Emotions were running high at Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field for the home and season opener for the Duquesne football team on Saturday. Both the players and coaches were feeling excited, anxious, nervous, and maybe a little hesitant for Albany.
In his first collegiate start, freshman Dillon Buechel looked anything but a freshman, tossing for 309 yards and three touchdowns in the Dukes’ 35-24 win over former Northeast Conference foe Albany. Junior running back Ryan Ho contributed two touchdowns in the win and finished with 76 yards rushing. The Dukes’ had two receivers eclipse the 100-yard mark with preseason All-NEC receiver Gianni Carter recording 103 yards and Dave Thomas finishing with 103 yards. Senior Sean Brady finished with four receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown.
“It was definitely a really good start,” Buechel said. The coaches did a great job of preparing us. Everything just gelled together today.”
Duquesne head coach Jerry Schmidt, who is entering his ninth season with the Dukes’, was very pleased with his young quarterback’s performance.
“Obviously you can see the poise he had throughout the football game,” Schmidt said. “Coming out as a freshman starter he completes his first throw. It wasn’t a surprise to us but I was happy to see the success he had. He handled the offense the way we wanted him to. You can see he has a good arm. He has a good head on his shoulders and he found some talented guys to catch the football.”
After falling behind 35-3 at the half in last year’s game against the Great Danes, the Dukes new it was crucial to get off to a quick start.
Kevin Chillis fielded the opening kickoff five yards deep in the end zone and thought about kneeling it for a touchback but hesitated before taking it out, giving the Duquesne special teams unit time to get down the field and tackle him at the 9 yard line.
The Dukes defense took advantage of the good start, perfectly reading the toss to running back Omar Osbourne. A storm of Duquesne defenders swarmed in on him for the safety on the first play of the game for a 2-0 lead.
“It was huge,” Schmidt said. “We have been in camp for four weeks and we were pretty fired up and I was worried about them spiking their emotion right away but you couldn’t ask for a better start than getting a couple points and the ball right back.”
The Duquesne offense got things going on its second possession, going 90 yards in five plays. The drive was highlighted by Thomas’ 81-yard catch and run on a third-and-3 from Buechel. Thomas scampered down the sideline before he was tackled at his ankles at the Albany 2-yard line. Ho finished the drive off with a 1-yard plunge to give the Dukes a 9-0 advantage.
“He is another guy who has been here three years and has had some injuries, struggled a little bit in the system learning where to be in multiple sets but he is really coming around,” Schmidt said about Thomas. “He had a good camp. We know he can be explosive and you saw that on that play. We are hoping that continues in the future and we like him in the slot.”
The Albany offense finally got its motor running late in the first quarter after taking advantage of great field position. The Great Danes started their drive at the 50-yard line after a Duquesne punt and went 28 yards including a conversion on third-and-7 by quarterback Will Fiacchi but had to settle for a field goal. Sophomore Tom O’Riordan converted on a 39-yard field goal to cut the Duquesne lead to 9-3.
Albany again started to move the ball down the field on its first possession of the second quarter but it was the Duquesne defense who continued its stellar play. After a conversion on third-and-5 was negated by a blocking in the back penalty, the Great Danes elected to forgo putting the points on the board and went for it on fourth-and-4.
At the Duquesne 20, Fiacchi dropped back to pass and saw his first down attempt batted down by freshman defensive back Sterling Parks.
It looked like Duquesne was ready to give the ball right back to Albany on a three-and-out but the Dukes successfully converted on their first trick play of the season. On fourth-and-1 punter Aaron Fleck took the snap and rushed to the Duquesne sideline for a first down. To add insult to injury for Albany, they were penalized 15 yards for a late hit out of bounds.
“It is at midfield and it was something we called and we thought it was a high-percentage play with what we saw,” Schmidt said.
The Dukes keeping the drive alive paid off as Ho found the end zone for the second time in the half, this time from 25 yards out to give the Dukes a 16-3 lead.
Even with the overwhelming domination by Duquesne on the scoreboard, the Great Danes never gave up. With 22 seconds remaining in the half, Albany got a much-needed touchdown from Fiacchi to Chillis. Chillis blew past the Dukes’ defense for a 35-yard touchdown. O’Riordan’s extra point cut the deficit to 16-10 at the half.
With a slim six point lead, Coach Schmidt knew exactly what his team was in store for in the second half.
“What I said at halftime was that this is a grind,” Schmidt said. “This is a really good team that isn’t going to run away. They aren’t going to lose their cool and it is a very hot day. On defense for both teams, when you were on the field for three to four plays, you almost always had to be subbed for because it was so hot. It had nothing to do with condition.”
Schmidt’s speech seemed to spark something in his players as Duquesne started the second half just as quick as the first, marching 78 yards on nine plays for a touchdown. Buechel converted on two third down plays to Brady and Thomas before him and Brady delivered the big blow for a 27-yard touchdown. Brady making the play of the game snagged Buechel’s pass with one hand and hung on in the end zone after getting hit. The touchdown gave the Dukes a 23-10 lead.
“We see that all the time in practice but that was a heck of a grab he made,” Buechel said.
It was the defenses turn to shine on the next possession. On third-and-4, sophomore linebacker Sam Martello came free around the end and hit Fiacchi’s arm, forcing a fumble in the process. Preseason-NEC and Sports Network Preseason All-American, Dorian Bell, recovered the ball at the Albany 28.
The offense wasted no time adding to the lead. On the first play after the turnover, Buechel threw his second touchdown pass in as many throws, this time finding Carter from 29 yards out. Austin Crimmins extra point rang off the post keeping the Dukes’ lead at 29-10.
Albany quickly answered with a touchdown of its own to cut the deficit to 29-17 on its next possession. Chillis and Fiacchi hooked up for the second time from 35 yards out. The Great Danes went 75 yards on five plays for the score.
The teams continued to go back-and-forth on Duquesne’s next possession. Buechel continued his dominant second half, going 2-for-3 for 41 yards on the drive to get the Dukes into field goal range. Crimmins made his second of the game, this time from 30 yards out to increase the lead to 32-17.
The Dukes’ defense kept the momentum on their side after forcing the Great Danes to go three-and-out. Another penalty pushed Albany back to a third-and-7 and had its third down pass batted down at the line by Dane O’Driscoll.
Down by 15 early in the fourth quarter, Albany had another big decision to make on fourth down. On fourth-and-3 at the Dukes’ 28-yard line, the Great Lanes elected to go for it and for the second time in the game, failing once again.
With time running out for the Albany, it was crucial that the Great Danes start putting points on the board. The Great Danes started with great field position on Duquesne’s 44 yard line, but took a good bit of time off the clock, as it took them 10 plays to find the end zone. The Great Danes almost didn’t score as the Dukes were poised for a goal line stand but on fourth down from the two yard line, Osbourne rolled into the end zone to bring the Great Danes within eight at 32-24 with 6:33 remaining in the game.
Albany’s defense came up with a stop with 3:11 left, forcing Duquesne to punt and giving the Great Danes one more chance at a comeback.
With 2:59 remaining, the Great Danes took over with the ball at their own eight yard line. Albany was able to move the chains once but their fate was sealed when junior Rich Piekarski picked off Fiacchi on fourth-and-10, returning it to the Albany 10 yard line.
Crimmins tacked on a 22-yard field goal with 1:04 left and secured the Dukes’ 35-24 season-opening win.
Duquesne will look to improve their record to 2-0 next Saturday when they travel to Dayton. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
Game Notes: Duquesne improved their record to 50-23-3 on season openers…The Dukes are now 2-5 all-time against Albany…After spending eight years in the NEC, the Great Danes are in their first year competing in the Colonial Athletic Conference. Albany head coach Bob Ford is entering his 41st season as head coach…Ford already announced that this will be his last year.
