OPENING KICKOFF

• The Dukes advance to the second round of the FCS Playoffs at No. 5 South Dakota State after posting their first FCS Playoff win in program history with a 31-10 victory at No. 16/19 Towson last week.
• After falling behind 10-0, Duquesne scored 31 unanswered points en route to the triumph over the Tigers.
• A.J. Hines finished with 246 yards from scrimmage with a pair of touchdowns in the victory. The Dukes limited Towson - the top scoring team in the CAA (36.7 ppg) - to a season-low 10 points.
• 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.
• South Dakota State is making its seventh straight appearance in the FCS Playoffs. The Jackrabbits, an at-large selection out of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, earned a seed in the postseason for the third year in a row.

QUICK HITS

• The Dukes earned their first win over a ranked opponent with the victory at Towson, improving to 1-5 in those games.
• Duquesne qualifies for the FCS Playoffs for the second time in program history. Northeast Conference teams are 2-8 all-time in the FCS Playoffs. Wagner earned the other win with a 31-20 victory over Colgate in 2012.
• The Dukes are looking to become the first team from the NEC to advance to the FCS quarterfinals. Wagner dropped a 29-19 decision at Eastern Washington in 2012 after defeating Colgate at home.
• 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 is receiving votes in both the STATS FCS Top 25 & AFCA Coaches' Poll.
• DU has recorded 59 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 136.3 yards per contest.
• In the six conference games this season, Hines averaged 165.3 yards on the ground with nine rushing scores.
• The Dukes are 7-0 this season when A.J. Hines has at least 100 yards rushing.
• Nehari Crawford paced the NEC and ranks 20th in the FCS with 1,017 receiving yards on the season. Crawford's 25 receiving touchdowns since the start of last season are the most at the FCS level.
• Duquesne has won six straight games and is 9-1 against non-FBS opponents.
• 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 86 tackles on the season while cornerback Jonathant Istache leads the conference with four interceptions. His 18 passes defended also lead the NEC and rank fifth in the FCS.
• Duquesne is fifth in the FCS in kick return defense (15.4 ypr) and 15th in third down conversion percent (45.9 pct).
• DU is 9-0 when scoring at least 30 points and 8-1 when holding its opponent to 30 points or less.
• 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.
• 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.
• The Dukes are 1-1-2 all-time in December. Saturday is just their second game in December since 1939, as Duquesne fell to Sacred Heart in the 2001 ECAC Classic. The Dukes' lone win in December came at Mississippi State in 1937.

THE SERIES

• This is the third meeting between the two schools.
• The Dukes and No. 4/6 Jackrabbits met in the 2017 season opener in Brookings, with South Dakota State claiming a 51-13 victory. It was the first of 11 wins last season for John Stiegelmeier's Jackrabbits.
• Duquesne also hosted the Jackrabbits on Nov. 11, 1932 with the Dukes claiming a 34-12 victory at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The Dukes went on to finish with a 7-2-1 ledger that season under head coach Elmer Layden.
   

GAME COVERAGE

► WATCH: ESPN3

Mike Reghi (PxP) / Dustin Fox (Analyst)

► RADIO: WJAS AM 1320 / iHeartRadio

Alex Panormios (PxP) / Tad Maurey (Analyst)

► LIVE STATS: TBA

NATIONAL EXPOSURE

• The Dukes will appear on ESPN3 for the fifth time this season and for the 17th time since the start of the 2016 campaign.
• In addition, the matchup with Hawaii was available nationally on the Stadium App via Spectrum Sports while the UMass game was able to be viewed on DirecTV through Eleven Sports.

HISTORY MADE

• Duquesne scored 31 unanswered points and held No. 16/19 Towson scoreless in the second half, as the Dukes won their first FCS Playoff game in program history.
• A.J. Hines finished with 246 yards from scrimmage with a pair of touchdowns to lead the Dukes in the triumph.
• 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 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 connected on a 32-yard field goal as time expired.
• Duquesne continued that push into the second half, as Daquan Worley broke off a 48-yard touchdown run to knot the score at 10-10.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA STATE

• The Jackrabbits finished the regular season with an 8-2 overall record and a 6-2 ledger in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC).
• South Dakota State's losses came at the hands of top-ranked North Dakota State and Northern Iowa, another FCS Playoff team. SDSU has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the country this season.
• The Jackrabbits are making their seventh straight FCS Playoff appearance. Last season they advanced to the semifinals, falling to James Madison 51-16.
• SDSU boasts the third-ranked scoring offense in the FCS, averaging 45.4 ppg. The Jackrabbits are fifth in the country in total offense (511.2 ypg) and in turnover margin (1.45).
• Signal-caller Taryn Christion is a three-time Walter Payton Award finalist. He is third in the nation in pass efficiency (169.5), fifth in touchdowns (28) and in points responsible for per game (19.8).
• He holds MVFC career records for touchdown passes (100), passing yards (11,064) and total offense (12,461 yards).
• Wide receiver Cade Johnson is third in the FCS with 15 receiving touchdowns and seventh in the country averaging 107.2 receiving yards per game.
• Running back Pierre Strong Jr. was named the MVFC Freshman of the Year after leading the team with 777 rushing yards with eight touchdowns.
• Linebacker Christian Rozeboom collected first-team all-MVFC honors for the third time. He leads the team with 73 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss, to go with two interceptions and a fumble recovery

LAST MEETING

#4/6 South Dakota State 51, Dukes 13 - Aug. 31, 2017

• South Dakota State scored the game's first 34 points, scoring three touchdowns in the opening quarter followed by two scores in the second stanza en route to a 51-13 victory over the Dukes in the 2017 season opener.
• The Jackrabbits, the highest-ranked Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponent Duquesne has ever faced, came into the game fourth in the STATS FCS Top 25 and sixth in the FCS Coaches Poll.
• The Dukes would answer with their first score when quarterback Tommy Stuart connected with junior wide receiver Nehari Crawford on a two-yard touchdown pass with 2:22 to play in the first half.
• After taking the 34-7 advantage into the locker room, SDSU added two more touchdowns to open the second half to push its lead to 48-7.
• Duquesne responded with another Stuart touchdown pass, this time to junior Kareem Coles Jr. over the middle on a 31-yard strike.
• The Jackrabbits closed scoring with a 23-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.
• Stuart completed 14-of-22 passes for 175 yards with a pair of touchdowns and an interception in his Duquesne debut.
• Jake Wieneke, who ended up signing with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent prior to training camp in 2018, caught four touchdown passes for SDSU.
• The Dukes held 6-5, 260-pound tight end Dallas Goedert to two catches in the game. Goedert was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft.