PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne University football team travels to Merrimack College on Saturday for its final regular season game of the year. The winner of the game will earn the Northeast Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I FCS Championship.

THE BASICS 
November 18, 2023 | 12:00 PM | Duane Stadium (North Andover, Mass.)

Duquesne Dukes (6-4, 5-1 NEC) 

• Streak: L1 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

Merrimack Warriors (5-5, 4-2 NEC) 

• Streak: W1 | Roster | Stats | Schedule 

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Duquesne Game Notes |  NEC Weekly Release 

BY THE NUMBERS

OPENING KICKOFF
- Duquesne suffered its first loss in conference play in a game that came down to the wire on Saturday, 33-28, against Stonehill ... After three lead changes in the second half, including two in the final three minutes, Duquesne's game-winning drive attempt in the final 41 seconds was put to a stop and the Skyhawks emerged with the upset.

- The winner of this game will secure the Northeast Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I FCS Championship ... It would be the Dukes third FCS playoff appearance, while Merrimack would grab its first ... Duquesne would also be the outright NEC champion with a win, the second outright NEC title in program history.

- The Dukes have already clinched at least a share of its sixth NEC title with a 5-0 start in league play, the best start since joining the NEC in 2008 ... Duquesne won a back-and-forth, 34-26 game at Wagner, shut out Sacred Heart, 27-0, fended off a late comeback for a 38-35 victory over defending NEC champion Saint Francis, dominated CCSU 44-20, and Brian Bruzdewicz made a game-winning field goal at LIU in the opener, after DU trailed by as many as 14 in the second quarter, to get off to the 5-0 start.

- With securing at least a share of the conference title, Duquesne has now won nine conference championships in the 19 seasons under Coach Jerry Schmitt (MAAC and NEC) ... DU has earned a conference title 17 times since 1995 (29 seasons) ... DU joined the FCS level in 1993 and became a member of a conference (MAAC) in 1994.

- Duquesne is the top-ranked offense in the NEC and Merrimack is the top-ranked defense.

- Merrimack snapped a two-game losing streak last week with a 35-24 win vs. CCSU ... The Warriors are playing for a share of the NEC title in the final regular season game for the second straight season.

THE SERIES
- This is Duquesne's third meeting against Merrimack ... The sides have split 1-1 so far.

- A pair of third quarter touchdowns in the span of 61 seconds propelled Merrimack past Duquesne last year at home ... Then backup quarterback Darius Perrantes led the Dukes on a scoring drive that made the score 28-21 late in the third quarter ... Duquesne was held out of the endzone on its final two possessions to allow Merrimack to earn the victory.

- In the first meeting, Duquesne rolled to a 37-14 win on the road behind four interceptions.

THE COACHES
Duquesne: Jerry Schmitt (19th season / 119-82 at DU)  
- Head coach Jerry Schmitt is in his 19th season at the helm 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 head coach. Schmitt passed Greg Gattuso (1993-2004) for the most wins in program history. Schmitt is one of 12 active coaches with 100+ FCS wins at their current school.

- Schmitt, who recently coached his 200th career game at Duquesne, is the longest tenured coach in the NEC and amongst any of the collegiate or professional football teams in Pittsburgh

Merrimack: Dan Curran (11th season / 53-57 at MC)
 Dan Curran became the fifth head coach of the Merrimack College football program in February of 2013 after spending three seasons as the Warriors' offensive coordinator.

- Curran came to Merrimack after playing eight years of professional football which included time spent with the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints of the National Football League as well as the New Orleans Voodoo and Georgia Force of the Arena Football League ... As a player in the Arena Football League, Curran earned First Team All-League Honors and was named to the All-Ironman Team after leading the league in rushing and becoming just the third player in league history at the time to rush for over 20 touchdowns in a season.

SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
- Merrimack enters off a 35-24 win over Central Connecticut State last week, snapping a two-game losing streak ... The Warriors conference slate features an opening loss to Wagner by three points followed by three straight wins over Sacred Heart (17-7), Stonehill (45-34), and LIU (39-0) ... Saint Francis bested the Warriors in Loretto 28-21 in Week Eight.

- The Warriors NEC-leading defense features the best third-down defense in the country (22.8%), while also ranking fourth in the FCS in passing yards allowed (149.6 per game), and they are atop the NEC in rushing defense at 129.4 yards per game.

- Merrimack's 279.0 yards allowed per game is the third-best in the FCS.

- The Warriors have an NEC-best +7 turnover margin and are second in takeaways with 16.

- On the offensive end, Merrimack is second in the NEC in points per game at 28.1 and feature the second-best rushing attack in the NEC at 191.2 yards pet game.

DUKES IN THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
- The Dukes have enjoyed a great deal of success in NEC play, claiming six conference titles since 2011. Duquesne clinched at least a share of its sixth league crown with a win at Wagner. The Dukes also won in 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2018 while capturing the outright title in 2015. Duquesne earned the NEC's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs in both 2015 and 2018.

- Duquesne is the winningest program in the conference over the past 12 seasons with a league-leading 86 wins and 56 conference wins since 2011.

- Duquesne is 65-41 all-time in NEC contests including a 36-18 mark at home. The Dukes are 22-7 in NEC action at Rooney Field over the last eight seasons.

- Duquesne is the only school that has won six NEC titles since 2011.

PUTTING UP POINTS
- Duquesne leads the conference in scoring offense averaging 29.2 points per game and 33.7 points per game in NEC action ... Duquesne has scored 27 or more points in every conference game.

- The offense also leads the league in total yards (377.3) and passing yards (217.4) per game.

- The 44 points versus Central Connecticut were the most in a conference home opener for the Dukes since joining the NEC ... The 17-points at WVU were the most ever for DU in three games against a Power-Five opponent ... DU's 49 points in the home-opening win was the second-most in the past 12 home openers (56 in win over Virginia Lynchburg in 2021).

- The 49 points and seven touchdowns scored against Edinboro in the season opener are tied for the second most points and tied for most touchdowns in a game this season in the NEC (CCSU - 51 pts / 7 TDs vs. Delaware State on Oct. 7 ... LIU - 49 pts / 7 TDs vs. Wagner on Nov. 11).

THIRTY-POINT TREND
- Duquesne is 5-0 when scoring more than 30 points and 5-0 when holding opponents under 30 points.

STARTING FAST
- Duquesne is 4-0 when leading after the first quarter ... The Dukes have scored first seven times, going 5-2 when doing so, and have tallied points on their first drive of the game four times (3-1).

TOUCHDOWNS THROUGH THE AIR 
- 20 of the 35 offensive touchdowns this season have come through the air (Perrantes - 18 and Robinson - 2), which is the most passing TDs by any NEC team this season.

- The three passing TDs vs. Edinboro, at LIU, vs. CCSU, and vs. Saint Francis are tied for the most in a game this season by an NEC program ... The Dukes have had at least one passing touchdown in every game this season and multiple six times.

- Graduate transfer DJ Powell leads the league and is tied for seventh in the FCS with eight touchdown catches ... He leads all NEC receivers by at least three TD catches.

- Junior transfer Tedy Afful and redshirt sophomore Keshawn Brown are in a four-way tie for second in the NEC with five touchdown catches each ... Brown broke free for an 89-yard catch-and-run touchdown last week for the longest touchdown of the season by the Dukes and longest pass of the season in the NEC.

- Of the six receivers in the conference with 5+ touchdown grabs, Duquesne has three of them.

- Powell and Afful each have caught four in conference play, tied for the second-most in the NEC, while Brown has three of his TDs in league action.

- Afful (at LIU) and Powell (vs. Edinboro / at Sacred Heart) are two of six receivers in the NEC to record multiple touchdown catches in a game this season ... Powell and Merrimack's Donovan Wadley are the only receivers in the league to have multiple TD grabs in multiple games this season.

- Junior quarterback Darius Perrantes leads the NEC with 18 touchdown passes and 2073 passing yards (207.3 per game) ... Perrantes has thrown a TD in seven straight games and nine of the 10 this season, including multiple scores six times and three, three times - the most by an NEC QB this season ... He has 13 career games with multiple passing TDs.

LONGBALL SUCCESS
- The Dukes have been ramping up the longball, which has been a staple of the offense all season ... All nine completions last week were for 10+ yards and four went for over 20 yards.

- DU connected on a season-high seven passes for over 15-yards, four of which for 30+ yards two weeks ago at Wagner ... On the season, DU has completed 51 passes for 15-plus yards this season with multiple in every game so far including six five times ... 14 of the 20 passing touchdowns have been for 15+ yards ... Keshawn Brown scored the longest touchdown of the year for the Dukes with the longest reception in the NEC this week (89 yards) last week.

- Duquesne has had a 45+ yard touchdown pass in six straight games, with the last five being NEC contests, and completed a 50+ yard pass in six straight games with a completion over 35 yards in every game.

- DU ranks second in the FCS in passing yards per completion (17.12), only behind Villanova (17.31) ... The Dukes average the most passing yards per game in the NEC (217.4) ... Duquesne is the only NEC team to have seven 200+ passing-yard games this season and has done so in all every NEC game.

- Darius Perrantes is second in the FCS and leads the NEC in yards per completion at 17.72, only behind Connor Watkins from Villanova (18.04) ... He also leads the NEC in yards per attempt (8.90) - 8th in the FCS - and passing yards (2073 / 207.3) per game).

- Duquesne has three of the top four receivers on the NEC's yards per reception leaderboard, all above 18 yards per catch which ranks top-16 in the FCS ...  DJ Powell (21.52) paces the NEC and is eighth in the FCS,  Tedy Afful (19.32) is second in the conference and ninth nationally, and Keshawn Brown (16.23) is fourth in the league and 16th in the FCS.

- The trio is also top-eight in receiving yards in the league, all with over 400 yards on the season ... Powell paces the NEC with 667 yards and 66.7 per game, Brown is right behind with 606 yards (60.6 / game), and Afful holds the eighth spot at 425 yards (42.5 / game).

- With Brown's 103-yard outing last week, he was the fourth DU receiver to have posted a 100-yard  game this season joining Powell (vs. Wagner), Afful (vs. CCSU), and Joey Isabella (vs. SFU).

WE'LL TAKE THAT
- The Dukes defense has created the most turnovers in the NEC with 17 and has scored four D/ST touchdowns this season, the most since 2016.

- DU dominated in the season opener with five takeaways (3 INTs and 2 fumbles), the most in a game in recorded program history, four of which in the first quarter ... At Wagner, the Dukes had two interceptions (Dayvia Gbor and Khatavian Franks), while also recovering a fumble (Ryan Lopez / forced by Franks) ... DU scored two defensive TDs at Wagner, a pick six by Franks and Lopez scooped and scored the strip sack as time expired.

- The Dukes had back-to-back special team recoveries jumping on a loose ball after a punt at WVU and Coastal, while adding a fumble through the endzone for a touchback in Week Two at WVU ... DU forced two turnovers in the NEC opener at LIU, both inside the red-zone (a first quarter fumble recovery and a fourth quarter interception), then added an INT in the endzone at Delaware by Ayden Garnes ... Tim Lowery picked up two special teams fumbles, returning one for a TD, and Dayvia Gbor had a first-quarter interception in the win over Saint Francis.

- DU has two fumble returns for touchdown this season, prior to Lowery's against SFU the Dukes did not have one since Christian Kuntz, an active member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, scooped and scored versus Sacred Heart on November 12, 2016

- Duquesne has had 11 different players involved in its turnovers ... Gbor (3), Garnes (2),  Franks, Tim Lowery, and Ezekiel M. Daure have INTs ... Tim Lowery (2), Lopez (2), Ty Howard, Nick Leopold, Gbor, and Garnes recovered fumbles ... Gianni Rizzo, Kevin Kurzinger, Jaelen Carson forced the fumbles.

- All three interceptions by Gbor have been in conference play (2nd most in the NEC), while Garnes has an NEC-best 11 pass breakups to go along with two INTs.

FUMBLE FRONT-RUNNERS
- Duquesne leads the NEC and is top-15 in the FCS with nine fumbles recovered ... DU has recovered two fumbles in three separate games, the most multi-fumble recovery games by any NEC team this season ... Tim Lowery's two fumble recoveries are tied for the most by an NEC player this season.

- The Dukes have recovered a fumble in three of the six league games and forced at least one in four of the six ... The DU defense has forced six fumbles in NEC games, four of which were kept by the offense, Ryan Lopez and Noah Palmer have each forced two that stayed with the offense.

- On the offensive side, the Dukes are second in the NEC and 18th in the FCS with 4 fumbles  lost.
 
SACK PARTY
- Duquesne has had 16 different players account for its 24 sacks this season ... Noah Palmer (4.5), Gianni Rizzo (3.5), Ryan Lopez (2.5), and Khatavian Franks (2.0) lead the unit ... CJ Barnes, Jaelen Carson, Dayvia Gbor, Ty Howard, Nick Curci, A.J. Ackerman, Matt Brooks, Kevin Kurzinger, Ayden Garnes, Jack Dunkley, and Jason Patterson all have 1.0, while Jayden Johnson has a half a sack.

- All 4.5 for Palmer have come in NEC play, tied for the most by any player in the league.

- 24 sacks are tied with Merrimack for the most in the NEC, 15 of them have come in conference play, the most in the NEC ... Duquesne has had at least one sack in all but one game (at Coastal).

- The 2022 Dukes totaled 29 sacks, tied for the sixth-most in a season in program history

- Duquesne's offensive line is atop the NEC and 20th in the FCS allowing just 1.2 sacks per game. The Dukes did not allow a sack in the Coastal Carolina nor Sacred Heart games.

CLUTCH ON THIRD DOWN
- Duquesne leads the NEC in third down conversion percentage (39.2%) and is converting at a 42.7% rate in conference play.

NEC WEEKLY HONORS FOR THE DUKES
- Duquesne garnered a major weekly award in four straight weeks (Week 5-8) ... Tim Lowery earned special teams after recovering two fumbles and scoring a TD against Saint Francis, the second SPTOW for DU after Brian Bruzdewicz got the honor in Week Five after the game-winning field goal ... Duquesne running backs grabbed awards in Weeks Five, Six, and Seven.

- Taj Butts was named the NEC Offensive Player of the Week after posting a career-high 118 yards on the ground with three touchdown (two rushing and one receiving) in the win over CCSU ... The three scores are tied for the most of any player in the NEC in a game this season and was the first time a Duke recorded three in a game since A.J. Hines did so in October of 2018.

- Edward Robinson, a freshman running back from Maple Heights, Ohio, was named the NEC Rookie of the Week in back-to-back weeks five and six ... The first Duke to earn back-to-back ROW awards since AJ Hines won six in a row  in 2016 ... Hines went on to win a league record 10 times in his freshman campaign ... Dillon Buechel (QB - 2013) was the only other DU rookie to earn the honor multiple times in a season. 

PLAYER OF THE WEEKS
- Week 5: Special Teams POW - Brian Bruzdewicz / Rookie of the Week - Edward Robinson
- Week 6: Rookie of the Week - Edward Robinson
- Week 7: Offensive Player of the Week - Taj Butts
- Week 8: Special Teams POW - Tim Lowery

PRIME PERFORMERS
- Week 1: DB - Ayden Garnes ... Week 2: QB - Darius Perrantes ... Week 5: QB - Darius Perrantes, WR - Tedy Afful, K - Brian Bruzdewicz ... Week 7: RB - Taj Butts, QB - Darius Perrantes, WR - Tedy Afful ... Week 8: DB - Tim Lowery, QB - Darius Perrantes, WR - Joey Isabella ... Week 9: Edward Robinson ... Week 10: WR - DJ Powell, LB - Khatavian Franks ... Week 11: QB - Darius Perrantes, LB - Gianni Rizzo.

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

- Live coverage links for every Duquesne game can be viewed on the schedule page.

- Dukes Football can be heard live all season on 104.7 HD2, on the iHeart Radio App, or on ESPNpgh.com by searching Duquesne.