Sept. 4, 2010

Box Score | Photo Gallery

PITTSBURGH - Sophomore quarterback Sean Patterson ran for a touchdown and threw for another and the Duquesne defense held Bucknell to 70 second-half yards as the Dukes defeated the Bison 17-13 at Rooney Field.

It was the second-straight season opening win for Duquesne over Bucknell, marking first time since 1933 & 1934 that the Dukes have defeated the Bison in back-to-back years.

Patterson completed 13-of-24 passes for 159 yards and added 30 more on the ground in his third career start. Larry McCoy ran for 81 yards on 20 carries for Duquesne which outgained Bucknell 267-178.

Nathan Totino led the DU defensive charge with a game-high 13 tackles (10 solo).

Brandon Wesley threw for 81 yards and rushed for 48 for Bucknell.

Duquesne went 45 yards in four plays on its first possession with Patterson scoring from eight yards out to make it a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. A 22-yard run by McCoy set up Patterson's touchdown.

The Dukes looked sharp early, outgaining the Bison 108-32 in the first quarter.

Drew Orth got Bucknell on the board when he capped a 19-play, nine minute drive with a 22-yard field goal with 8:29 left in the second quarter.

The first half ended with the Dukes up 7-3.

Alex Inda ended Bucknell's first drive of the second half with a forced fumble that was recovered by DU's Serge Kona at the Bucknell 20. Eric Duale booted a 29-yard field goal to put the Dukes up 10-3 less than five minutes into the second half.

The Duquesne lead was short-lived, as Tyler Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 89 yards for Bucknell's lone touchdown to make it 10-10 with just under 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

DU answered with a 74-yard drive capped by a nine-yard pass from Patterson to Dave Williams who beat a pair of Bison to the pylon in the corner of the end zone to make it 17-10.

Orth kicked a 36-yard field goal with 9:41 left to pull the Bison within four at 17-13.

Derrick Lakins stopped Wesley on fourth-and-two at the Duquesne 39 with 1:18 left to seal the win.

Lakins also added a sack and Zach Richert added 1.5 sacks and five tackles as Duquesne held Bucknell to 16 yards in the third quarter and 54 in the fourth.

Duquesne returns to action Saturday, Sept. 11 when they host Dayton (1-0) on Rooney Field at Noon.

BUCKNELL 0 3 7 3 13
DUQUESNE 7 0 10 0 17

SCORING SUMMARY
1st 11:26 DUQ - Patterson, Sean 8 yd run (Duale, Eric kick), 4-45 1:27 -- 0-7
2nd 08:29 BUCK - Orth, Drew 22 yd field goal, 19-61 9:00 -- 3-7
3rd 10:06 DUQ - Duale, Eric 29 yd field goal, 4-8 2:03 -- 3-10
09:52 BUCK - Smith, Tyler 89 yd kickoff return (Orth, Drew kick) -- 10-10
06:33 DUQ - Williams, Dave 9 yd pass from Patterson, Sean (Duale, Eric kick), 7-74 3:19 -- 10-17
4th 09:41 BUCK - Orth, Drew 36 yd field goal, 6-44 3:21 -- 13-17

LEADERS
Rushing (Att./Yds./TD): DU - McCoy (20-81-0); BU - Wesley (19-48-0)
Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD): DU - Patterson (13-24-1-159-1); BU - Wesley (12-21-0-81-0)
Receiving (Att./Yds./TD): DU - Moore (4-52-0), D.Williams (4-42-1); BU - DeNick (5-33-0)
Tackles (Tot./Solo): DU - Totino (13/10); BU - Nissley (9/7)

GAME NOTES
Bucknell leads the series 9-5 ... Duquesne, which defeated the Bison 24-19 in last year's opener, has now won two in a row in the series for the first time since 1933 & 1934 ... the win was DU's 10th over a Patriot League school ... Duquesne, which gave up an average of 376 yards (197 on the ground) last season, surrendered just 178 yards (93 rushing) in its first game under defensive coordinator Dave Opfar ... Bucknell averaged just 2.9 yards per play ... 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 eight catches for 94 yards (Moore 4-52-0 and Williams 4-42-1) ... Duquesne head coach Jerry Schmitt is now 3-3 in season opening games ... senior Nathan Totino (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-La Salle) finished with 13 tackles (10 solo) ... it was the 16th time in 29 games he has posted double-digit stops ... sophomore Zach Richert (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) was credited with two tackles for loss including 1.5 sacks ... he finished with five tackles.