 12 carries in the quarter.
Valentino drove the Flyers 80 yards in 11 plays before hitting Watkins with a 26-yard touchdown pass with 1:24 left to set up Patterson's heroics.
Totino led the Duquesne defense with eight tackles. Garrett Heron added seven solo stops for the Dukes. Thaimu Bangura added a sack and Serge Kona and Zach Richert combined on a second sack for DU.
A.J. Kaltenbach led Dayton with a game-high 11 stops.
Duquesne plays at nationally ranked Delaware on Saturday, Sept. 18. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m.
Scoring by Quarters
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| DAYTON (1-1) | 7 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 31 |
| DUQUESNE (2-0) | 7 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 35 |
SCORING SUMMARY
| Qtr | Time | Scoring Play | H-V |
| 1st | 10:50 | UD - Collins, Nick 5 yd pass from Valentino, Steve (Glavin, Nick kick, 8-56 4:10 | 0-7 |
| 1st | 4:55 | DUQ - McCoy, Larry 4 yd run (Duale, Eric kick), 14-72, 5:55 | 7-7 |
| 2nd | 11:50 | UD - Collins, Nick 6 yd pass from Valentino, Steve (Glavin, Nick kick), 7-69 3:22 | 7-14 |
| 2nd | 4:37 | UD - Valentino, Steve 9 yd run (Glavin, Nick kick), 11-75, 5:01 | 7-21 |
| 2nd | 2:45 | DUQ - Moore, Akeem 31 yd pass from Patterson, Sean (Duale, Eric kick), 5-60 1:52 | 14-21 |
| 2nd | 0:00 | DUQ - Dixon, Connor 13 yd pass from Patterson, Sean (Duale, Eric kick), 7-66 1:03 | 21-21 |
| 3rd | 10:34 | UD - Glavin, Nick 27 yd field goal | 21-24 |
| 3rd | 2:28 | DUQ - McCoy, Larry 4 yd run (Duale, Eric kick) 8-53 3:36 | 28-24 |
| 4th | 1:24 | UD - Watkins, Justin 26 yd pass from Valentino, Steve (Glavin, Nick kick) 11-80 4:35 | 28-31 |
| 4th | 0:21 | DUQ - Bunevich, Sean 8 yd pass from Patterson, Sean (Duale, Eric kick) 8-66 1:03 | 35-31 |
LEADERS Rushing (Att./Yds./TD): DU - McCoy (21-84-2); UD - Mack (12-58-0) Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD): DU - Patterson (27-40-3-326-1); UD - Valentino (22-32-3-248-0) Receiving (Att./Yds./TD): DU - Dixon (7-77-1), D.Williams (7-63-0); UD - Collins (7-94-2), Watkins (6-106-1) Tackles (Tot./Solo): DU - Totino (8/0); UD - Kaltenbach (11/7)
GAME NOTES
Duquesne is now 21-5 in non-conference home games since 1999 ... the Dukes have now won three of the past four against Dayton to tie the all-time series at 4-4 ... this is the second 2-0 start for sixth-year head coach Jerry Schmitt ... Schmitt won his first two games as a rookie at DU in 2005 ... quarterback Sean Patterson (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) set new career highs for completions (27), attempts (40), yards (326) and touchdown passes (3) ... the sophomore was also flawless in the two-minute offense, guiding the Dukes to a TD with no time left at the end of the first half (7 plays, 66 yards in 1:03) and a game-winning touchdown with 21 seconds left (8 plays, 66 yards in 1:03) ... Patterson completed passes to seven different receivers ... senior receiver Connor Dixon (South Park, Pa./South Park) tied his career high with seven catches (for 77 yards) ... Dixon caught a 13-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first half to tie the game at 21-21 ... Akeem Moore (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) and Dave Williams (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) who missed nine and six games respectively last season due to injury combined for 12 catches for 123 yards (Moore 5-60-1 and Williams 7-63-0) ... senior Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) finished with a team-high eight solo tackles ... DU's team-leader in total tackles in each of the past two seasons, Totino has led the Dukes in stops in each of the first two games of 2010 (he had 13 vs. Bucknell last weekend) ... sophomore Zach Richert (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) was credited with a half-sack, giving him a team-high 2.0 total on the young season.
