March 22, 2006

Second-year head coach Jerry Schmitt will get his first look at the 2006 Duquesne football team when the Dukes open spring practice on Thursday, March 23 on Rooney Field. Duquesne, which is coming off a 7-3-0 season and seventh consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Football League title, will practice 14 times over the next month culminating with the annual spring game on Saturday, April 22 at 12:30 p.m.

Schmitt, the 2005 MAAC Coach of the Year, welcomes back 14 starters from last year's team (eight offensive and six defensive in addition to the starting punter and placekicker) which finished the season ranked No. 3 in The Sports Network I-AA Mid-Major Top 10.

Among the priorities this spring is the retooling of a Duquesne defense which lost five veteran starters from a unit that ranked No. 1 in Division I-AA in total defense, rushing defense and pass efficiency defense last season. Gone are consensus All-Americans defensive end Antoine Bullock, defensive tackle Josh Antinopoulos and middle linebacker Harry Carter. In addition, Schmitt must find replacements for starting outside linebacker Javonn Bradley and starting cornerback Michael Ford.

A trio of senior defensive backs in safeties Todd Mills (South Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) and Michael Hill (Largo, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt), along with cornerback Kyle Postell (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt), will be joined by 2005 MAAC Defensive Rookie of the Year Aaron Strader (Pittsburgh, Pa./Westinghouse) to give the Dukes on of the top secondaries at the I-AA Mid-Major level.

They will be joined up front by junior outside linebacker John Simmons (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) and senior defensive end Ryan Esdale (Succasunna, N.J./Roxbury).

Hill, Mills and Esdale - an Academic All-America - were all First Team All-MAAC picks last year, while Simmons and Postell earned Second Team all-league honors.

Offensively, 2005 MAAC Offensive Rookie of the Year sophomore quarterback Scott Knapp (Pittsburgh, Pa./Perry Traditional Academy) returns after missing the last three games of the season with a shoulder injury. Knapp, who threw for 1,337 yards and 10 scores as a redshirt freshman, will be challenged by fellow sophomore Kevin Rombach (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin). Rombach posted a 175.56 passing efficiency rating in coming off the bench to lead the Dukes to a win at Iona and back-to-back victories over La Salle and St. Francis as a starter in DU's final two games of last season.

Duquesne returns the tailback tandem of seniors James Jacobs (Norristown, Pa./Norristown) and Jeremy McCullough (Bethlehem, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) which combined for 970 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Sophomore Greg Hough (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) also returns as the starter at fullback.

DU returns 11 of its top 12 leaders in receptions from last season including senior Dan Spriggs (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall), junior Bruce Hocker (Upper Marlboro, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) and junior Alex Roberson (Waynesboro, Ga./Curtis Baptist Upper School).

Calvin Gitter (Jamison, Pa./Central Bucks East), the starting tight end as a freshman last season, is also back.

The area of greatest concern offensively is the line, where the Dukes lost a trio of starters in center Matt Bovich, guard Josh Martin and tackle Brad Salvatore. Junior tackle Zach Wolfe (Ford City, Pa./Ford City) and junior guard Matt Hoffman (Rockville, Md./Good Counsel) are the two returning starters on the line.

Of the eight returning offensive starters, McCullough, Roberson, Gitter and Hoffman were all First Team All-MAAC picks last season, while Knapp and Hough were named to the second team.

The kicking game looks to be solid with First Team All-MAAC junior punter David Kovalcik (Chantilly, Va./Chantilly) and Second Team all-league pick sophomore placekicker Mark Troyan (Ford City, Pa./Ford City) both back.

Duquesne, which has won nine of the past 11 MAAC titles, will bring a 37-game conference winning streak into the 2006 season. The streak, which is the longest active conference win streak in the nation, ranks third all-time among all schools at the I-A and I-AA levels behind only the 44-game streak posted by Oklahoma (Big 8) from 1952-59 and the 39-game streak by Nebraska (Big 8/Big XII) from 1992-98.

2006 DUQUESNE FOOTBALL SPRING PRACTICE SCHEDULE
as of March 22 • dates and times subject to change
all practices at Rooney Field on the Duquesne campus
please contact Director of Football Operations John Rosato (412-396-1802) to verify dates and times

1    Thursday	March 23	7:00-9:00 p.m.
2    Friday	March 24	6:00-8:00 p.m.
3    Saturday	March 25	9:00-11:00 a.m.
4    Thursday	March 30	7:00-9:00 p.m.
5    Friday	March 31	6:00-8:00 p.m.
6    Sunday	April 2         2:00-4:00 p.m.
7    Monday	April 3 	6:00-8:00 p.m.
8    Thursday	April 6 	7:00-9:00 p.m.
9    Friday	April 7 	6:00-8:00 p.m.
10   Saturday	April 8 	10:00 a.m.-Noon
11   Monday	April 10	8:00-10:00 p.m.
12   Tuesday	April 11	8:00-10:00 p.m.
13   Tuesday	April 18	8:00-10:00 p.m.
14   Friday	April 21	6:00-8:00 p.m.
SPRING GAME
15   Saturday	April 22	12:30-2:30 p.m.
team will take the field for pre-game drills at 11:30 a.m.