PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne University football team will begin a four-game road trip, including two straight FBS matchups, with a short drive down to Morgantown, W.Va. to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers.
 

THE BASICS 

September 9, 2023 | 6:00 PM | Milan Puskar Stadium (Morgantown, W.Va.)

Duquesne Dukes (1-0, 0-0 NEC) 

• Roster | Stats | Schedule 

West Virginia Mountaineers (0-1, 0-0 Big 12) 

• Roster | Stats | Schedule 

Watch Live on ESPN+/Big 12 Now  |  Follow Live Stats  |  Listen Live on 104.7 HD2

Gameday Central  |  Duquesne Game Notes  |  WVU Game Notes

OPENING KICKOFF
- Duquesne enters the matchup coming off a 49-7 blowout victory in the season opener on Saturday at Rooney Field over Division II Edinboro. The Dukes forced five turnovers, four of which in the first quarter, rolling to their 16th straight home-opening win.

- West Virginia will be playing its home opener for the 2023 season after dropping a 38-15 decision at No. 7 Penn State on Saturday ... The Mountaineers are 23-0 against FCS schools.

- WVU is the eighth FBS opponent for the Dukes since joining the FCS level in 1993.

- Duquesne is 1-6 all-time versus FBS programs ... The win came at Ohio, 28-26 in 2021.

- Duquesne is the only team from the Northeast Conference (NEC) to ever beat an FBS opponent ... The NEC has 10 FBS matchups this season ... Saint Francis and LIU already suffered FBS losses this season, moving the conference record to 1-38.

- Duquesne is one of three NEC teams (Wagner and LIU) to play two FBS games this season and one of two playing a Big 12 opponent (LIU at Baylor next Saturday).

- The Dukes are scheduled to take on two Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents in the same season for the fifth time in the last six years. 

- Duquesne took on UMass and Hawaii to start the 2018 season. The Dukes were slated to travel to Air Force and Coastal Carolina in 2020, but the fall season was postponed. In 2021, DU traveled to both TCU and Ohio, then last season the Dukes took on Florida State and Hawaii on the road. This season, a trip to Coastal Carolina will follow Saturday's game at WVU.

- The Morgantown road trip is the second game against a Big 12 opponent in three seasons for the Dukes. Duquesne is 5-8-1 against current Big 12 members, with its last meeting being a 45-3 loss at TCU in 2021. The Dukes took on Texas Tech (1-2), Kansas State (1-1), and WVU (3-4-1) in games spanning the 1897-1939 seasons.

- The last road trip to a Big 12 opponent was the largest crowd Duquesne ever played in front of to date (35,377 at TCU on Sept. 4, 2021). Last season's road trip to Florida State to begin the 2022 season upped the largest crowd to 51,207.

- DU's season opener versus Edinboro was the first time it opened the season at home since the abbreviated, conference-only spring 2020-21 season (a 30-27 win over Sacred Heart). The last full season to start at Rooney Field was 2019 (a 44-3 win over Walsh). Duquesne has opened the season with a home game just three times in the past 11 full seasons (2019 vs. Walsh, 2015 vs. Kentucky Christian (W, 47-7), and 2013 vs. Albany (W, 35-24).

THE DUKES
- On the heals of a dominating 49-7 victory, Duquesne will look to go 2-0 for the first time to start a full season since 2015.

- Duquesne's defense dominated in the season opener with five takeaways (3 INTs and 2 fumbles), four of which in the first quarter

- It was the first time in recorded program history that the Dukes defense charted five takeaways in a single game.

- Duquesne is tied with Kennesaw State atop the FCS ranks with a +5-turnover margin.

- The Dukes' three interceptions in Week 1 are tied for the fourth-most in the FCS ... Eastern Illinois, Kennesaw State, and Furman all have four picks. 

- Ayden Garnes' 27-yard pick-six on the second play of the season was the quickest touchdown to start a season in recorded history and the fastest score for the Dukes to begin a season since Aaron Reed recorded a 13-yard safety on the first play from scrimmage in the 2013 season opener versus Albany at Rooney Field ... Garnes was named an NEC Top Performer for Week 1 ... He added a pass breakup, two tackles and half a TFL to his early pick six, as DU held the Fighting Scots to just 170 yards of total offense and a 1-for-13 effort on third downs.

- Duquesne held Edinboro to 1-of-13 on third downs in the season opener ... The 7.7% opponent success rate is the best defensive mark in the FCS after Week 1.

- Duquesne had six sacks in the season opener by six different players (Nick Curci, Kevin Kurzinger, Jack Dunkley, Gianni Rizzo, Ty Howard, and Dayvia Gbor).

- Six sacks in Week One is the second most in the FCS, behind only Cal Poly (7.0).

- Three quarterbacks played in the opener. Darius Perrantes accounted for three touchdowns (two passing and one rushing) lifting the Dukes to a 35-0 halftime lead ... In the second half, Matt Robinson led a touchdown drive capped off with a 4-yard pass, and Jordan Heisey ran in the Dukes final score of the afternoon from 2-yards out.

- DJ Powell and Keshawn Brown headlined a wide receiver group that had six different players account for 10 catches ... Powell snagged two tough touchdown catches in the back of the endzone and had a team-high three grabs for 57 yards ... Brown had two big catches totaling a team-leading 71 yards including the first receiving touchdown of the season for DU.

- Four running backs saw action in the season opener, as Duquesne racked up 238 yards on the ground. Taj Butts led the squad with 108 yards on 10 carries, while JaMario Clements had seven touches for 47 yards and a touchdown, Edward Robinson, a freshman, had six carries for 43 yards, and Malik Thomas took the ball four times for 30 yards.

- Center Michael Dorundo and nose tackle A.J. Ackerman extended their starting streaks to 27 straight games on the offensive and defensive lines, the longest active streaks for Duquesne.

- Sophomore LB Ty Howard had five tackles, 1.5 TFL, 1.0 sacks, and 1 fumble recovery to lead 33 players on the defense that recorded a tackle. Six different Dukes recorded the six sacks and nine had at least half a TFL, led by Kevin Kurzinger with 2.0.

- On back-to-back possessions the Dukes forced fumbles and recovered them. Gianni Rizzo stripped the Boro quarterback first and Ryan Lopez jumped on it, then the next time out for the DU defense Kevin Kurzinger caused a fumble with a sack of the quarterback and Ty Howard pounced on it. Duquesne scored the following play after the Howard recovery on a 33-yard pass.

- Ayden Garnes and Ezekiel Daure, who both had two interceptions in 2022 to tie for the team lead, snagged one INT each in the 2023 season opener ... Garnes took it back 27 yards to the house for his first career touchdown on the second play of the game, while Daure returned an early fourth quarter interception 42 yards before being run out of bounds inside the Boro red zone.

- Tim Lowery made his return from a season-ending injury in 2022 (at Hawaii) felt right away, as he grabbed an interception less than five minutes into the game. In his last full season (2021), Lowery lead the team with six passes defended (five break ups/one INT).

THE MOUNTAINEERS
- West Virginia will look to bounce back from a 38-15 loss at No. 7 Penn State in the season opener ... WVU tied the game at 7 in the second quarter, but four straight PSU scores (three TDs and one FG) gave the Nittany Lions a lead they would never give up ... The Mountaineers scored a fourth-quarter touchdown, but couldn't recover the ensuing on-side kick and PSU added an insurance score to finish off the game ... WVU was outgained 478-308 in the opener while running two more plays than the Nittany Lions.

- Garrett Greene went 16-for-27 for 162 yards and was sacked twice as the season-opening starter for West Virginia at QB.

- CJ Donaldson (18 carries / 81 yds) and Garrett Greene (15 carries / 71 yds) split the running duties and each scored a touchdown.

- Devin Carter was the go-to receiver grabbing six receptions for 90 yards, as eight players accounted for 16 catches for WVU.

- Lee Kpogba led the Mountaineers defense with 13 tackles and 1.5 TFLs ... Tomiwa Durojaiye had the only sack for WVU in the opener.

- The Mountaineers are the 15th winningest program in college football ... WVU is 23-0 all-time and 8-0 under Neal Brown vs. the FCS.

- In home openers, West Virginia is 101-21-6, including winning 18 of the last 19. WVU is 38- 5-1 in home openers since 1980, including 21-2 since 2000.

THE COACHES
Duquesne: Jerry Schmitt (19th season / 114-78 at Duquesne)  
- 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 10 active coaches with 100 FCS wins at their current school.

- Schmitt is the longest tenured coach in the NEC. He is also the longest tenured coach among any of the collegiate or professional football teams in Pittsburgh. 

West Virginia: Neal Brown (5th season / 22-26 at WVU)
- Brown enters his fifth season leading the Mountaineers. Prior to WVU, Brown served as head coach at Troy for four seasons (2015-18) and won three bowl games during his tenure. In Morgantown, Brown led the Mountaineers to two bowl games, including a 2020 win over Army in the Liberty Bowl.

NEXT WEEK
- Duquesne will travel to Coastal Carolina for its first-ever meeting with the Chanticleers.

- The Dukes have only played FBS opponents in back-to-back weeks once before (2021 - TCU and Ohio).

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.

- DU will be live on ESPN+ for the week two and three games at WVU and Coastal Carolina, as well as the October 28 game at Sacred Heart ... The October 7 game at Delaware will stream on FloFootball ... The remaining seven games can be viewed on NEC Front Row.

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