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Duquesne's veterans to face Dayton
Saturday, September 11, 2010
By Rich Emert, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Every coach knows that injuries are an unavoidable part of football and that some starters are going to miss games with various ailments.
There were times last season when Duquesne University coach Jerry Schmitt thought all of his starters were out with bumps and bruises.
Thirteen Duquesne starters missed at least one game with an injury in 2009 and two were lost for just about the entire season.
"I've been coaching for 25 years and never saw anything like it," Schmitt said. "I think in week six we had 10 starters out."
The Dukes finished 3-8 last season but five of those losses were by a touchdown or less. And the upside to all of the injuries is that Schmitt has 32 players this season who started at least one game in '09.
All of that game experience is a plus and might come into play today as Duquesne (1-0) plays host to Dayton (1-0) at noon at Rooney Field in a non-conference game.
The Flyers are coming off an impressive 28-14 victory against a solid Robert Morris team and are favored to win the Pioneer Conference. The Dukes edged Bucknell, 17-13, last week and were picked to finish seventh in the Northeast Conference preseason coaches poll.
Schmitt likes having the Dukes in the underdog role with low expectations.
Of course, all of that would change quickly with a victory today and a 2-0 season start.
"We thought we had a pretty good football team last year before all of the injuries, and even then we were still competitive," Schmitt said. "I'm excited about playing Dayton and seeing where we are."
The contest will certainly be a test for the Dukes' defense led by linebacker Nathan Totino, who was in on 13 tackles in the Bucknell game. The Dukes limited the Bison to 178 yards total offense, but Dayton has slick senior quarterback Steve Valentino. He accounted for 348 yards -- 272 passing, 76 rushing -- of Dayton's 442 total yards against Robert Morris.
"We played them last year after they had just moved him over to quarterback because of injuries," Schmitt said. "He's a former receiver who runs a 4.4 40. He presents a lot of problems."
Valentino wasn't the only quarterback forced into a starting role last season. Duquesne's Sean Patterson started two games in 2009 as a freshman and is the starter this year. A left-hander, he completed 13 of 24 passes for 159 yards and a score against Bucknell.
He has talented receivers to throw to in 6-foot-5 Connor Dixon, who started at quarterback last season but was shifted to wide out due to shoulder injuries, Akeem Moore, tight end Sean Bunevich, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, and Dave Williams. Moore and Williams both caught four passes last week.
A few historical facts about the Duquesne-Dayton series: The schools have played six times in football with each winning three. The first meeting was Nov. 13, 1920, with the Dukes winning, 20-0, at home. The quarterback and place-kicker for the Dukes in that game was Art Rooney, who would go on to own the Steelers.
Other games today
Robert Morris (0-1) at Sacred Heart (1-0), Noon, Campus Field, Fairfield, Conn.: The Colonials face another solid offensive team as they open Northeast Conference play. ... Sacred Heart defeated Marist, 28-25, in its opener Sept. 3 and had an extra day to prepare for Robert Morris, which lost at Dayton, 28-14, last Saturday. ... Sacred Heart piled up 456 yards total offense against Marist with Marcel Archer rushing for 104 yards on 22 carries and freshman Greg Ibe gaining 97 on 16 attempts. ... RMU running back Myles Russ has 2,978 yards in his career, is second on the school's all-time list and needs 22 yards to become the Colonials second 3,000-yard rusher.