DAYTON (1-0) at DUQUESNE (0-2)
Saturday, Sept. 13 at 12:00 p.m.
Rooney Field (2,200/Sportexe) • Pittsburgh, Pa.
RADIO: 970-AM ESPN / iHeartRadio with Alex Panormios (play-by-play) and Tad Maurey (color)
STREAMING AUDIO: RedZoneMedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
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LIVE STATS: http://www.goduquesne.com/gametracker/launch/gt_mfootbl.html?event=1336875&school=duqu&sport=mfootbl&camefrom=&startschool=&

HOME AT LAST: After opening the season with two road contests, Duquesne will make its home debut on Saturday, Sept. 13 as it hosts the Pioneer Football League's Dayton Flyers (1-0) at noon on Rooney Field. The Dukes are coming off a 34-23 defeat at Youngstown State. Sophomore quarterback Dillon Buechel had his second straight 300-plus yard passing performance while junior wide receiver Chris King had his second straight 100-plus yard receiving day. Dayton, picked to finish second in the 11-team Pioneer Football League, opened its season last Saturday with a 23-14 victory at Georgetown.

DUKES AND FLYERS: Although Dayton and Duquesne share membership in the Atlantic 10 Conference in all sports other than football, grid meetings between the two were scarce until 2001. The series began with a 20-0 Duquesne home win over the Flyers on Nov. 13, 1920. The two also met in a home-and-home series in 1923 and 1924 with Dayton winning twice. Dayton's 42-16 win at Rooney Field in 2001 - in addition to ending a 14-game DU home winning streak - marked a renewal of the series.

SERIES BITS: Duquesne has won five of the past seven and holds a 6-5 series lead ... Duquesne ended an FCS-best 10-game Dayton streak with a 22-13 win at UD in 2011 ... the Dukes handed Dayton its lone losses in 2010 (35-31 at Rooney Field; Dayton finished 10-1) and 2002 (35-28 at Dayton) ... the 2002 Flyers went on to win the Mid-Major National Championship with an 11-1 record ... Dayton snapped a 14-game Duquesne home win streak with a 42-16 Rooney Field win in 2001 ... Duquesne head coach Jerry Schmitt is 4-2 against the Flyers ... the Dukes have won three of the past four meetings as well as the last three contests in Pittsburgh.

LAST MEETING: Dayton ended Duquesne's three-game series win streak with a come-from-behind, 23-20 win on Sept. 7 at Welcome Stadium ... Duquesne jumped to a 20-14 halftime lead on the strength of two Dillon Buechel to Gianni Carter touchdown passes ... the first was a 76-yarder on Duquesne's first possession of the game while the second was a nine-yard strike with 39 seconds remaining in the first half ... Dayton's William Will connected on three second half field goals to secure the win, including the game-winner with 7:42 left in the game.

IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: Duquesne is 22-19 in non-conference games under tenth-year head coach Jerry Schmitt with wins over Robert Morris (three times prior to joining the NEC), Dayton (three times), Bucknell (twice) and Fordham (twice). At home, the Dukes are 14-2 in non-league play, while on the road Schmitt's Dukes have fashioned an 8-17 mark. DU snapped a seven-game skid in non-conference road games with a 22-13 win at Dayton on Sept. 3, 2011. The win snapped Dayton's FCS-best win streak at 10. DU went 3-2 in non-conference games last season.

CAPTAINS: Captains for the 2014 season are: junior OL Dan Buchholz (Malvern Pa./Great Valley), sophomore QB Dillon Buechel (McKees Rocks, Pa./Montour), senior DB Rich Piekarski (Hudson, Ohio/Hudson) and junior DL Zach Zidian (Youngstown, Ohio/Boardman.

MORE ON DUQUESNE: Last year, DU finished 7-4 and tied for first in the Northeast Conference with a 4-2 record. Duquesne returns 16 position starters from last year's team, including nine on defense. This is Duquesne's seventh season as a scholarship-granting football program. With the move to the NEC, Duquesne offered 18 scholarships in February of 2008. That number has increased to 37 this season. Duquesne granted only need-based financial aid for football playing student-athletes as a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League from 1994 through 2007. The NEC competed as a non-scholarship member of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision until 2006 when the conference adopted an athletics-based aid model. This is the fifth season the NEC regular season champion will be an automatic qualifier for the Division I Football Championship.

ON DAYTON: Dayton returns 14 starters from last year's 7-4 team ... seventh-year head coach Rick Chamberlin's Flyers finished fourth in the Pioneer Football League in 2013 with a 5-3 record ... in a preseason poll, Dayton was picked to finish 2nd of 11 teams in the PFL in 2014 ... in last week's 23-14 season-opening victory at Georgetown, Connor Kacsor rushed for 301 yards and scored on a 43-yard run and Will Bardo connected with Branden Johnson on a 19-yard scoring strike ... William Will also hit field goals of 49, 31 and 31 yards while the Flyer defense allowed just 100 yards of net rushing.

DID YOU SEE THAT?: Chris King made it onto SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays for his acrobatic touchdown catch in the back of the end zone at Buffalo.

NATIONALLY RANKED: A couple of Dukes can be found near the top of the NCAA FCS National Statistics Rankings. Chris King leads the nation in receiving yards with 360 and Dillon Buechel is fourth in the country with 334.5 passing yards per game. The Dukes as a team rank sixth nationally in passing yards per game.

NEW KID ON THE BLUFF: Trenton Coles (Clairton, Pa/Clairton/Pittsburgh) transferred to Duquesne last week and saw action in Saturday's contest at Youngstown State ... the 6-3, 169-pound defensive back played in 11 games on special teams and as a reserve cornerback last season as a redshirt freshman at Pitt ... he is slated to start for the Dukes this week.

FBS INFLUENCE: Three players with FBS game experience were on the opening day 2-deep: back-up WR Wayne Capers (Arizona), starting S Chris Johnson (Florida) and projected starting OLB Armstead Williams (Purdue) had all played in a FBS game prior to this season. Back-up CB Ken Egu ran track and was on the football team at Washington, but did not see action. FB Randy Morris was a two-year walk-on at Pitt, but did not play.

SEVEN AT HOME: The Dukes will play seven times at home and five times on the road. The seven home games are the most since 2001 when DU scheduled six home games and later added the ECAC Classic. It is the first time Duquesne has seven or more scheduled home games since 1934 (eight).

EARLY START: The August 30 game at Buffalo tied the earliest opener in school history (2001 vs. VMI & 2003 at Bucknell are the others).

QUICK NOTES

• Duquesne, which returns 16 position starters, won three of its last four in 2013 to tie Sacred Heart for the regular-season Northeast Conference title. The lone loss, which came at SHU on Nov. 9 (10-0), prevented the Dukes from earning the NEC's automatic bid to the NCAA Football Championship.

• Twenty-three position returnees started at least once last season.

• Twelve freshmen saw action in 2103: QB Dillon Buechel (RS), WR Chavas Rawlins, CB Sterling Parks, spec teams Xavier Nelson (RS), spec teams Anthony Alimenti (RS), LB Aaron Reed (RS), OL Larson Graham (RS), PK Austin Crimmins (RS), PR Bobby Gustine, TE Kevin Enright (RS), DL Jake Radziukinas (RS) & RB Zach DeNardo (RS). Buechel, Reed, Graham and Crimmins started every game. All but Parks (transfer) are back.

• In addition, nine first-year players saw action in 2013, with four starting at least once: SS Chris Johnson, DB Nick Floyd, OL Ezek Suivaaia & LB Austin Whalen.

• DU, which is 19-11 in NEC play over the past three seasons (5-3 in 2010, 7-1 in 2011, 3-5 in 2012 & 4-2 in 2013), won a share of the conference title for the second time in three years in 2013. The Dukes went 4-11 in their first two seasons in the conference (2-5 in 2008 and 2-6 in 2009).

• DU has defeated every NEC team - both home and away - under current head coach Jerry Schmitt except CCSU. The Dukes, who have defeated the Blue Devils at home, have yet to win on CCSU's Arute Field under Schmitt (0-3). DU travels to CCSU on Oct. 11.

• Dillon Buechel completed 58.2 percent of his passes for a freshman record 2,569 yards and 14 touchdowns (120.37 efficiency rating) in earning NEC Rookie of the Week honors three times last season. Buechel was the first freshman to open the season under center since Scott Knapp in 2005. Buechel replaced Sean Patterson, who started 33 consecutive games from 2010-12.

• Junior LB Christian Kuntz, who tied for the team lead in tackles (74) and led the Dukes in TFL (19.5) and sacks (9.0) in 2013, is doubtful for the 2014 season after suffering an off-the-field knee injury in the spring. Kuntz, a Sports Network Third Team All-American, ranked 1st nationally in tackles for loss per game at 1.8. First-year Purdue transfer Armstead Williams has taken over at outside linebacker in place of Kuntz.

• 315-pound junior tackle Zach Zidian was a big reason linebackers ranked first, second and fourth on the team in total tackles. The Youngstown, Ohio native - when he wasn't occupying multiple offensive linemen - had 44 stops of his own (including 5.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks). In addition, Zidian - a second team All-NEC pick, showed a nose for the football with a team-high four fumble recoveries.

• Returning linebackers sophomore Aaron Reed (74 tackles) and junior Sam Martello (65 tackles) both started all 11 games last season.

• Senior safety Rich Piekarski, who finished third on the team with 70 tackles in 2013, led the team with two interceptions and seven passes broken up.

• Duquesne is 22-19 in non-conference games under head coach Jerry Schmitt with wins over Robert Morris (three times prior to joining the NEC), Dayton (three times), Bucknell (twice), Fordham (twice) Albany (once as a CAA member) and Monmouth (as an independent). At home, the Dukes are 14-2 in non-league play. DU plays its most ambitious non-conference game in recent history when it heads to Buffalo (Mid-American Conference) for the 2014 season opener. It will be DU's first game against a BCS school.