MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - When a weather delay hit Milan Puskar Stadium in the middle of the second quarter, the Duquesne Dukes found themselves down by just four points to FBS, Power-Five opponent West Virginia. However, after the storm subsided in the sky, West Virginia snatched the momentum from the Dukes' grasp and ran away with a 56-17 victory.

The Dukes started the game with the ball but had to punt right away. On the punt, they were given a gift from West Virginia's Jacolby Spells, as he touched the ball on the bounce and Nick Leopold recovered for Duquesne. They would take advantage of that immediately, as Darius Perrantes unleashed a deep ball to DJ Powell for a 38-yard touchdown reception to give Duquesne a 7-0 lead just 2:59 into the game.  

West Virginia responded quickly with a touchdown drive of their own. Jaylen Anderson got 15 yards on a 3rd-and-long, which was the backbreaker for the Dukes defense. Two plays later, Hudson Clement would score his first of three touchdowns with a 14-yard touchdown snag from QB Garrett Greene.  

As the Dukes started to drive again towards the end of the first, Perrantes tried to air it out once more for Powell. Mountaineers senior cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. came up with a tough interception just inside the 10-yard line and that ended the scoring chance.  

West Virginia then rode the momentum wave of that interception with a big-time pass to Hudson Clement for 39 yards into Duquesne territory. Later, Jaylen Anderson finished off the drive with an eight-yard touchdown run to give his side a 14-7 lead.  

Duquesne fought right back, as Perrantes and Powell hooked up for another big play. This was a 34-yard catch and run to the 27 in West Virginia territory. When they got down to the five, they broke through as Tedy Afful caught a five-yard touchdown pass. However, it was taken back due to an offensive pass interference call. They would settle for a 39-yard field goal from Brian Bruzdewicz to make it 14-10. After that kick went through the uprights, the teams were sent to the locker rooms for a weather delay.  

The weather delay lasted an hour and 54 minutes, Hudson Clement picked right back where he left off. He took a pass from Greene 70 yards to the house to stretch the lead to 11. With another touchdown from Clement and Preston Fox at the 3:57 mark and a field goal in the final minute, Duquesne found themselves down 35-10 at the break. However, due to the lengthy delay, there was no halftime.

In the third quarter, Duquesne was able to break even score wise with the Mountaineers. Jahiem White scored the touchdown for West Virginia with a 19-yard scamper to the endzone. Duquesne responded strongly after, as Afful broke free for a 45-yard catch-and-run into Mountaineer territory, a career-long reception. It was fitting to see him finish the drive off with a 16-yard touchdown catch from Perrantes to make it 42-17 and cap off the longest scoring drive of the night for DU (7 plays, 75 yards). This was Afful's first touchdown catch as a Duke.  

WVU added two scores in the final 15 minutes taking the final to 56-17.

Next week, the Dukes will take on another FBS opponent as they head out to Conway, SC to face Coastal Carolina on Saturday at 7 PM.  

GAME NOTES

• First time Duquesne has put up more than one score against a Power-Five school (Third Power-Five opponent in program history) ... 234 yards of total offense was the most for DU in its three all-time FBS, Power-Five meetings.
• Tedy Afful's four catches for 83 yards were career highs for him while also leading the Dukes receiving core. His 45-yard reception was also his longest catch in his collegiate career. He also followed that catch up with 16-yard score.
• Duquesne had seven receivers account for 11 catches totaling 231 yards through the air.
• DJ Powell totaled three receptions for 75 yards and a score ... Powell now has a team-high three touchdowns.
• Darius Perrantes finished the game 14-for-31 for 220 yards with two touchdowns and two INTs. Matt Robinson saw late game action and completed his only pass for 11 yards.
• Antonio Epps recorded a game and career-high 10 tackles to lead the defense. Luke Harris (8) and Dayvia Gbor (7) each set career-highs in tackles as well.
• The attendance of 50,037 was the second largest crowd Duquesne has ever played in front of.
• Duquesne is now 1-7 versus FBS opponents and 0-3 against Power-Five foes.
• The meeting was 10th in program history against WVU and first since 1935 ... WVU now leads 5-3-2.

Head Coach Jerry Schmitt


Quarterback Darius Perrantes & Defensive Back Antonio Epps


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