Printable Game Notes

Game #5 - Dukes look to remain perfect at home in 2014 Homecoming game
WEST LIBERTY (2-2) at DUQUESNE (2-2)
Saturday, Oct. 4 at 1:00 p.m.
Rooney Field (2,200/Sportexe) • Pittsburgh, Pa.
RADIO: 3WS HD2 / iHeartRadio with Alex Panormios (play-by-play) and Bob Healy (color)
STREAMING AUDIO: RedZoneMedia.com or GoDuquesne.com
FREE LIVE VIDEO: http://www.necfrontrow.com/webcast.php/DUQ-2087/
LIVE STATS: http://www.duqstats.com/

HOME WIN STREAK: Duquesne (2-2) looks to extend its home winning streak to eight games as it hosts Division II foe West Liberty (2-2) on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 1:00 pm on Rooney Field. After opening the season with two road losses, the Dukes have evened thier record after back-to-back home wins. Two weeks ago, The Red and Blue defeated visiting Monmouth, 30-21 following a 33-13 triumph over Dayton the previous week.

DUKES AND HILLTOPPERS: This is the third meeting between Duquesne and West Liberty ... the series, which is tied 1-1, began on Sept. 30, 2006 ... West Liberty, which competes at the NCAA Division II level in the Mountain East Conference, defeated Duquesne, 21-19 on Rooney Field in the first meeting ... Duquesne nearly came back from a 21-6 deficit, but could not overcome six turnovers ... the Dukes evened the series last year with a 27-14 home victory ... in that game, the DU defense scored three times in the final 4:09 of the first quarter to set up the win ... Duquesne is coming off a 30-21 victory over Monmouth two weeks ago ... West Liberty is coming off a 61-24 loss at Concord on Sept. 27.

LAST MEETING: Last season, Duquesne evened its record at 2-2 with a 27-14 home victory over WLU ... in that game, the DU defense scored three times in the final 4:09 of the first quarter to set up the win ... Nick Floyd ran back an interception 71 yards to tie the game at 7-7, Zach Zidian recovered a fumble in the end zone to make it 14-7, then Dane O'Driscoll returned an interception 33 yards for a score to make it 20-7 on the final play of the first quarter ... Dillon Buechel connected with Chris King for an 18-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

IN NON-CONFERENCE PLAY: Duquesne is 24-19 in non-conference games under tenth-year head coach Jerry Schmitt with wins over Dayton (four times), Robert Morris (three times prior to joining the NEC), Monmouth (twice), Bucknell (twice) and Fordham (twice). At home, the Dukes are 16-2 in non-league play under Schmitt, 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.

BIG PLAY ABILITY: Duquesne has used the big play to score in each of its four games this season. In fact, seven of its 14 touchdowns have come from over 50 yards. There was an 88-yard reception by Chris King at Buffalo, a 64-yard King reception and a 57-yard Devin Rahming reception at Youngstown State, a 75-yard Malik Shegog interception return, an 84-yard Rahming punt return and a 58-yard Noel Oduho reception vs. Dayton and a 55-yard King reception versus Monmouth.

2014 AWARDS: Duquesne has already received eight in-season awards through its first four games. Austin Crimmins was named the NEC Special Teams Player of the Week and Chris King was named the CFPA FCS Wide Receiver of the Week after week one, Devin Rahming was named the NEC Special Teams Player of the Week, Malik Shegog was named the NEC Rookie of the week and Rahming was tabbed the CFPA FCS National Punt Returner of the Week after week three and Dillon Buechel was named the NEC Offensive Player of the Week, Austin Whalen was tabbed the NEC Defensive Player of the Week and Crimins was named the NEC Special Teams Player of the Week following the Monmouth win.

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 WEST LIBERTY: West Liberty returns 17 starters from last year's 3-8 team ... 10th-year head coach Roger Waialae's Hilltoppers are a member of the Division II Mountain East Conference ... in a preseason poll, WLU was picked to finish 7th of 11 teams in the MEC in 2014 ... last week, WLU yielded 531 yards of total offense in a 61-24 loss to Concord ... West Liberty is led by sophomore quarterback Dakota Conwell who has thrown for 651 yards and six touchdowns ... receivers Dylan Potts and Anton McCallum lead the team with three touchdowns apiece.

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 389 and is second in yards per game with 129.7 while Dillon Buechel is third in the country in passing yards with 887 and fourth with 295.7 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 after week one and saw action in his first 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 again 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. DB Trenton Coles (Pittsburgh), who played in 11 games last season, has since been added to the roster.

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).

BALANCED ATTACK: The Dukes entered the season with 17 seniors (including graduate students), 23 juniors, 19 sophomores, which includes 14 redshirt sophomores, 11 redshirt freshmen and 27 true freshmen. The 27 newcomers is Duquesne's largest class of newbies in the school's six-year involvement in the Northeast Conference.

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).

QUICK HITS

• 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 24-19 in non-conference games under head coach Jerry Schmitt with wins over Dayton (four times), Robert Morris (three times prior to joining the NEC), Monmouth (twice), Bucknell (twice), Fordham (twice) and Albany (once as a CAA member). At home, the Dukes are 16-2 in non-league play under Schmitt. DU played its most ambitious non-conference game in recent history when it traveled to Buffalo (Mid-American Conference) for the 2014 season opener. It was DU's first game against a FBS school.