G5 | DUQUESNE vs BRYANT*
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 9  
TIME: 12:00 pm ET
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, Pa. • Arthur J. Rooney Field
TELEVISION: NEC Front Row with Tim Benz (pxp) and Matt Fitzpatrick (analyst)
RADIO: BIG 104.7 FM HD2 / ESPN 970 AM / iHeart Radio with Ray Goss (pxp) and Josh Taylor (analyst)

OPENING KICKOFF
- Duquesne opens the home portion of its Northeast Conference (NEC) slate on Saturday welcoming Bryant to Arthur J. Rooney Field at noon. The Dukes began NEC play last week with a 37-14 triumph at Merrimack to improve to 3-1 on the season. The Bulldogs are coming off a non-conference win at Brown and sport a 3-2 overall mark with a 1-0 ledger in NEC action. 

- Saturday will mark the 14th matchup between the Dukes and the Bulldogs, with Bryant holding an 8-5 advantage in the all-time series. Duquesne claimed a 20-10 win over the Bulldogs on the road last season to cap the regular season with a perfect 4-0 record. 

- Duquesne defensive back Jeremiah Josephs earned NEC Defensive Player of the Week honors after his performance in the Dukes' 37-14 road win at Merrimack. The Pittsburgh native and Gateway graduate recorded a pair of interceptions to pace a DU defense which held the Warriors to a season low in points and total yards. 

- The Dukes are receiving votes in both the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 as well as the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll. 

- Duquesne, led by 17th-year head coach Jerry Schmitt, returns all 22 starters from the spring season including 17 All- NEC selections. 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, '13, '16 and '18 while capturing the outright title in 2015. Duquesne earned the NEC's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs in both 2015 and '18. Over the past 10 seasons, the Dukes have won 44 conference games and 72 overall games, both figures representing league highs. Duquesne has started its NEC slate with a win in 11 of the last 12 seasons.

DUQUESNE NOTABLES
- The Dukes are tied for the national lead in red zone offense, scoring on all 17 trips inside the red zone this season. In addition, Duquesne has limited opponents to score on just 12 of 17 trips inside the red zone. 

- Duquesne also sits 12th in the country in sacks allowed (1.0 sack per game). 

- The Dukes are 13th in the nation in total defense (281.0 yards per game), 14th in the FCS in rushing defense (92.2 yards per game) and 14th in the country with seven 
interceptions. 

- DU running backs Garrett Owens and Billy Lucas have combined for 503 yards on the ground with four rushing touchdowns on the year. Owens paces Duquesne with 60 carries for 276 yards and three total touchdowns while Lucas has tallied 44 rushes ofr 227 yards and three scores. 

- Quarterback Darius Perrantes has completed 44-of-72 pass attempts for 474 yards with five touchdowns compared to just one interception for the Dukes. 

- Eleven different receivers have caught a pass for Duquesne in the first four games of the year. Cyrus Holder has registered eight receptions for a team-high 140 yards and a touchdown while Joey Isabella has hauled in a team-high 12 receptions for 75 yards and a score. 

- Defensive back Spencer DeMedal has been Duquesne's leading tackler with 21 stops (14 solo) on the year to go with an interception. 

- Fellow defensive backs Leandro DeBrito and Jeremiah Josephs have each posted two picks on the season for Duquesne. 

- Defensive lineman Kevin Kurzinger has recorded a team-high two sacks while linebacker Todd Hill has registered 3.5 tackles for loss for the Dukes. 

- Brian Bruzdewicz is a perfect 7-of-7 on field goals on the season while connecting on 7-of-8 PATs. Michael Berarducci is averaging 45.2 yards per punt, currently the top mark in the NEC. 

THE COACHES
Duquesne: Jerry Schmitt (17th season / 105-69)  
- Head coach Jerry Schmitt is in his 17th season at thehelm of the Duquesne program. He became the Dukes'all-time winningest coach in 2019 with a 30-21 victory over Saint Francis U for his 98th win as Duquesne's head
coach. Schmitt passed Greg Gattuso (1993-2004) for the most wins in program history.

- Schmitt posted his 100th win at Duquesne with the Dukes' victory at Wagner last season. He became one of nine active coaches with 100 FCS wins at their current schools.

 - Schmitt currently sits 15th among active FCS head coaches with 133 career wins, recently passing Gattuso who has posted 131 career victories between Duquesne and Albany. 

Bryant: Chris Merrit (3rd season / 9-12)
- Merrit is in his third season with the Bulldogs, leading Bryant to a 4-7 record in 2019 and a 2-2 ledger during the 2021 spring campaign. 

- Merrit has coached eight All-NEC performers in his first two seasons at Bryant, in addition to NEC Defensive Rookie of the Year Chidi Nna last season. 

- Merrit came to Smithfield, R.I. after spending 18 years as the head coach at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Florida. He served as the special teams coordinator and defensive backs coach at Thiel College prior to his time at Columbus and spent two years as an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois University in 1993-94.

LAST TIME OUT 
Duquesne 37, Merrimack - 10/02/21
- Duquesne recorded four interceptions and Garrett Owens hauled in a pair of touchdown receptions to lead the Dukes to a 37-14 road victory over Merrimack in DU's NEC opener last Saturday afternoon at Duane Stadium.

- Duquesne held the Warriors scoreless in the second half, capturing a victory in its first NEC game of the year for the 11th time in the last 12 seasons.

- After falling behind 7-0, Duquesne responded when Cyrus Holder went up and grabbed a three-yard touchdown pass from Darius Perrantes on the first play of the second quarter.

- On the Warriors' next drive, Jeremiah Josephs picked off a pass over the middle from Elliott, returning it to the Warriors' five-yard line. Billy Lucas then took a hand off five yards to pay dirt to give the Dukes the lead for good. 

- Later in the quarter, Josephs recorded his second interception on the day, taking it 62 yards deep inside Merrimack territory to the 10-yard line. Brian Bruzdewicz would put the Dukes ahead by 10 points with a 25-yard field goal with 4:13 showing on the second quarter clock.

- The Warriors minimized the deficit to 17-14, before Perrantes hit Wykeen Gill in the back right corner of the end zone with a five-yard touchdown strike on the Dukes' 
opening march of the third period. 

- After the DU defense forced a Merrimack three-and-out, Garrett Owens hauled in a 33-yard touchdown catch down the sideline from Perrantes to push the Dukes' edge to 30-14.

- Duquesne would record its fourth interception of the afternoon when Jahan Worth picked off an Elliott pass across the middle early in the fourth stanza. Owens then again went up and snagged a touchdown reception from Perrantes over a Merrimack defender, this time from 12 yards out to give Duquesne a 37-14 advantage.

- Owens finished with 129 all-purpose yards and two scores, tallying five receptions for 82 yards to go with 15 carries for 47 yards on the ground.

- Perrantes completed 12-of-20 passes for 126 yards and four touchdowns in the victory. He is the first Duquesne quarterback to throw for four touchdowns since Tommy Stuart threw for five scores in a 51-14 triumph over Robert Morris on Oct. 14, 2017.

- Worth paced the Duquesne defense with seven tackles (six solo) with a tackle for loss and an interception. Josephs registered five tackles (four solo) with a tackle for loss, two interceptions and two more pass breakups, all in the first half of action.

- Duquesne recorded four interceptions in the win for the first time since a 38-0 victory over La Salle on Nov. 4, 2006. Josephs is the first Duke to register two interceptions in a game since Reid Harrison-Ducros had two picks in a 20-6 victory over Sacred Heart on Oct. 19, 2019.

LAST MEETING 
Duquesne 20, Bryant 10 - 03/28/21
- Billy Lucas and Garrett Owens combined for 215 rushing yards with two touchdowns while the Duquesne defense held Bryant to just three points in the final three quarters in a 20-10 Dukes victory.

- Lucas paced the Duquesne ground game with 110 yards on 26 carries with a touchdown, while Owens averaged 7.5 yards per carry with 105 yards on 14 carries with a score. The last time Duquesne had two running backs eclipse 100 yards apiece was the last time the Dukes traveled to Bryant, when Mark Allen tallied 119 yards and A.J. Hines recorded 106 yards on the ground.

- Jahan Worth paced the Dukes' defense with eightt ackles (five solo) on the day. Leandro DeBrito finished with seven solo stops, a tackle for loss and a pass breakup in his home state of Rhode Island.

- Spencer DeMedal finished with seven tackles (five solo) including a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss to go with his second interception of the season. Ryan Webb notched his first interception at Duquesne to go with a three tackles and two pass breakups in the victory.

JOSEPHS NAMED NEC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
-  Jeremiah Josephs garnered NEC Defensive Player of the Week accolades for his performance in the Dukes' 37-14 victory at Merrimack, conference officials announced on Monday afternoon. 

- Josephs helped the Duquesne defense stifle the Warrior offense, which came into the contest leading the conference in scoring and total offense. Josephs and the Dukes held Merrimack under the 300-yard mark for the first time this season.

- The sophomore defensive back picked off two passes and logged a tackle for loss on a three-and-out series for the Warriors. He totaled five tackles and two pass break-ups in addition to the two first-half interceptions.

- Josephs allowed Duquesne to break a 7-7 tie early in the second quarter when he intercepted a third-down pass at the Merrimack 34-yard line and ran it down to the Warrior five-yard line, setting up a Dukes touchdown. The Keystone State product struck again by picking off a pass at the Duquesne 28-yard line and retuning it all the way to the Merrimack 10 with 5:14 remaining in the first half, leading to a DU field goal. He was credited with pass break-ups on each of the two plays prior to his second interception.

DUKES IN THE NEC 
- Duquesne has won a league-high five NEC titles since 2011, earning the conference's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs twice: in 2015 and again in 2018. 

- The Dukes have tallied more overall wins (72) and conference victories (44) than any other team during that span.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS 
- Bryant comes into Saturday's game with a 3-2 overall record on the season and a 1-0 mark in NEC play. The Bulldogs topped Sacred Heart 17-6 in a week two NEC matchup in Smithfield, R.I. 

- Freshman quarterback Zevi Eckhaus was named NEC Offensive Player and Rookie of the Week following his performance in Bryant's 36-29 win over Brown last week. Hecompleted 35-of-49 pass attempts for 335 yards and three touchdowns. 

- The Bulldogs are second in the NEC in scoring offense (24.4 points per game) and second in the conference in rushing defense (133.6 yards per game). 

NEXT UP 
The Dukes have a bye week before heading to Sacred Heart for an NEC road matchup on Saturday, Oct. 23 at noon.