Serge Kona picked off his second career pass for the Dukes.

Oct. 1, 2011

Box Score |  Photo Gallery 

PITTSBURGH - Connor Dixon caught three touchdown passes - the last of which put Duquesne ahead to stay with 9:22 left - as the Dukes extended their winning streak to four with a 31-28 Northeast Conference victory over Bryant on Rooney Field.

The Dukes, whose lone blemish is a 27-26 opening day loss at Bucknell, moved to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the NEC. Bryant saw a three-game win streak snapped in dropping ot 3-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play.

Dixon, who finished with five catches for 71 yards, caught a 33 yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and added a 15 yarder in the third.

Duquesne outgained Bryant 379-276 in a game that saw four lead changes in the second half of a game played in steady rain.

Larry McCoy, the NEC's third-leading rusher, carried 34 times for 153 yards and a touchdown. Bryant's Jordan Brown, who entered the game second in the NEC in rushing, carried 36 times for 142 yards and two scores.

Duquesne's Sean Patterson completed 13-of-25 passes for 160 yards, including the three TD passes to Dixon. Mike Croce completed 8-of-18 passes for 138 yards for Bryant.

Duquesne used a 23 yard Patterson to Brooks Roorback pass to set up a 25 yard Charlie Leventry field in taking a 3-0 lead with 1:40 left in the first quarter.

Three plays later, DU's Khiry Carter forced a fumble that was recovered by Ashton Burno at the Bryant 33. Patterson found Dixon down the right sideline on the next play to put the Dukes up 10-0 through one quarter.

Bryant took advantage of a short field following a Duquesne fumble to pull within three when Croce scored from one yard out to cap a 41 yard drive with 8:32 left in the half.

McCoy scored on a two yard run to push the margin back to ten a little over five minutes later.

Duquesne outgained Bryant 219-64 in the opening 30 minutes.

Bryant scored twice in the first 7:26 of the second half to take a 21-17 lead.

The Bulldogs took the second half kickoff and drove 68 yards with Brown scoring from 18 yards out to make it 17-14. Just over three minutes later, Brown added a one yard plunge after Jeremy Woodson picked off a tipped Patterson pass and returned it to the DU 19.

The Dukes regained the lead when Patterson hit Dixon with a 15 yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter.

Croce then connected with Jordan Harris for a 70 yard score on a third-and-eight play. No one was within ten yards of Harris as cornerback Aaron Fitzpatrick slipped and fell while the ball was in the air.

McCoy broke a 40 yard run to the Bryant 11 before Patterson found Dixon for the third time, this time from 10 yards out, to make it 31-28 with 9:22 left.

Richie Piekarski picked off a Croce pass with just over two minutes left to seal the win.

Carter, who also posted his first career sack, and Horvin Latimer led the Dukes with eight tackles each. Ohio State transfer Dorian Bell had six tackles, including a tackle for loss and a quarterback pressure, in his first appearance as a Duke.

Duquesne returns to action next Saturday at Albany (2-2, 1-0). Game time is set for 1:00 p.m.

Scoring by Quarters

SCORING SUMMARY
1st
1:40 -- DUQ - Leventry 25 yd field goal, 10-56 (4:16) --- 3-0
0:08 -- DUQ - Dixon 33 yd pass from Patterson (Leventry kick), 1-33 (:06) --- 10-0
2nd
8:32 -- BRY - Croce 1 yd run (Alberti kick), 7-41 (2:59) -- 10-7
2:58 -- DUQ - McCoy 2 yd run (Leventry kick), 12-63 (5:25) --- 17-7
3rd
10:55 -- BRY - Brown 18 yd run (Alberti kick), 8-68 (3:59) --- 17-14
7:34 -- BRY - Brown 1 yd run (Alberti kick), 6-19 (2:03) --- 17-21
2:40 -- DUQ - Dixon 15 yd pass from Patterson (Leventry kick), 4-61 (1:34) --- 24-21
4th
12:41 -- BRY - Harris 70 yd pass from Croce (Alberti kick), 5-84 (2:13) --- 24-28
9:22 -- DUQ - Dixon 10 yd pass from Patterson (Leventry kick), 8-72 (3:14) --- 31-28

LEADERS
Rushing (Att./Yds./TD): DU - McCoy (34-153-1); BRY - Brown (36-142-2)
Passing (Att./Comp./Int./Yds./TD): DU - Patterson (13-25-2-160-3); BRY - Croce (8-18-2-138-1)
Receiving (Att./Yds./TD): DU - Dixon (5-71-3); BRY - Harris (4-108-1)
Tackles (Tot./Solo): DU - Carter (8/4), Latimer (8/4); BRY - Tebou (8/7)

GAME NOTES
The victory extended Duquesne's win streak to four ... it is the Dukes' longest streak since five consecutive wins in 2007 (DU's last season in the MAAC) ... DU has also won four in a row at Rooney Field ... Duquesne is 6-1 in its past seven NEC games dating back to last year ... Duquesne wore bright red throwback jerseys with "Iron Dukes" on the front in honor of DU's 1970s teams for Homecoming ... junior running back Larry McCoy (Wytheville, Va./George Wythe) topped the 100 yard mark for the fifth time in as many games with a career high-tying 34 carries for 153 yards ... McCoy topped the century mark on his second carry of the second half ... it was his 11th 100-yard game in his past 13 outings and 15th of his career ... McCoy, who ranks fourth on DU's all-time rushing list (2,793 yards), needs 207 to reach 3,000 ... sophomore Ohio State transfer Dorian Bell (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) made his Duquesne debut ... the 6-1, 228-pound linebacker finished with six tackles (three solo) and a quarterback pressure in his first game action since Nov. 27, 2010 vs. Michigan ... Bell who was reinstated by the NCAA during the week after serving a four-game suspension, has been practicing with the team since his transfer in late August ... he saw his first action on Bryant's second series and made a tackle on the Bulldogs first running play of the series ... Connor Dixon (South Park, Pa./South Park) caught five passes for 71 yards including touchdown passes of 33, 15 and 10 yards ... the 6-5, 212-pound graduate student has caught a pass in 20 consecutive games ... he has caught at least one pass in every game since moving from quarterback to receiver eight games into the 2009 season ... Dixon has caught at least one touchdown pass in all five games this season ... junior quarterback Sean Patterson (Toledo, Ohio/St. John's Jesuit) completed 13-of-25 passes for 160 yards and three touchdowns (33, 15, 10) ... it was the 11th multiple-touchdown pass game of his career and fourth in fifth starts in 2011 ... Patterson has 13 TD passes in five games ... safety Serge Kona (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg), who finished with five tackles, added his second career interception in the second quarter ... defensive tackle Mike Passodelis (Allison Park, Pa./North Allegheny) finished with seven tackles (four solo) including a tackle for loss ... as the team, the Dukes finished with six tackles for losses - including three sacks - totaling 27 yards.