PITTSBURGH -- Duquesne quarterback Darius Perrantes has finished the 2023 season as an NCAA Statistical Champion. The Walter Payton Award Finalist ranked first among all Division I (FCS and FBS) quarterbacks in passing yards per completion at 17.74.

Perrantes, a Los Angeles, Calif. native and Rhode Island transfer, is the first Duke to be crowned an NCAA Statistical Champion since Christian Kuntz, an active member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, led the FCS in 2013 averaging 1.8 tackles for loss per game.

A first team all-conference selection, Perrantes was a six-time NEC Prime Performer and won Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for three touchdowns and 218 yards in the regular-season finale win at Merrimack to clinch the 2023 Northeast Conference championship.

In league play, Perrantes led Duquesne to a 6-1 record and a conference title. He averaged 19.03 yards per completion - which was nearly six yards more than the next ranked NEC quarterback. Perrantes threw for over 200 yards in all seven conference games and eight times overall, while racking up a league-leading 21 touchdown passes - which was the 15th most in the FCS.

Perrantes completed a pass for 37 or more yards in every regular season game, including the longest completion of the season in the NEC - an 89-yard touchdown against Stonehill.

Perrantes edged out Villanova's Connor Watkins (17.64 yards per completion) at the FCS level and Jason Bean, of Kansas in the FBS, (17.18 yards per completion) to take the overall Division I crown. He also finished ninth in the FCS averaging 8.84 yards per pass attempt.

The 2023 Dukes had five individual stat categories with players in the top-10 nationally.

Graduate transfer wide receiver DJ Powell finished the season sixth in the FCS in yards per reception (20.97) and ninth in receiving touchdowns (9).

Defensive lineman Ryan Lopez was third nationally in fumbles recovered with three, one of which Lopez returned for a touchdown in the final seconds of the road victory at Wagner.

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