Sept. 9, 2006

Box Score |  Quotes |  Notes

Bruce Hocker caught a pair of touchdown passes and Aaron Strader returned a third-quarter interception a school record-tying 96 yards for a score as Duquesne defeated Robert Morris 27-7 at RMU's Joe Walton Stadium.

The win, Duquesne's fourth series victory in the past five meetings, upped the Dukes' overall record to 1-1. The loss dropped Robert Morris to 0-2.

Duquesne jumped out to an early 7-0 lead when Hocker turned a short post pass from Knapp into a 68-yard score by outracing the Robert Morris secondary to the end zone.

Two plays later, defensive end Mykol Gardiner sacked RMU quarterback Erik Cwalinski forcing a fumble that was recovered by DU's Ronnie Garvin at the Robert Morris 28. Five plays later, Knapp found Hocker along the left sideline for a 30-yard TD that made it 14-0.

The Dukes extended their lead to 17-0 on a 27-yard Mark Troyan field goal with 22 seconds remaining in the half.

Robert Morris converted a Hocker fumble into a 42-yard drive capped by a 19-yard pass from Cwalinski to Alvin Hill to cut the Duquesne lead to 17-7 with 6:23 to go in the third quarter.

RMU forced a Duquesne punt and drove to the Dukes' eight-yard line, before Strader stepped in front of a third down Cwalinski pass and raced 96 yards untouched down the left sideline for a momentum-changing score. Cwalinski, who finished the game 9-of-22 for 109 yards and was sacked five times, was pressured heavily by DU defensive end Ryan Esdale on the play.

Troyan added a career-long 42-yard field goal with 10:17 left to close out the scoring.

Hocker, who had three receptions for 120 yards in the first half, finished with five catches for 133 yards. His yardage total was 30 shy of his career high set last year versus Robert Morris.

Jeremy McCullough, coming off a career-high 126-yard outing in last week's opener at Bucknell, led DU's ballcarriers with 65 yards on 13 carries.

Robert Morris' Brian Harden led all rushers with 82 yards on nine carries.

Knapp was 12-of-22 for 193 yards and two touchdowns for Duquesne.

Duquesne outgained RMU 307-258, including a 193-110 advantage through the air. Robert Morris, which had 16 first downs to 13 for Duquesne, turned it over four times - two of which led to DU scores.

Todd Mills, who snuffed out Robert Morris' final scoring threat with a fourth-quarter interception he returned 41 yards from the DU one, led the Dukes with nine tackles. John Simmons and Paul Mulbah added eight stops each for the Dukes.

Travis Decker (2.5) and Gardiner (2.0) combined for 4.5 of Duquesne's six sacks. Gardiner also forced a pair of fumbles.

Matt Brunck led Robert Morris with nine tackles.

BY QUARTER: 1-2-3-4--FINAL
DUQUESNE: 14-3-7-3--27
ROBERT MORRIS: 0-0-7-0--7

LEADERS
Rushing (Att./Yds./TD): DU - McCullough (13-65-0); RMU - Harden (9-82-0)
Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD): DU - Knapp (22-12-0-193-2); RMU - Cwalinski (22-9-2-109-1)
Receiving (Att./Yds./TD): DU - Hocker (5-133-2), Spriggs (4-40-0); RMU - Hill (3-40-1), Hines (3-33-0)
Tackles (Tot./Solo): DU - Mills (9/5); RMU - Brunck (9/5)

DUQUESNE QUOTES --

Head Coach Jerry Schmitt: "This was a very important win because of the local rivalry. It was good to win an emotional game, especially coming off an emotional loss last week [31-28 at Bucknell in overtime]. This was an indication of the character of our team." On Bruce Hocker: "If he plays a whole season last year, his stats are at the top of the Mid-Major level. I haven't seen them all, but he has to be one of the top receivers in I-AA."

Receiver Bruce Hocker: "I'm happy the quarterback had the confidence in me to throw me those passes. We worked hard all week, and today it paid off. I'm just going to continue to keep working. I want to make it so its not considered `a great catch,' just a consistent catch."

GAME NOTES --

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 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, which 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.