TOWSON, Md. - Duquesne scored 31 unanswered points and held No. 16/19 Towson scoreless in the second half, as the Dukes won their first Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoff game in program history with a 31-10 victory over the host Tigers on Saturday in a steady downpour at Johnny Unitas® Stadium.
A.J. Hines (Wilson, N.C./Fike) finished with 246 yards from scrimmage with a pair of touchdowns to lead the Dukes in the triumph.
Duquesne (9-3) wins its sixth straight contest, moving on the second round to face No. 5 South Dakota State next Saturday, Dec. 1 at 3 p.m. ET at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, S.D. The Dukes are now one of 16 teams remaining in the FCS Playoff field.
The victory over Towson also marks Duquesne's first over a ranked team in the FCS era.
The Tigers gained a 10-0 first half lead on Tom Flacco's 34-yard touchdown pass to Jabari Allen in the first quarter before a 26-yard field goal by Aidan O'Neill with just over seven minutes to play in the first half.
Towson was on the doorstep again on its next drive, looking to extend its advantage when Brandon Stanback (Harrisburg, Pa./Bishop McDevitt/Buffalo) forced and recovered a fumble on the Dukes' one-yard line.
Forcing a punt on the Tigers' next possession, the Dukes gained some momentum into the break, marching 65 yard in nine plays as Mitch MacZura (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic/Ohio State) connected on a 32-yard field goal as time expired.
A 27-yard reception by Kellon Taylor (Landover, Md./DeMatha Catholic) from Daniel Parr (Jupiter, Fla./William T. Dwyer/FAU) in addition to 42 rushing yards by Hines set up the field goal.
Duquesne continued that push into the second half, as Daquan Worley (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville/Penn State) broke off a 48-yard touchdown run to knot the score at 10-10. The Dukes dominated the ground game on the scoring march, as Hines and Worley rushed a combined six times for 79 yards.
The Duquesne defense would force a three-and-out before Hines hauled in a screen pass from Parr, taking it 71 yards to pay dirt to give the Dukes their first lead of the contest at 17-10 with just under 10 minutes to play in the third quarter.
Duquesne continued its ground-and-pound approach in to the fourth quarter as a three-yard Parr touchdown run extended the Dukes' advantage to 24-10. A 21-yard run by Hines on the previous play set up the score. All told, Duquesne rushed 10 times for 72 yards on the scoring march, eating up over five minutes of clock.
After the Dukes forced a Tiger turnover on downs in their own territory later in the quarter, Hines found the end zone for the second time on the day, this time on a three-yard rush to push the Duquesne lead to 31-10 with just over three minutes to play.
The Dukes held Towson scoreless in the final 37:07 of the contest, limiting the Tigers to 33 yards in the third quarter. Outside of the Tigers' final 73-yard drive late in the fourth quarter, Duquesne limited Towson to 36 second-half yards.
Hines finished with 28 carries for 175 yards and a rushing touchdown to go with the 71-yard touchdown reception. Worley added eight carries for 78 yards while P.J. Fulmore (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) chipped in seven rushes for 24 yards.
Parr completed 6-of-19 pass attempts for 144 yards with a touchdown in addition to the rushing score.
Stanback paced the Duquesne defense with a career-high 11 tackles (six solo) with a sack and the forced fumble. Abner Roberts (Pittsburgh, Pa./University Prep) finished with 10 tackles (six solo) with a team-high three tackles for loss and a sack. Brett Zanotto (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional/Maryland) recorded seven tackles (three solo) with a sack for a loss of 10 yards for the Dukes.
All told, the Duquesne defense racked up four sacks and seven tackles for loss in the win.
The Dukes limited Towson quarterback Tom Flacco – who came into the game third in the FCS in total offense at 348.0 yards per game – to 127 passing and 38 rushing yards, his lowest total output of the year. He completed 10-of-33 pass attempts in the game.
Duquesne outgained the Tigers 426-357 in the win, including advantages of 282-230 on the ground and 144-127 through the air.
The Dukes held Towson – the top scoring team in the Colonial Athletic Association (36.7 ppg) - to its lowest scoring output of the season of 10 points.
Duquesne capitalized on trips inside the red zone, scoring on all three chances, while the Dukes defense limited Towson to a 1-of-4 rate inside the red zone.
Duquesne now takes on fifth-seeded South Dakota State (8-2) in the second round next week. The Dukes opened the 2017 campaign on the road against the Jackrabbits, with SDSU coming away with a 51-13 win. The Jackrabbits earned an at-large bid out of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
GAME NOTES
- Duquesne becomes the second NEC team to earn an FCS Playoff victory. Wagner topped Colgate 31-20 in 2012 to advance to the second round.
- The Dukes pick up their first win over a ranked program in the FCS era (since 1993), improving to 1-5 in those games.
- Duquesne now has nine total victories for the first time since 2011. The Dukes are 9-1 against non-FBS opposition.
- Towson earned an at-large bid out of the strong CAA, which placed an FCS-record six teams into the FCS Playoff field of 24.
- Hines has rushed for over 100 yards in six straight games, becoming the first Duquesne player in the FCS era to do so. He has rushed for 1,499 yards on the season which ranks second in a single-season in school history. His 15 rushing touchdowns are tied for the single-season program record.
- Hines now has 20 career 100-yard rushing performances which ranks third in school history. He tallied over 200 yards from scrimmage for the fifth time in the last six weeks. His 71-yard scoring reception represented a career-long, besting his 58-yard touchdown catch earlier this season in the win over Saint Francis U.
- Head coach Jerry Schmitt moves into second all-time on the Duquesne coaching wins list with his 92nd career victory with the Dukes, passing longtime head coach Dan McCann.
