PITTSBURGH – The Duquesne University football team scored early and often rolling to a 44-20 victory over Central Connecticut State in Northeast Conference action at Rooney Field on Saturday.  

The Dukes improve to 2-0 in league play for the fourth time in the past five years and are the lone remaining unbeaten team in NEC action. 

Duquesne, playing its first home game since September 2, came out firing with 20 first-quarter points and never looked back. DU scored on all three of its first quarter drives and found the endzone four out of six times in the first half. 

After Taj Butts ran in for his second touchdown of the day to go up 14-3 at the 5:39 mark in the first quarter, Duquesne never relinquished a double-digit lead and led by as many as 28 (41-13) late in the third. 

The Dukes offense had its best day of the season so far, accounting for 513 yards, meanwhile the defense held CCSU to just 201. 

An even balance of rushing and passing lifted DU to victory. Butts (118) and JaMario Clements (101) both reached the century mark on the ground with career-highs. Butts scored a career-most three times, all in the first half, to kickstart the Dukes powerful offensive day. Clements added a 26-yard romp across the goal line in the third quarter to push the lead to the largest of the day (41-13). It was the first time two Dukes rushed for 100+ yards in the same game since Nov. 20, 2021 at Wagner. 

Quarterback Darius Perrantes finished 15-of-24 for 265 yards, a season-high, and three touchdowns. One of the nation's leaders in yards per completion, Perrantes utilized the longball again today completing six passes for 20+ yards, five of which for 30+ including a long of 50 yards to Tedy Afful in the first quarter.  

Afful paced the receivers with five catches for 135 yards and a touchdown, all in the first half, for his first career 100+ yard game and most by a Duke receiver this season. Afful was on the receiving end of three of the six deep ball completions with 33-, 35-, and 50-yard snags. 

DJ Powell and Keshawn Brown each hauled in three catches. Powell, who totaled 61 yards on the day, capped off the opening drive of the second half with an incredible touchdown grab right over top of the CCSU cornerback to extend his NEC lead to five touchdown catches on the season. Brown added 54 yards through the air. Both had 30+ yard catches as well. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

After a three-and-out by the defense on the opening possession, the Dukes started at midfield and went right down the field in five plays. Facing the first third down of the day, Perrantes found Afful for 33 yards getting the Red and Blue down to the 12-yard line. Butts rolled out after a play action and caught a Perrantes pass in the endzone for the games first score less than five minutes in. 

The Blue Devils answered with three points, but just two plays later DU was back on the board to take its first double-digit lead. A 50-yard strike from Perrantes to Afful set up a 15-yard rushing score by Butts. 

Duquesne kept rolling with a 70-yard touchdown drive extending the lead to 20-3 near the end of the first quarter. Perrantes to Afful were back at it connecting on back-to-back passes for 35 yards then a 13-yard score to finish the drive. 

After getting stopped for the first time in the game on an interception near the goal line on a third-and-22 heave, the Dukes got right back to work with Butts rattling off a career-long 58-yard touchdown run for his third score of the half putting DU ahead 27-3 at the 6:10 mark in the second quarter. 

A late first-half drive for Duquesne nearing the redzone got stymied by penalties, but the Dukes came out of the break and picked up right where they left off. Perrantes led a 10-play, 73-yard drive, the longest of the day, over the opening five minutes to take the lead to 24. Powell's tough catch over top of his defender finished the drive on a third-and-goal from the five. 

Clements got in on the scoring frenzy with a 26-yard TD run, his longest of his career, with 19 seconds left in the third quarter, then Brian Bruzdewicz drained a 26 yard field goal to round out the scoring with five minutes to play, capping off a fourth-quarter drive that took up nearly six minutes of game time for the Dukes. 

NOTES 

• The Dukes defense held CCSU to 74 yards rushing, one week after the Blue Devils ran for 498 in a win over Delaware State last week. 

• Jayden Johnson, Jaelen Carson, Antonio Epps, and Alex Reese III had five tackles apiece to lead the defense. 

• DU had 11 TFLs and two sacks … Carlos Ramirez had two TFLs for a team lead, while Ryan Lopez (1.0), Jason Patterson (0.5), and Ayden Garnes (0.5) all were in on the sacks. 

• Butts is the first Duquesne player to score three touchdowns in a game since A.J. Hines scored three vs. Robert Morris on October 13, 2018. 

• The Dukes improve to 9-7 against CCSU all-time and 5-3 at Rooney Field. 

• DU extended its streak of scoring 20+ points in every conference home opener for the 16th consecutive season ... The 44 points were the most points scored in an NEC home opener for Duquesne, beating a 39-34 win over Bryant in 2021.

• Duquesne is now 13-3 in NEC home openers since joining the league in 2008. 

• It is the first time since 2004 that the Dukes have scored 40+ points in each of their first two home games of the season. 

POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
Head Coach Jerry Schmitt

Taj Butts & Tedy Afful

 

UP NEXT 

• Duquesne will be back home next Saturday to take on Saint Francis. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 pm, as the Dukes celebrate Homecoming and Family Weekend on campus. 

FOLLOW THE DUKES
Follow Duquesne football online all season at GoDuquesne.com, as well as on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (@DuqFB).