OPENING KICK OFF

• The Dukes open the 2018 campaign on the road at FBS Massachusetts on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Duquesne is coming off a 7-4 showing in 2017 with a 4-2 mark in Northeast Conference play.
• The Aug. 25 "Week 0" matchup represents the earliest game in program history for the Dukes.
• The game against the Minutemen marks Duquesne's second contest vs. an FBS opponent. The Dukes took on Buffalo on Aug. 30, 2014. In that game, the Dukes led 28-24 with under 10 minutes left before the Bulls scored a pair of late touchdowns to pull out a 38-28 win.
• With a 5:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, the Duquesne-UMass matchup is the first game of the NCAA Division I football season (FBS or FCS). There are three other games slated to kick off after the Dukes and Minutemen take the field.
• Duquesne, which has captured four NEC championships since 2011, returns five All-NEC performers, including RB A.J. Hines, WR Nehari Crawford, OL Alex Conley and Matt Fitzpatrick as well as DB Jonathant Istache.

QUICK HITS

• Duquesne returns 11 starters from last year's team which posted a 7-4 overall mark and a 4-2 ledger in Northeast Conference play.
• The Dukes put together a seven-game winning streak in 2017, their most victories in a row since posting 11 straight wins to open the 2002 season.
• DU has recorded 50 wins since 2011, at least eight more victories than any other NEC team. In addition, the Dukes' 30 conference wins in that time span are the most in the league. Duquesne has registered at least seven total victories in three straight seasons and five of the last seven years.
• The Dukes are 35-19 in NEC play over the past eight seasons with four conference championships (2011-co, 2013-co, 2015 and 2016-co). DU went 4-11 in its first two years in the league while making the transition to a scholarship model.
• The Dukes are 14-4 in NEC action over the past three seasons with a pair of conference titles (outright champions in 2015 and co-champions with Saint Francis U in 2016). DU started 4-0 in conference play in 2017 for the first time in the NEC era and the first time overall since 2005.
• Duquesne is 35-26 in non-conference games under 14th-year head coach Jerry Schmitt including a 23-3 ledger at home. The Dukes own wins over Robert Morris (three victories prior to joining the NEC), Dayton (seven times), Bucknell (four times), Albany (once as a member of the CAA) and Monmouth (as an FCS Independent).
• For the first time in program history, the Dukes will face two FBS opponents in the same season in 2018. Duquesne will travel to both Massachusetts to open the season on Aug. 25 and Hawaii for a Sept. 22 matchup. These are both first-time opponents for DU and represent the second and third games, respectively, against FBS teams for the Dukes. Duquesne took on Buffalo to open the 2014 season.

THE SERIES

• This is the first meeting between the two schools.

SCOUTING UMASS

• The Minutemen posted a 4-8 record last season, starting the season 0-6 before winning four of their final six contests. The four wins represented the most for UMass since joining the FBS level.
• The Minutemen return their leading passer (Andrew Ford), rusher (Marquis Young), receiver (Andy Isabella) and tackler (Bryton Barr) from last season.
• UMass has competed as an FBS Independent since 2016 after playing in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) from 2012-16. Prior to moving to the FBS level, the Minutemen were members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) from 2007-11.
• Mark Whipple enters his 11th season as head coach at UMass. He first served as the Minutemen's head coach from 1998-03 before returning in 2014. Whipple worked as the quarterbacks coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2004-06 and was instrumental in the development of Ben Roethlisberger. He helped UMass win the 1998 NCAA I-AA National Championship.

• Watch Saturday's game via UMassAthletics.com produced by Eleven Sports by clicking HERE.
• Listen to Alex Panormios (play-by-play) and Tad Maurey (analyst) on WJAS 1320, the iHeartRadio app or by clicking HERE.

HINES RUSHES INTO YEAR THREE

• Running back A.J. Hines (Wilson, N.C./Fike) returns for his junior campaign at Duquesne having compiled 2,329 career rushing yards with 23 touchdowns in two seasons with the Dukes. As a sophomore, the former Jerry Rice Award winner finished with 1,038 yards with 10 rushing touchdowns in 10 games played.
• The Wilson, N.C. native is already eighth all-time among the Dukes' leaders in career rushing yards. Hines has tallied 13 100-yard rushing games in his career, good for fourth in school history.
• His 253 rushing yards on 25 carries at Liberty in 2017 rank fourth all-time in a single game in program history.

CRAWFORD SET TO LEAD RECEIVING CORPS

• Senior wide receiver Nehari Crawford (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Central) enjoyed a breakout year in 2017 in which he led the FCS in receiving touchdowns at the end of the regular season with 15. The Florida native will look to replicate that production in his final season on the Bluff.
• Crawford recorded 65 catches for 1,026 yards, averaging a league-high 93.3 receiving yards per contest. He registered five 100-yard receiving games and six games with multiple touchdowns. Crawford had career highs of 10 receptions and 167 yards with a pair of scores against CCSU, one of his five games with at least six catches for 100 yards and two scores.
• In addition to being the Dukes' leading receiver, he also held special teams duties as a returner, tallying eight kick returns for 115 yards and nine punt returns for a total of 57 yards.

DU LOOKS FOR NEW SIGNAL CALLER

• For the second straight season, the Dukes enter the year looking to replace their
• signal-caller from the previous campaign. Head coach Jerry Schmitt and offensive coordinator Anthony Doria will look to junior Brett Brumbaugh, Florida Atlantic junior transfer Daniel Parr and freshman Alex Smith to fill the void.
• Brumbaugh appeared in six games last season, completing three passes for 44 yards. A former local high school standout, he graduated as Pennsylvania's all-time leading passer with 11,084 career passing yards at South Fayette.
• Parr was 58-of-111 with four touchdowns in two seasons at FAU. He started the first three games of the 2017 season against Navy, Wisconsin and Bethune-Cookman while appearing in eight games total. Parr also played against DU wide receiver Nehari Crawford in high school in Florida.
• In 2017, graduate transfer quarterback Tommy Stuart became the first Duquesne player to garner NEC Offensive Player of the Year accolades after a standout lone season with the Dukes. The Boise State transfer replaced four-year starter Dillon Buechel, who finished his career as the NEC's all-time passing leader.

• Duquesne University Athletics coaches shows will make the move from radio to television in 2018-19, through an agreement with AT&T SportsNet announced earlier this week.
• The season kicks off with the first Jerry Schmitt Show on Thursday, August 23 - two days before the Dukes' opener at Massachusetts. Additional football shows are scheduled to air on August 30; Sept. 6, 13 & 27; Oct. 4, 11 & 18 and Nov. 8 & 15, all of which fall on Thursdays.
• The shows, which will be hosted by Pittsburgh Tribune Review columnist and Steelers Radio Network host Tim Benz, will be presented by UMPC and Red Ring Bar & Grille.

EXTRA POINT - OFFENSE

• The Dukes have boasted one of the top offenses in the NEC in recent years, pacing the league in scoring in each of the last three seasons. Duquesne averaged a league-best 32.2 points per game in 2017, 31.2 in 2016 and 30.7 in 2015.
• In addition, DU led the NEC in rushing offense in 2017 (198.5 ypg) and finished second in total offense in 2017 (421.2) after pacing the league in both 2015 (419.0) and '16 (429.0).

EXTRA POINT - DEFENSE

• Duquesne closed out the 2017 campaign second in the conference in both scoring defense (23.8 ppg) and rushing defense (141.5 ypg). The Dukes held four opponents under 100 yards rushing and six teams under 200 yards passing last season.

FBS INFLUENCE

• Duquesne has 13 Football Bowl Subdivision players on the roster heading into the 2018 campaign.
• This includes: Brandon Stanback (Buffalo), Daquan Worley (Penn State), Dominic Thieman (Illinois), Harvey Clayton Jr. (Illinois), Daniel Parr (FAU), Kareem Coles Jr. (Idaho), Brett Zanotto (Maryland), Reid Harrison-Ducros (Boise State), Bryan Glover (Eastern Michigan), Logan DeBoer (NC State), Wyatt Santos (Louisiana Tech), Kam Carter (Pittsburgh), Daivon Ellison (Syracuse).

DUKES VS. THE FBS

• DU is set to battle a pair of FBS teams in 2018 at UMass and Hawaii, becoming just the second NEC team face two FBS opponents in the same season (Wagner in 2015 & '16).
• The game at UMass will be the Dukes' second against an FBS opponent after facing off with Buffalo in 2014.
• Teams from the NEC are slated to play four games against FBS opponents in 2018 which represents the most ever for the league.
• The NEC is 0-11 all-time against FBS opponents. UMass is 1-0 as an FBS team vs. current NEC teams after a 34-10 win over Wagner in 2016. Hawaii has never faced a team from the NEC.
• Nine FCS teams defeated FBS teams in 2017 after the FCS claimed ten wins in 2016.

NEC PRESEASON COACHES POLL / ALL-NEC TEAMS

• The Northeast Conference released its 2018 preseason coaches poll and All-NEC teams on Tuesday, July 24 at the fourth annual #NECFB Social Media Day at MetLife Stadium. Duquesne was picked to finish second in the poll while five Dukes were selected to the preseason all-conference squad.
• This marks the eighth-straight year in which Duquesne has been selected first or second in the NEC's preseason coaches poll.
• DU's five honorees on the preseason All-NEC squad are senior wide receiver Nehari Crawford, senior offensive linemen Alex Conley and Matt Fitzpatrick, senior defensive back Jonathant Istache and junior running back A.J. Hines.

• The Dukes play the first of three consecutive home games at Arthur J. Rooney Field on Saturday, Sept. 1 hosting Lock Haven at 2 p.m. ET.
• Purchase single-game or individual game Duquesne football tickets by clicking HERE. For more information regarding tickets, call the Duquesne ticket office at 412-232-DUKE (3853).