NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - The Duquesne football team earned a 38-31 victory over Central Connecticut State on Saturday to earn its fifth Northeast Conference (NEC) title in eight seasons and secure its second automatic bid to the NCAA FCS Playoffs in program history.
With the score knotted 31-31 with under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter, Daniel Parr (Jupiter, Fla./William T. Dwyer/FAU) hit Nehari Crawford (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Central) with a strike across the middle before Crawford shook off a pair of Blue Devil tackles, sprinting into the end zone for the 56-yard touchdown.
Leaving CCSU (6-5, 4-2) with just 17 seconds to drive 81 yards, Duquesne (8-3, 5-1) forced three straight incomplete passes to seal the NEC title, knocking off the defending conference champions.
After hauling in 10 catches on Saturday, Crawford became Duquesne's all-time leader in career receptions with 182. He tallied 124 receiving yards in the win, moving into second place in school history with 2,642 career receiving yards.
A.J. Hines (Wilson, N.C./Fike) finished with 31 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns while Parr recorded 277 yards through the air on 23-of-33 attempts with a pair of touchdown passes and a rushing score in the win.
Duquesne held a 21-17 advantage after the first half, before the Dukes made it a two-score game with a three-yard rushing touchdown by Parr on the opening drive. Parr completed 6-of-7 pass attempts for 73 yards on the scoring march.
A DU fumble late in the third quarter gave the ball back to the Blue Devils, which resulted in an 18-yard touchdown from Jacob Dolegala to Tyshaun James to shrink the deficit to 28-24.
Duquesne would respond with a 23-yard field goal by Mitch MacZura (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic/Ohio State), pushing the Dukes' lead to 31-24 early in the fourth.
Seeking a share of the NEC crown, the host Blue Devils answered once again, tying it up at 31-31 on the ensuing drive with a five-yard touchdown rush by Dolegala.
The two teams traded punts, with the Dukes taking over at their own 42-yard line with 1:41 showing on the fourth quarter clock.
On the third play of the DU drive, Crawford's touchdown sealed Duquesne's fifth NEC championship.
The Dukes finished with a 388-351 advantage in total yards, including a 277-219 edge in passing yardage.
Success on third downs proved to be crucial for Duquesne, as the Dukes converted on 11-of-18 attempts – including the game-winning score – compared to CCSU's 3-of-12 rate on third down.
Duquesne was 4-for-4 on trips inside the red zone and also possessed the ball for 34:29, while the Blue Devils posted a time of possession of 25:31.
A back-and-forth affair in the first half of action, CCSU jumped out to a 7-0 lead on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Dolegala to Aaron Dawson midway through the first quarter.
Later in the period, Jonathant Istache (Belle Glade, Fla./Glades Central) picked off a Dolegala pass across the middle and returned it 23 yards to the Blue Devils' 18-yard line.
Four plays later, Hines took a handoff six yards for the score, knotting the contest at 7-7.
CCSU would retake the lead on the final play of the opening quarter, as Dolegala found James on a 62-yard strike.
On Duquesne's first drive of the second stanza, Parr scrambled, shrugged off a CCSU pass rusher and connected with a wide open Aidan Cain (Mt. Lebanon, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) in the middle of the end zone on the 23-yard connection.
The game-tying scoring drive was set up by a trio of completions of 12 yards to Crawford, 11 yards to Kareem Coles Jr. (San Diego, Calif./Madison/Idaho) and 10 yards to Kellon Taylor (Landover, Md./DeMatha Catholic).
Later in the quarter, the Dukes recorded their second interception of the afternoon when Spencer DeMedal (New Wilmington, Pa./Wilmington Area) picked off the tipped pass and returned it 46 yards to the CCSU eight-yard line.
This set up Hines' second touchdown of the day on an eight-yard rush, putting Duquesne on top 21-14.
The Blue Devils would minimize the Dukes' edge to 21-17 at the half with a 35-yard field goal by Francis Cole.
Brett Zanotto (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional/Maryland) paced the Duquesne defense with nine tackles (four solo). Istache tallied six tackles to go with the interception and pass breakup, while Jalen Booker (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge/Lackawanna) added six tackles.
Brandon Stanback (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt/Buffalo) had four tackles, including two for loss in the victory.
Zanotto and Stanback each came up with pivotal tackles for the Dukes on second and third down, respectively, forcing the Blue Devils to punt with the score tied at 31-31 in the fourth quarter. This allowed Duquesne to set up the game-winning drive.
The Dukes share the NEC Championship with Sacred Heart, who also closed out the regular season with a 5-1 mark in conference play. Following a 28-24 victory over the Pioneers last week at Arthur J. Rooney Field, Duquesne earns the league's FCS Playoff bid by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Dukes also claimed NEC titles in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2016. Duquesne will make its second FCS Playoff appearance and first since 2015, when the Dukes faced off with William & Mary.
The NCAA FCS Selection Show is slated to air on Sunday, Nov. 18 at 12:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU. First round games are scheduled for next Saturday, Nov. 24.
GAME NOTES
- Saturday marked 14th-year head coach Jerry Schmitt's 91st win with the Dukes, moving him into a tie for second-place on the Duquesne all-time wins list with Dan McCann (91-74-3 in 19 seasons). Schmitt is 91-61, winning his fifth NEC title with the Dukes.
- Duquesne avenged a heartbreaking 28-27 loss to CCSU last season at Rooney Field, as the Blue Devils claimed the NEC title and the conference's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs with the victory.
- Hines recorded his fifth-straight 100-yard rushing performance, his 19th for his career. With two rushing scores, he tied Larry McCoy for second in Duquesne history with 37 career rushing touchdowns.
- Hines now has 1,324 rushing yards on the season, a new career-high. He rushed for 1,291 yards as a freshman en route to winning the Jerry Rice Award. His 14 rushing touchdowns also represent a career-high.
- Crawford tied Jeremy Conley for third among Duquesne all-time leaders in career touchdown receptions with 31 for the Dukes.
- Parr posted his second-highest passing total of the season with 277 yards.
- Istache now has a NEC-leading four receptions on the season.
- Cain now has two career touchdown receptions. His first came at Hawaii earlier this season.
