Oct. 15, 2016

Box Score | Photo Gallery

PITTSBURGH - Dillon Buechel threw three touchdown passes as Duquesne overcame a pair of first quarter turnovers to hand head coach Jerry Schmitt his 100th career win, 31-24, over Robert Morris on Rooney Field.

The Dukes, who outgained the Colonials 491-155, took their only lead on P.J. Fulmore's touchdown run with 7:54 left.

A.J. Hines led the Dukes with 182 yards rushing and Fulmore added 75 more as DU outgained RMU 233-33 on the ground.

Buechel, who completed passes to nine receivers, finished with 258 yards on 22 completions.

The DU defense held RMU without a third down conversion on the evening.

Robert Morris wasted no time turning a fumbled punt into a score when Joe Carroll found Tim Vecchio for a 17 yard touchdown pass with 6:09 left in the first quarter.

Duquesne answered with a 72 yard drive capped by an 11 yard Buechel to Chavas Rawlins touchdown pass. Rawlins' catch was set up by a 34-yard Buechel to Wayne Capers pass to the RMU six.

RMU was the beneficiary of another short field, when the Dukes fumbled a second punt, this one on the Duquesne 13 on the final play of the first quarter. The DU defense held the Colonials to a 23-yard Connor Shennan field goal that made it 10-7.

DU followed the RMU score with a 10 play drive to tie it on a 32 yard Austin Crimmins field goal.

Crimmins lined up for a 47 yard field goal attempt with just over one minute left in the half, when Robert Morris' special teams came up with their third big play, when Marcelis Branch blocked and returned the kick 63 yards for a score to make it 17-10 with 1:01 to go in the half.

The Dukes answered with a 77 yard drive that ended when Buechel found Kellon Taylor with a six yard touchdown pass to tie it with 10 seconds left.

The Dukes outgained the Colonials 258-75 in the opening 30 minutes.

Trey Edwards got behind the DU secondary on RMU's second possession of the second half and Carroll found him for a 65 score to put the Colonials up 24-17.

Duquesne then took it 75 yards in 11 plays - nine of which were runs - to tie it on an eight yard Buechel to Blair Roberts touchdown pass.

Anthony Dougherty then picked off a Caroll pass and returned it to the RMU 19. The Dukes moved to the RMU two before Taylor was called for offensive pass interference on an apparent TD catch. The Dukes were flagged for another penalty, and Buechel was sacked setting up a fourth-and-goal from the 27 that the Dukes could not convert.

DU forced a punt and drove 62 yards, primarily on the legs of Fulmore, who gave DU its first lead on a 9 yard run with 7:54 left.

Carter Henderson led Duquesne with seven tackles. Christian Kuntz added 2.5 tackles for loss including 1.5 sacks.

Duquesne heads to Loretto, Pa. for a Friday night showdown with Saint Francis U (ESPN3).

GAME NOTES
This was the 100th career win for Duquesne head coach Jerry Schmitt ... Schmitt, who is in his 17th season overall, and 12th at Duquesne, is now 9-3 all time against Robert Morris ... DU, which extended its winning streak over RMU to four, is now 8-1 in NEC openers ... Duquesne had 25 first downs to six for Robert Morris ... DU led in time of possession 38:06 to 21:54 ... Duquesne was 7-16 on third down, RMU was 0-9 ... Robert Morris scored 10 points of DU turnovers and also returned a blocked field goal for a score ... Duquesne averaged 4.8 yards per rush ... senior quarterback Dillon Buechel (McKees Rocks, Pa./Montour), the NEC career passing yardage leader, upped his career total to 9,159 ... with his 22 completions, Buechel passed Niel Loebig (705 from 2001-04) to move in to the No. 1 spot on DU's all-time list with 720 ... Beuchel completed 22-of-33 passes to nine receivers ... freshman running back A.J. Hines (Wilson, N.C./Fike) carried 27 times for 182 yards ... it was his third 100-yard game this season ... Hines also added five catches for 64 yards for 246 total yards ... senior linebacker Christian Kuntz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) finished with five tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks ... the 1.5 sacks give Kuntz 26 for his career ... he is 1.5 shy of the school record of 27.5 set by Antoine Bullock (2002-05) ... P.J. Fulmore Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) carried 15 times for 75 yards in his first game back from injury ... Fulmore missed the Dukes' previous three games ... Wayne Capers (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley/Arizona) led DU's receivers with six catches for 91 yards ... freshman Kellon Taylor (Landover, Md./DeMatha Catholic) caught his first career touchdown pass - a six-yarder with 10 seconds left in the third quarter that tied it at 17-17.