► Duquesne is coming off a bye week following a 21-14 win over LIU in the Dukes' NEC opener on Oct. 5.

► Duquesne ranks 13th in the FCS in total defense, limiting opponents to 317.2 yards per game.

► The Dukes were picked to repeat as NEC champions in the conference preseason poll. Duquesne has been selected to finish first or second in the poll for nine straight years.

► All-American running back A.J. Hines returns for his senior season pacing all active FCS players in career rushing yards and touchdowns. Named a preseason All-American by a number of organizations, Hines is one rushing touchdown away from becoming the program's all-time leader. He recently became the third player in program history to eclipse 4,000 career yards.

► Hines is now 132 yards away from passing up Donte Small for second all-time in career rushing yards and 420 yards from catching Larry McCoy - the program's all-time leading rusher and current running backs coach. He ranks ninth among the NEC's all-time leaders in rushing yards.

► Duquesne is 20-5 in NEC games since the start of 2015 with a 9-3 mark in league road contests.


GAME COVERAGE

Watch: ESPN3
Play-by-Play: Paul Dottino
Analyst: Jeff Feagles
Sideline: John Schmeelk

Listen: WJAS 1320 AM / iHeart Radio
Play-by-Play: Alex Panormios
Analyst: Tad Maurey

Live Stats: SHUBigRed.com


THE SERIES

- Saturday is the 15th meeting between the two teams, with Duquesne leading the all-time series 10-4.

- The Dukes are 5-1 against the Pioneers in Fairfield, Conn. and 8-3 vs. Sacred Heart in the NEC era.

- Duquesne has won four straight over the Pioneers.

- A.J. Hines career vs. Sacred Heart: Three games, 387 rushing yards with six rushing touchdowns.

All-time Meetings
12/01/01: Sacred Heart 31, Duquesne 15*
09/13/06: Duquesne 24, Sacred Heart 21
09/22/07: Duquesne 30, Sacred Heart 23 (OT)
10/25/08: Sacred Heart 29, Duquesne 17+
11/14/09: Duquesne 45, Sacred Heart 42+
10/16/10: Duquesne 37, Sacred Heart 17+
11/12/11: Duquesne 29, Sacred Heart 15+
10/20/12: Duquesne 35, Sacred Heart 3+
11/09/13: Sacred Heart 10, Duquesne 0+
10/18/14: Sacred Heart 23, Duquesne 20+
11/07/15: Duquesne 41, Sacred Heart 14+
11/12/16: Duquesne 31, Sacred Heart 10+
10/28/17: Duquesne 37, Sacred Heart 21+
11/10/18: Duquesne 28, Sacred Heart 24+

At Fairfield: DU leads 5-1
At Pittsburgh: DU leads 5-3
+ - NEC: DU leads 8-3
* - ECAC Classic


SCOUTING SACRED HEART
-After dropping the season opener at then-No. 7 Maine, the Pioneers won three in a row over Bucknell, Lafayette and the NEC opener against LIU. Sacred Heart then dropped two straight to CCSU and Penn.

- The Pioneers won a share of their fourth NEC title in 2018, finishing at 5-1 in league play with their lone loss coming on The Bluff.

- Freshman wide receiver Tyrese Chambers has earned NEC Rookie of the Week honors four times in 2019. The Baltimore native paces the NEC at 93.8 receiving yards per game.

- Running back Julius Chestnut leads the conference in rushing, averaging 114.8 yards per contest.

- Quarterback Logan Marchi is in his first season with the Pioneers as a graduate transfer from East Tennessee State. He also spent three seasons at Temple. Marchi leads the league in passing yardage (271.3 ypg).

- While the Pioneers have the leading passer, rusher and receiver in the NEC, they also rank ninth in the conference in total defense, as opponents are

averaging 457.3 yards per contest against Sacred Heart.

- Head coach Mark Nofri is in his eighth season at the helm, helping the Pioneers to at least a share of three NEC titles in that time.

LAST TIME OUT
Duquesne 21, LIU 14

- A.J. Hines returned to the Duquesne lineup in a big way, tallying 140 yards on the ground with a touchdown while the Dukes' defense forced three turnovers in a 21-14 victory over LIU in the NEC opener at Arthur J. Rooney Field.

- After missing the Dayton and New Hampshire games, Hines toted the ball 32 times and posted his 22nd career 100-yard rushing performance in helping Duquesne secure the win in the first league matchup of the season.

- In addition, he became the third Dukes player to reach the 4,000-yard rushing mark in the triumph.

- Daivon Ellison finished with a pair of interceptions and a fumble recovery to go with four tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss on the day for the DU defense.

- With his 41st career rushing touchdown in the win, Hines tied Pedro Bowman (1981-84) for the most in program history. He also joined Larry McCoy (4,549 yards / 2009-12) and Donte Small (4,260 yards / 1998-01) as the only players in program history to rush for 4,000 career yards.

- Mason Williams, Spencer DeMedal, Brendan Thompson and Todd Hill all led Duquesne with seven tackles apiece. Hill - making his first career start – finished with four solo tackles, 1.5 sacks for a total of 15 yards and the forced fumble.

- Duquesne improved to 20-5 in NEC play since the start of the 2015 season including an 11-2 mark at Rooney Field.

- Daivon Ellison is the first Duke to record a pair of interceptions in the same game since Trenton Coles vs CCSU on Oct. 3, 2015. These were his first interceptions at Duquesne and the first for the Syracuse transfer since he had a pick on Sept. 9, 2016 against Louisville off future Heisman trophy winner and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

- Jacob Gill's 45-yard field goal to end the first half was the longest field goal by a Duquesne kicker since Austin Crimmins hit a 45-yarder in a win at Jacksonville on Oct. 1, 2016.

LAST MEETING (11.10.18)
Duquesne 28, Sacred Heart 24

- Duquesne handed first-place Sacred Heart its first NEC defeat of the season with a 28-24 victory at Rooney Field.

- The Dukes celebrated senior day with their fourth straight triumph, moving into a three-way tie for first place in the NEC. This set up a pivotal matchup the next week on the road at Central Connecticut State, in which Duquesne eventually claimed its fifth NEC title.

- A.J. Hines rushed for 213 yards on 31 carries with a touchdown, his fourth consecutive game with over 200 yards from scrimmage.

- Duquesne jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead, but the Pioneers clawed back to shrink the deficit to 28-24in the fourth quarter.

- Sacred Heart had possession with three minutes remaining to potentially take the lead following a DU turnover, but the Duquesne defense came up with two tackles for loss and forced two incompletions to seal the victory.

- Kellon Taylor finished with five receptions for a career-high 86 yards and a touchdown.

- Jassir Jordan totaled 127 yards on three kick returns for the Dukes.


QUICK HITS
- The Dukes are 20-5 in NEC action since the beginning of the 2015 campaign, including an 11-2 mark at Rooney Field. Duquesne has won three out of the last four NEC titles in that span with a pair of NCAA Playoff appearances.

- DU has recorded 62 wins since 2011, at least eight more victories than any other NEC team. In addition, the Dukes' 36 conference wins in that time span are the most in the league.

- Duquesne was just seven points away from making four straight FCS Playoff appearances after a 14-10 loss at eventual NEC champion Saint Francis U in 2016 and dropping a 28-27 decision to CCSU at Rooney Field in 2017.

- Duquesne ranks 13th in the FCS in total defense (317.2 ypg) and 14th in the country in pass defense (175.4 ypg) on the year. The Dukes are also 13th in the country in team sacks, averaging 2.8 per contest.

- DU is second in the conference in scoring defense (21.0 ppg), total defense (317.2 ypg) and passing defense (175.4 ypg). The Dukes also limit opponents to an average of 16.8 first downs per game, tops in the conference.

- The Dukes are the top third-down conversion team in the NEC, converting on 42.6 pct of attempts (26-of-61). Duquesne also averages just 48.2 penalty yards per game, the top figure in the league.

- Duquesne sports the top red zone offense in the conference, scoring on 15-of-18 trips.

- Mark Allen is second in the NEC and ranks 15th in the FCS in all-purpose yardage at 144.8 yards per game while Jassir Jordan leads the conference and is 12th in the country in kickoff return yardage at 28.2 yards per return.

- Both Kellon Taylor and Kareem Coles Jr. hauled in touchdown receptions in the win at Dayton, representing each of their first touchdown grabs of the season.

- In fact, it was Coles Jr.'s first touchdown catch since Sept. 30, 2017 when he tallied a pair of touchdown receptions from quarterback Tommy Stuart. Coles Jr. was tied for the team lead for receiving touchdowns with Nehari Crawford following that game, but missed the rest of the season due to injury. Crawford went on to lead the FCS in touchdown receptions.

- Coles Jr. has a team-high 212 receiving yards on the year with two touchdown catches while Taylor has grabbed a team-high 21 receptions on the season.

- Daniel Parr was extremely efficient for the Dukes in the 35-31 triumph at Dayton, completing 18-of-22 (81.8 pct.) pass attempts with two touchdowns and no picks. This completion percentage ranks third in a single game in program history.

- Brendan Thompson leads the Duquesne defense with 31 tackles, including a team-high 4.5 TFL. Spencer DeMedal has compiled a team-high 20 solo stops while Chris Favoroso has 24 tackles and a team-high 3.5 sacks on the season.

- The Dukes have had six number of different players lead them in tackles through the first five games of the year:

Walsh: Brendan Thompson (8 tkl, 8 solo, 2 TFL)
YSU: Chris Favoroso (10 tkl, 6 solo, sack)
Dayton: Spencer DeMedal (10 tkl, 4 solo, TFL)
UNH: Brendan Thompson (8 tkl, 3 solo, TFL)
LIU: Spencer DeMedal (7 tkl, 6 solo, .5 TFL)
Todd Hill (7 tkl, 4 solo, 1.5 sacks)
Brendan Thompson (7 tkl, 4 solo 1.5 TFL)
Mason Williams (7 tkl, 3 solo, .5 TFL)

- Head coach Jerry Schmitt returns for his 15th season at the helm of the DU program and 20th overall as a head coach. He has tallied 95 wins at Duquesne, just two victories away from tying Greg Gattuso, the school's all-time winningest coach.

- Schmitt served as offensive coordinator under Gattuso for seven seasons, helping the Dukes post a record of 53-21 before accepting the head coaching position at his alma mater Westminster in March of 2000.