OPENING KICK
• The Dukes (2-1) open the home portion of the 2017 schedule Saturday night against visiting West Virginia Wesleyan (2-2). This is Duquesne's latest home opener since 1970, when the program competed at the club level. This is the first time since 1950 that the Dukes opened with three consecutive road games.
• A Duquesne victory tonight would be the 100th win at Arthur J. Rooney Field for the Dukes. Duquesne has called Rooney Field home since 1993.
• Quarterback Tommy Stuart was named the Northeast Conference (NEC) Offensive Player of the Week following a four touchdown performance in the Dukes' 28-23 victory at Dayton in week three. He threw for a pair of touchdowns while also rushing for two scores.
• Duquesne is seeking a 10th straight win in the Dukes' home opener. Duquesne topped Bucknell 30-13 in the Dukes' home opener on Sept. 11 of last season.
• The Bobcats compete in NCAA Division II in the Mountain East Conference with schools from Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. West Virginia Wesleyan opened the season with a pair of wins before dropping its last two contests.
• Duquesne enters 2017 after posting an 8-3 ledger in 2016 which saw the Dukes capture their fourth Northeast Conference title in the last six seasons with a 5-1 ledger in league action. Duquesne was tabbed as the 2017 preseason NEC favorite.
QUICK HITS
• The Dukes (2-1) host West Virginia Wesleyan (2-2) in game four of the 2017 season on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 7pm ET at Rooney Field.
• Duquesne was idle last week following a 28-23 road victory at Dayton on Sept. 16. Quarterback Tommy Stuart (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall/Boise State) accounted for all four Dukes touchdowns in the victory. It marked Duquesne's first win at Dayton since 2011.
• West Virginia Wesleyan opened the season with wins over MEC foes Concord (23-18) and West Liberty (34-0) before falling to Fairmont State (35-10) and Urbana (21-7).
• Graduate transfer quarterback Tommy Stuart (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall/Boise State) was named the Northeast Conference (NEC) Offensive Player of the Week for his performance at Dayton. He completed 19-of-31 passes for 253 yards and two touchdowns to go with a pair of scores on the ground and 51 rushing yards. Stuart paces the NEC in completion percentage (67.0), completing 61-of-91 passes for 720 yards and seven touchdowns.
• A win on Saturday night over the Bobcats would be the 100th for the Dukes at Arthur J. Rooney Field. Duquesne has called Rooney Field home since the 1993 season. Duquesne is 99-27-0 all-time at Rooney Field including winning streaks of 16, 14 and 10 games (twice). Duquesne owns nonconference home wins over Dayton (five times), Bucknell (four times), Lafayette (twice), Albany, VMI, Monmouth, Butler, Morehead State and Fordham among others over the past 16 seasons. DU is 40-12 in nonconference home games (23-3 under Jerry Schmitt) on Rooney Field.
• Duquesne is receiving four votes in the latest STATS FCS Top 25 released on Monday afternoon. Defending national champion James Madison owns the top spot in the rankings, followed by North Dakota State second and Sam Houston State third. South Dakota State, the Dukes' week one opponent this season, sits fourth while Jacksonville State is fifth.
• Sophomore running back A.J. Hines (Wilson, N.C./Fike) recorded his eighth career 100-yard rushing game in week two at Valpo. In addition, the reigning Jerry Rice Award winner had two touchdowns, his sixth career game with multiple touchdowns. Duquesne's 250 rushing yards against the Crusaders were the most for the Dukes since finishing with 251 yards at Dayton last season. With Hines out of the lineup in week three at Dayton, junior running back P.J. Fulmore (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) had a team-high 21 carries for 83 yards in the win.
• Junior wide receiver Nehari Crawford (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Central) has paced the Duquesne receivers this season with 19 catches for 285 yards and four touchdowns. Crawford had career-highs of nine catches for 138 yards and a pair of scores at Valpo in week two. Junior Kareem Coles (San Diego, Calif./Madison/Idaho) has caught 12 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown while senior Chavas Rawlins (Monessen, Pa./Monessen/West Virginia) has 12 receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown.
• Sophomore linebacker Brett Zanotto (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional/Maryland) leads the Dukes with 23 tackles on the season (team-high 12 solo) with a tackle for loss and two quarterback hurries. Fellow Murrysville native Carter Henderson (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional/Penn State) has 18 tackles (seven solo) on the year to go with a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry. Junior defensive back Abner Roberts (Pittsburgh, Pa./University Prep) is third on the team with 17 tackles followed by senior linebacker Nathan Stone (Scottdale, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) with 16 stops.
• Duquesne posted an 8-3 record last season with a 5-1 mark in Northeast Conference play, earning a share of the conference crown. The Dukes have captured at least a share of the NEC title in four of the last six seasons. (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016). Duquesne returns 13 position starters entering the 2017 season (five on offense, eight on defense).
• The Dukes are 34-25 in non-conference games under 13th-year head coach Jerry Schmitt with wins over Robert Morris (three times prior to joining the NEC), Dayton (seven times), Bucknell (four times), Fordham (twice), Albany (once as a CAA member) and Monmouth (as an independent). At home, the Dukes are 22-3 in non-league play.
THE SERIES
• This marks the 11th meeting between the Dukes and Bobcats in the series that dates back to the 1922 season. All 10 meetings have been played in Pittsburgh.
• This is the first meeting between the two schools since 1948, when Duquesne claimed a 34-6 win. The two teams met eight times in the 1930's.
• The Dukes have won three straight games over West Virginia Wesleyan.
SCOUTING WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN
• West Virginia Wesleyan returns five starters on offense and eight on defense from the 2016 Bobcats team which finished 4-7 overall and 4-6 in MEC play.
• WV Wesleyan was picked to finish seventh in the 11-team league. NCAA Division II power Shepherd, the favorite in the conference again in 2017, has made two straight NCAA semifinal appearances.
• The Bobcats graduated a trio of key players from a year ago: running back Michael Anderson was named MEC Offensive Player of the Year while defensive lineman Kevin Pharaon and defensive back Jabari Weems were both First Team All-MEC selections.
• The Bobcats led by second-year head coach Del Smith. The 2005 WV Wesleyan graduate returned to his alma mater prior to the 2016 season after serving as the defensive coordinator at Division III Bridgewater College (Va.). Smith also worked as the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at Wagner for three seasons.
LAST TIME OUT
DUQUESNE 28, DAYTON 23 - Quarterback Tommy Stuart (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall/Boise State) accounted for all four Dukes touchdowns as the Duquesne football team held off host Dayton by a score of 28-23 on Saturday afternoon at Welcome Stadium.
• With the triumph, Duquesne picks up its first win at Welcome Stadium since 2011.
• Stuart completed 19-of-31 passes for 253 yards with a pair of touchdown passes and an interception. He added 14 carries for 56 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
• Junior wide receiver Nehari Crawford (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Central) eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the second straight week, finishing with six catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. Taylor caught two passes for 47 yards and a touchdown, while junior wide receiver Kareem Coles (San Diego, Calif./Madison/Idaho) contributed four receptions for 38 yards.
• Even with sophomore starting running back A.J. Hines (Wilson, N.C./Fike) out of the lineup, the Dukes still tallied 184 rushing yards highlighted by junior running back P.J. Fulmore's (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) 83 yards on 21 carries. Junior running back Ricky Mellick (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton La Salle) added 49 yards on 11 rushes.
• Senior defensive back Stephan Osong (Clarksville, Md./River Hill) and sophomore linebackers Brendan Thompson (Germantown, Md./Northwest/Millersville) and Zanotto each paced Duquesne with eight tackles apiece.
URBANA 21, WEST VIRGINIA WESLEYAN 7 - The Bobcats dropped their second straight Mountain East Conference (MEC) contest in a row by a score of 21-7 at home.
• Urbana used a stifling defensive effort to earn the road win, holding the Bobcat offense to just 181 yards.
• West Virginia Wesleyan finished with just 76 yards through the air and six first downs in the game. The Bobcats allowed 373 total yards (250 rushing, 123 passing).
• Bobcats defensive back Chad Pinson was the team's leading rusher on the day with a 63-yard touchdown run on a fake punt to shrink the Urbana lead to 14-7 in the third quarter.
• West Virginia Wesleyan linebacker Brandon Grayson led all tacklers with a career-high 18 stops (14 solo).
