OPENING KICKOFF

• Duquesne takes on Towson in the first round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs on the road on Saturday, Nov. 24 at 2 p.m. ET.
• The Dukes are making their second trip to the FCS postseason after also qualifying in 2015.
• Duquesne earned the Northeast Conference's automatic bid as the Dukes secured their fifth NEC title with a 38-31 victory at Central Connecticut last week.
• Nehari Crawford's 56-yard touchdown reception from Daniel Parr in the final minute clinched the win for DU.
• Towson earned an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs after posting a 7-4 overall ledger with a 5-3 mark in the Colonial Athletic Association. The CAA had an FCS-record six teams selected to the playoff field of 24.
• The Dukes faced William & Mary - another team from the CAA - in the FCS Playoffs in 2015. Duquesne came up just short against the Tribe, falling in a 52-49 shootout in Williamsburg.
• This is Towson's third appearance in the FCS Playoffs and first since 2013.

QUICK HITS

• Duquesne qualifies for the FCS Playoffs for the second time in program history. Northeast Conference teams are 1-8 all-time in the FCS Playoffs. Wagner earned the lone win with a 31-20 victory over Colgate in 2012.
• The Dukes have enjoyed a great deal of success in NEC play, claiming five conference titles since 2011. Duquesne won a share of the league crown in 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2018 while capturing the outright title in 2015, earning the NEC's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs along with this season.
• The Dukes are 19-5 in NEC action since the beginning of the 2015 campaign, including a 10-2 mark at Rooney Field.
• Duquesne garnered 13 All-NEC selections highlighted by A.J. Hines (Offensive Player of the Year) and Jerry Schmitt (Co-Coach of the Year).
• The Dukes placed a league-high six players on the All-NEC First Team, including Hines, defensive lineman Kam Carter (Germantown, Md./Gaithersburg/Pitt), offensive linemen Alex Conley (Akron, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) and Matt Fitzpatrick (Pennsauken, N.J./Bishop Eustace), wide receiver Nehari Crawford (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Central) and defensive back Jonathant Istache (Belle Glade, Fla./Glades Central).
• Duquesne also had five selections on the All-NEC second team including defensive lineman Jalen Booker (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge/Lackawanna College), Mitch MacZura (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic/Ohio State) at both kicker and punter, defensive back Brandon Stanback (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt/Buffalo) as well as linebacker Brett Zanotto (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional/Maryland).
• Duquesne is receiving votes in both the STATS FCS Top 25 & AFCA Coaches' Poll.
• DU has recorded 58 wins since 2011, at least eight more victories than any other NEC team. In addition, the Dukes' 35 conference wins in that time span are the most in the league.
• A.J. Hines picked up his fourth NEC Offensive Player of the Week award in a row after recording 213 yards with a touchdown on the ground in the win over Sacred Heart.
• Hines is fourth in the country in rushing yards per game, averaging 132.4 yards per contest.
• In the six conference games this season, Hines averaged 165.3 yards on the ground with nine rushing scores.
• Nehari Crawford paces the NEC and ranks 22nd in the FCS with 971 receiving yards on the season. Crawford's 25 receiving touchdowns since the start of last season are the most at the FCS level.
• Duquesne is outscoring its non-FBS opponents 307-197 in nine games on the season, compiling an 8-1 ledger in those contests.
• With the Dukes looking for some depth at the running back position a few weeks ago against Robert Morris, defensive back Daquan Worley made his debut in the DU backfield, recording seven carries for 96 yards with two touchdowns, including a 52-yard rushing score. He added 89 yards on six carries at Wagner.
• DU linebacker Brett Zanotto is fifth in the NEC with 79 tackles on the season while cornerback Jonathant Istache leads the conference with four interceptions. His 15 passes defended also rank lead the NEC and rank sixth in the FCS.
• Duquesne is fifth in the FCS in kick return defense (15.5 ypr) and 10th in third down conversion percent (46.8 pct).
• The Dukes pace the NEC in pass efficiency (146.2), field goal percentage (90.0 pct) and third down conversion percent (46.8 pct).
• Duquesne has three of the top 10 scorers in the NEC in A.J. Hines (1st - 9.0 ppg), Nehari Crawford (4th - 6.5 ppg) and Mitch MacZura (10th - 5.8 ppg).
• The Dukes are 0-5 all-time against ranked opponents.
• Duquesne faced a pair of Biletnikoff Award semifinalists this season when taking on its FBS opponents in Andy Isabella (UMass) and John Ursua (Hawaii).
• The Dukes had six games at Rooney Field in 2018 (three non-conference matchups, three NEC contests) in addition to the game at Saint Francis U. This comes a year after DU played seven road games in seven different states in 2017.
• Duquesne returns 12 starters from last year's team which posted a 7-4 overall mark and a 4-2 ledger in Northeast Conference play.
• The Dukes have registered at least seven total victories in four straight seasons and six of the last eight years. In a season with two games against FBS teams, DU earned its seventh win with a victory over Sacred Heart last week.
• In a total of 20 night games (6 p.m. kick off or later) at Arthur J. Rooney Field, Duquesne now owns a 16-4 record, including a 3-1 mark against RMU.
• In the Dukes' game against Bryant, Duquesne sported new helmet decals, wearing red jersey numbers on the left side with a transparent "D" logo with blue outline on the right side. The back of the helmet featured a blue Pittsburgh city skyline silhouette.
• Duquesne returned to that helmet design against Saint Francis U after wearing Pittsburgh Steeler logo decals in last week's win over Robert Morris, as the Steelers offered their prayers and support to the family, friends and teammates of Marquis "Jaylen" Brown. The helmet paid tribute to "JB."

THE SERIES

• This is the first meeting between the two schools.

GAME COVERAGE

► WATCH: ESPN3

Mike Reghi (PxP) / Dustin Fox (Analyst)

► RADIO: WJAS AM 1320 / iHeartRadio

Alex Panormios (PxP) / Tad Maurey (Analyst)

► LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast

SCOUTING TOWSON

• The Tigers lead the CAA and rank in the top 15 in the FCS in both scoring offense (36.7 ppg) and total offense (474.8 ypg).
• Towson has the second-most first downs in the FCS on the season with 291.
• The Tigers rank last in the CAA in rushing defense, allowing 178.6 yards on the ground per game.
• Quarterback Tom Flacco, the younger brother of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, is fourth in the country in passing yards (3,124 yds) and fifth in the nation in passing touchdowns (27).
• Flacco is coming off a 372-yard passing performance against #7 James Madison in the regular season finale. He has six 300-yard games this year. He was recently named the CAA Offensive Player of the Year.
• Kicker Aidan O'Neill paces the FCS with 21 made field goals this season He is 21-of-27 on the year. He nailed a season-long 50-yarder at Delaware.
• Running back Shane Simpson is second in the FCS in all-purpose yardage (177.6 ypg), averaging 55.9 rushing, 31.5 receiving, 24.0 kick return and 7.5 punt return yards per contest. Simpson was named the CAA Special Teams Player of the Year.
• Head coach Rob Ambrose is in his 10th season at the helm of the program. He was selected as the 2011 Eddie Robinson Award winner, earned by the FCS National Coach of the Year.
• The Tigers are making their third FCS Playoff apppearance and first since 2013, when Towson advanced to the FCS Championship game before falling to perennial power North Dakota State. The Tigers made their first appearance in 2011.

LAST TIME OUT

Duquesne 38, CCSU 31 - Nov. 17, 2018

• With the score knotted 31-31 with under a minute remaining in the fourth quarter, Daniel Parr hit Nehari Crawford 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 forced three straight incomplete passes to seal its fifth NEC title, knocking off the defending conference champions.
• A.J. Hines 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.
• Nehari Crawford hauled in 10 receptions for 124 yards, becoming Duquesne's all-time leader in career recptions with 182. He also moved into second place in school history with 2,642 receiving yards.
• 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.
• Jonathant Istache and Spencer DeMedal each had interceptions which led to Duquesne touchdowns in the win.
• Brett Zanotto paced the Duquesne defense with nine tackles (four solo).

DUKES IN THE FCS PLAYOFFS

#13 William & Mary 52, Dukes 49 - Nov. 28, 2015

• Duquesne jumped out to a 14-0 lead and scored 49 points on the day, but came up just short in a 52-49 loss at #13 William & Mary in the first round of the FCS Playoffs.
• The host Tribe answered with 28 straight points before the Dukes responded with a touchdown pass to Nehari Crawford and a field goal by Austin Crimmins, shrinking the W&M lead to 28-24 at the half.
• The Tribe counted with a field goal to open the second half, followed by a blocked Duquesne field goal returned 65 yards for a score, as W&M built its advantage to 38-24.
• The host Tribe answered with 28 straight points before the Dukes responded with a touchdown pass to Nehari Crawford and a field goal by Austin Crimmins, shrinking the W&M lead to 28-24 at the half.
• A touchdown pass from Dillon Buechel to Wayne Capers minimized the deficit back to seven at 38-31.
• W&M added another touchdown to open the fourth quarter to go up 45-31.
• Buechel hit Capers again on a five-yard scoring strike followed by a Crimmins 35-yard field goal to cut the lead down to one score at 45-41 with just over seven minutes to play.
• The Tribe used an eight-yard touchdown rush to go on top 52-41, but the never-say-die Dukes had one more score up their sleeve as Buechel connected with Capers on a 42-yard bomb to come to within 52-47. Buechel then hit King on the 2-point conversion to make it 52-49 with 1:11 remaining in regulation.
• However, the Dukes' on-side kick was recovered by the Tribe, and W&M was able to run out the clock.
• Buechel tallied career highs in attempts (53), completions (33), yards (423) and touchdowns (6) while Chris King finished with personal bests of 12 receptions for 221 yards.
• Defensively, Abner Roberts and Sam Martello had nine tackles each. Christian Kuntz and Martello each had forced fumbles and Kuntz added three tackles for a loss of 17 yards, including two sacks.