#10 SAINT FRANCIS (1-1) at #6 DUQUESNE (1-1)
Saturday, Sept. 16 at 1:00 p.m.
Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field (4,500) -- Pittsburgh, Pa.
Ranking listed is from The Sports Network I-AA Mid-Major Top 10
DUKES FOOTBALL WILL BE INTERNET-ONLY THIS SEASON
Alex Panormios (play-by-play) & Bob Healy (color)
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The game is the Dukes' second in a row against a Northeast Conference school. (DU will host a third NEC program, Sacred Heart, next weekend.) It also marks Saint Francis' first trip to Rooney Field since Sept. 13, 1997 (a 51-3 DU win).
Duquesne, currently ranked No. 6 in The Sports Network Mid-Major Top 10, is 10-2 in home openers at Rooney Field, with seven consecutive wins in home-opening games. The Dukes, who enter the 2006 season with a 37-game league win streak, have claimed nine Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League championships in the past 11 seasons (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 & 2005). Duquesne returns 14 position starters and two specialists from last year's team.
Saint Francis, ranked No. 10 in the TSN Top 10, is coming off a 63-28 loss at Delaware State. The Red Flash opened the season with an impressive 38-3 home win over MAAC member Saint Peter's.
DUQUESNE LATELY
- Junior receiver Bruce Hocker caught five passes for 133 yards and two TDs (68, 30) in the win at Robert Morris ... in two games, Hocker has nine catches for 228 yards and four TDs ... he is averaging 25.3 yards per catch ... he ranks seventh nationally in receiving yards per game (114.0) and eighth in scoring (12.0 ppg.)
- Quarterback Scott Knapp has been almost flawless through two games ... the sophomore signal-caller has completed 62.1 percent of his passes (36-of-58) for 541 yards and four TDs (all to Hocker) ... Knapp, whose lone interception this season came in a meaningless last play of the first half at Bucknell, ranks seventh nationally in total offense (270.5 ypg.) and 10th in passing efficiency (159.73) ... Knapp's 348 yards passing in the season-opener at Bucknell stands as the second-best passing day by a Division I-AA quarterback so far this season
- Duquesne's defense is coming off a six-sack effort at Robert Morris ... the Dukes rank fourth nationally in sacks per game at 4.50 ...
- Opposing quarterbacks have completed just 13-of-34 passes (38.2%) for 158 in two games against DU's veteran defense ... in fact, DU has returned interceptions for just 21 fewer yards than opposing QBs have thrown for
- Aaron Strader (school record-tying 96-yard TD) and Todd Mills (41-yard return) accounted for 137 interception return yards at Robert Morris last weekend.
THE SERIES
Duquesne holds a 27-5 advantage in a series that dates back to 1913 ... the Dukes have won all seven meetings since moving to the I-AA Mid-Major level in 1993 ... Saint Francis' last win came by a 23-13 score on Nov. 7, 1992 at home over Dan McCann's Division III Dukes ... last year's game marks the renewal of a series that was contested for all but four seasons between 1969-98 ... Duquesne took a 44-17 decision at Saint Francis' DeGol Field in last year's season finale ... this is SFC's first appearance at Rooney Field since a 51-3 Duquesne win in 1997.
NOTES FROM ROBERT MORRIS
- The win was Duquesne's fourth in the past five meetings with Robert Morris and evened the overall series at 4-4 ... head coach Jerry Schmitt is now 2-0 versus the Colonials
- DU is now 4-1 against teams from the Northeast Conference since 2003 ... the loss was just the second in Robert Morris' 13 home openers
- Junior receiver Bruce Hocker (Upper Marlboro, Md. / Eleanor Roosevelt) caught five passes for 133 yards and a pair of touchdowns, giving him nine catches for 228 yards and four touchdowns on the young season ... he is averaging 25.3 yards per catch ... his four TD grabs - the first two in the season-opener at Bucknell - have covered 32, 34, 68 and 30 yards ... Hocker set career highs for catches (8) and yards (163) in last year's season-opening win over Robert Morris before being injured the next week vs. Fordham and missing all but one of the remaining eight games
- The Dukes, who held Robert Morris to a 2-of-14 effort on third down, finished with six sacks ... back-up defensive end Travis Decker (Allentown, Pa. / Parkland) had 2.5, Mykol Gardiner (Cleveland, Ohio / Benedictine) had 2.0, Ronnie Garvin (Aiken, S.C. / Aiken) had 1.0 and Lou Levine (Export, Pa. / Franklin Regional) had 0.5 ... Gardiner, who finished with six tackles also forced a pair of fumbles
- Aaron Strader's (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Westinghouse) 96-yard interception return for a third-quarter TD tied the school record set by Bryan Cornell at Iona in 1997
- Mark Troyan (Ford City, Pa. / Ford City) connected on a pair of field goals, including a career-best 42-yarder for DU's finals points of the game ... Troyan's previous long kick was 40 yards versus Columbia last season