Sept. 30, 2010
Complete Game Notes
Game #5 - Dukes welcome Monmouth for Homecoming
MONMOUTH (0-3, 0-0) at DUQUESNE (3-1, 1-0)
Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1:00 p.m.
Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field (2,200/Sportexe Synthetic Turf) • Pittsburgh, Pa.
RADIO: WMNY-AM 1360 with Alex Panormios (play-by-play) & Tad Maurey (color)
STREAMING AUDIO: RedZoneMedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
LIVE VIDEO & GAMETRACKER: GoDuquesne.com
DUKES WELCOME MONMOUTH FOR HOMECOMING: Duquesne (3-1, 1-0), coming off a 28-17 Northeast Conference opening win over Albany, hosts Monmouth (0-3, 0-0) in a Homecoming match-up on Sat., Oct. 2 at 1:00 p.m. (WMNY-AM 1360). Monmouth, picked to finish fifth in a preseason poll of league coaches is 0-3 on the young season with losses at Colgate (30-29), at home to Maine (31-23) and home last weekend to Old Dominion (35-21). This is the NEC opener for the Hawks. Duquesne opened with home wins over Bucknell (17-13) and Dayton (35-31) before dropping a 30-6 decision at No. 11/12 Delaware. The Dukes are 3-0 at home.
DUKES AND HAWKS: This is the fifth meeting between the Dukes and Hawks with Monmouth holding a 3-1 advantage ... on Nov. 22, 2003, Duquesne defeated Monmouth 12-10 in the ECAC Classic at Rooney Field to clinch the 2003 Mid-Major National Championship ... since then, the Hawks have won three straight ... three years ago, Monmouth evened the series with a 31-20 win at West Long Branch, N.Y. in the season finale for both schools ... in the first NEC meeting between the two in 2008, Monmouth came away with a 37-14 win at Rooney Field in the season finale for both schools ... last year a Kevin Rombach pass intended for Jay Spinks sailed out of the end zone with 11 seconds left as Monmouth took advantage of four second-half turnovers to defeat Duquesne 17-10 at Kessler Field ... Duquesne, which outgained Monmouth 387 to 278 was intercepted twice - including one that was returned for a 65-yard score - and lost a pair of fumbles all in the game's final 30 minutes.
MONMOUTH NOTES: Monmouth is looking to avoid its second 0-4 start in the past four years ... the Hawks have given up an average of 32 points and 443 yards in their first three games against schools from the Patriot League (Colgate), the Colonial Athletic Association (Maine) and an Independent (Old Dominion) ... MU has averaged 28.3 points per game during its current three-game win streak over Duquesne ... Kevin Callahan is in his 18th season as Monmouth's head coach ... Callahan has led the Hawks to NEC championships, in 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004 and 2006 ... he has been named NEC Coach of the Year three times (1998, 2003 and 2006).
ON THE DUKES: Duquesne ended a three-game NEC home losing streak with the win over Albany ... the Dukes are now 3-6 in NEC home games with wins over Saint Francis (2008), Robert Morris (2009) and Albany (2010) ... DU ranks 8th nationally in pass defense (131 ypg.) and 23rd (302 ypg.) in total defense ... last year - with essentially the same personnel - the Dukes ranked 83rd (376 ypg.) ... sophomore quarterback Sean Patterson ranks 20th nationally and first in the NEC in total offense (256.8 ypg.) ... DU is averaging 321.3 yards per game ... sophomore running back Larry McCoy has been the model of consistency with 81, 84, 88 and 123 yards rushing in DU's first four games ... McCoy, who has carrried at least 20 times in every game this season, ranks tied for 28th nationally at 94 ypg. ... senior receiver Connor Dixon, a converted quarterback, leads the Dukes with 23 catches for 288 yards ... 22 of the receptions have come in the past three games.
ALBANY LEFTOVERS: The 28-17 win was the first in four tries for the Dukes over Albany ... the win avenged a 55-10 loss at UA last season ... senior receiver Dave Williams (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) posted the second 100-yard game of his career with three catches for a season-high 106 yards ... Williams scored on a 65-yard catch-and-run in the second quarter ... sophomore linebacker Serge Kona (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) forced a fumble and recorded his first career interception ... the pick was the first by a Duquesne player this season ... Kona, who was named NEC co-Defensive Player of tye Week for his effort, finished with seven tackles ... sophomore running back Larry McCoy (Wytheville, Va./George Wythe) carried 29 times for 123 yards including touchdowns of 25 and 1 yard ... it was McCoy's first 100-yard game of the season ... McCoy has carried at least 20 times for at least 81 yards in each of the Dukes first four games ... senior receiver Connor Dixon (South Park, Pa./South Park) finished with seven catches for 79 yards ... he set up DU's fourth touchdown with back-to-back catches of 26 and 18 yards to the Albany one-yard line ... the 6-5 Dixon went high over Albany cornerback Leon Saddler to pull in the 18-yarder ... Dixon has 22 receptions in the past three weeks ... receiver Akeem Moore (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) who missed last week's game at Delaware with an ankle injury, caught one pass for 45 yards ... Moore injured the ankle in the win over Dayton on Sept. 11 ... senior linebacker Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) finished with a team-high tying seven tackles ... DU's team-leader in total tackles in each of the past two seasons, Totino has either led or tied for the team lead in tackles in each of the Dukes' first four games.
