Colorado Springs, Colo. – The Duquesne University football team opened its 2026 season Saturday at Air Force, falling to the Falcons, 34-0.
Air Force jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its opening possession before adding 13 points in the second quarter to take a 20-0 advantage into halftime. The Falcons added a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half to account for the final margin.
Zach Chambers led the Duquesne defense with nine tackles in his first game as a Duke.
Jeff Banks and
Nico Pate each added seven tackles, with Chambers and Pate both recording career highs. Banks made his collegiate debut Saturday. A total of 31 different Dukes recorded at least one tackle.
Antwon Thomas and
Ryan Petras each hauled in three receptions, while
Carson Camp started his first game in the Red and Blue at quarterback and completed 7-of-18 passes.
Logan Kushner also saw time under center, completing 2-of-4 attempts.
Zae-Mear Correll and
Dewey Byrd each recorded their first career receptions.
Justin Willis and
Andrew Graham split punting duties for the Dukes. Graham averaged 44.8 yards on four punts, including a career-long 59-yarder, while Willis averaged 50.3 yards on three punts with a long of 57 yards.
NOTES
- Air Force marked the 14th FBS opponent in Duquesne program history. The Dukes travel to Washington State in Week 3 for their second FBS matchup of the season, the sixth consecutive season Duquesne has faced two FBS opponents.
- Attendance of 26,703, the ninth time Duquesne has played in front of a crowd of 20,000 or more since the reinstatement of the football program in 1969.
- 15 Dukes made their collegiate debuts: Trey Graham, Jeff Banks, Drew Cook, Nick Collins, Jr., Dominic Yanoshak, Michael Wright, Will Martin, Will Kocher, Will Hosick, Charlie Young, Tony Perrotta, Aidan Vroom, Ethan Thomas, Jack Byrer and Justin Willis.
- Air Force led time of possession, 40:50-19:10.
UP NEXT
Duquesne continues a three-game road trip to start the season next Saturday at No. 9 ranked Youngstown State.
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