Duquesne Scores 42 Straight, Pulls Away From Wagner 52-21

At halftime, Wagner had the better quarterback, the better offense and a 21-17 lead at Rooney Field. By the final whistle, Duquesne had scored 42 straight points and put up the best fourth quarter in its FCS history.

Duquesne shut out Wagner 35-0 in the second half and won 52-21 on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Arthur J. Rooney Field in Pittsburgh. Ness Davis ran for a career-high 181 yards, Carson Camp accounted for four touchdowns, and the Dukes' defense scored twice in the final minutes to turn a tight game into a runaway.

Duquesne improved to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the Northeast Conference with its second straight win. Wagner fell to 1-7 and 0-4, its sixth loss in a row.

Newman's nearly perfect half

For 30 minutes, this was Benjamin Newman's game. The Wagner redshirt freshman from East Rochester, N.Y., completed 14 of 15 passes for 149 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.

Duquesne struck first. After a three-and-out to start the game, the Dukes went 10 plays and 65 yards, helped by a 33-yard Camp completion to Zae-Mear Correll and a face mask penalty. Camp finished it with a 4-yard slant to Antwon Thomas, the first touchdown of Thomas' career, for a 7-0 lead.

Wagner answered right away. The Seahawks went 70 yards in eight plays, and on fourth-and-2, Newman found senior receiver Jeremiah Colclough for a 33-yard touchdown. Johnny DiSalvatore's extra point tied it at 7-7 with 5:48 left in the first quarter. Matt Marcinko gave Duquesne a 10-7 lead with a career-long 42-yard field goal.

Then the Seahawks took over. An 11-play, 75-yard drive that ate 5:43 ended with Newman's 12-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Johans Bars, and Wagner led 14-10 at 11:58 of the second quarter. After a defensive stop, Wagner went 51 yards in five plays, and Newman again converted on fourth down, this time a 33-yard touchdown to Zion Fowler-El on fourth-and-5. It was 21-10 with 7:17 left in the half.

Wagner nearly made it worse. Graduate defensive lineman Olanrewaju Adeyemi came up with an 11-yard strip sack, and Evan Dukes recovered at the Duquesne 41. The Seahawks drove to the Duquesne 17, but a sack, a tackle for loss and a holding penalty pushed them back, and the 35-yard field goal try missed.

57 seconds that changed the game

Duquesne got the ball back with 86 seconds left in the half and needed only 57 of them. Antwon Thomas made an 11-yard catch, Wagner was flagged for back-to-back 15-yard penalties, and Camp hit Myles Walker for a 25-yard touchdown with 29 seconds left. The four-play, 80-yard drive cut the lead to 21-17 at the break.

Wagner still led, but it would never score again.

The stops before the surge

The third quarter was scoreless, and Duquesne's defense was the reason. Julio Tatis kept Duquesne off the board early in the half with an interception in the end zone, the junior defensive back's third pick of the season.

Wagner followed with a marathon drive: 16 plays, 76 yards and 9:49 off the clock, including a fourth-and-1 conversion. It reached the Duquesne 4. Then Luke Miller forced a fumble and Carter Lance recovered, and a drive that could have pushed Wagner's lead to 11 produced nothing.

A 35-point fourth quarter

Duquesne took over at its own 4 after the fumble. Two plays in, Camp found Noah Canty for 56 yards, the longest catch of Canty's career and Duquesne's longest offensive play of the season. Camp finished the seven-play, 96-yard drive with a 1-yard keeper, and Duquesne led 24-21 at 13:44.

After a Wagner three-and-out, Davis ripped off three runs for 49 yards, and Camp scored again on a 9-yard run, 3:27 after his first rushing touchdown. The Wagner offense turned it over on downs, and Davis went 27 yards for a touchdown to make it 38-21 with 6:41 left.

The defense finished it. Zach Chambers picked off a pass and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown, the first interception of Chambers' career. Then Will Martin recorded the first sack of Martin's career, a strip sack, and Deven Thomas scooped up the loose ball and ran 70 yards for another score. Duquesne won the fourth quarter 35-0, the highest-scoring fourth quarter in program history as an FCS team.

The players who decided it

Davis carried 18 times for 181 yards, 10.1 per carry, with 148 of those yards in the second half. The senior from Athens, Ga., had three runs of 20 yards or more, with a long of 40. The NEC named Davis its Co-Offensive Player of the Week and noted it was the most rushing yards by an NEC player against an FCS opponent this season.

Camp, a graduate student, completed 10 of 17 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns and ran for two more scores, the first two-rushing-touchdown game of his career. The NEC singled out Camp in its weekly report, noting he accounted for four touchdowns. Canty, Correll, Khiryn Boyd and Walker all had catches of 20 yards or more, and Marcinko made all seven extra points, a career high and tied for the second-most in a game in program history.

Miller, a senior linebacker, led all tacklers for the third straight week with 10 stops, adding 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, two forced fumbles and a pass breakup. Nico Pate had nine tackles and 1.5 sacks, Lance and Caleb Jones each made eight tackles, and Dashawn Fields recorded a sack for a third straight game.

For Wagner, Newman finished 28 of 37 for 237 yards and three touchdowns, a personal best against an FCS opponent, and was named NEC Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. Colclough caught four passes for 53 yards and a score, and Matt Morad ran 16 times for 68 yards. Adeyemi had seven tackles, a sack and a forced fumble, and Freddie Camp added six tackles and two pass breakups.

The stats that matter

Wagner had 24 first downs, converted five of seven fourth-down tries and held the ball for 36:37. Most days, that wins.

The problem was the ground game and the turnovers. Duquesne outrushed Wagner 245-89 and outgained the Seahawks 425-332 overall. The Dukes had eight tackles for loss and five sacks, and their defense turned two takeaways into touchdowns. It was the second straight game in which Duquesne did not allow a point after halftime. The full story is in Duquesne's official recap (opens in a new tab) and Wagner's recap (opens in a new tab).

What it means and what is next

Jerry Schmitt's team is now tied for third in the NEC at 2-1, and the 52 points were a season high against an FCS opponent. Duquesne now leads the all-time series with Wagner 16-6, including 8-1 at home. Next on the schedule was the Dukes' first trip to New Haven on Saturday, Oct. 31, an NEC Showcase game, followed by a home game against Robert Morris on Nov. 7.

Wagner is still looking for its first league win. Next on the schedule was the second stop of a three-game road stretch, at Merrimack on Saturday, Oct. 31, followed by a trip to Mercyhurst on Nov. 7.

The last word

Wagner played about as well as it could in the first half and still lost by 31. That is how much the second half swung. Newman was nearly flawless before the break, but Duquesne stopped two drives deep in its own territory, ran the ball down Wagner's throat and let its defense finish the job.

The Dukes were 1-4 earlier this season. Now they have won two straight and look like they belong near the top of the NEC.

Sources: Duquesne Athletics recap, Wagner Athletics recap and the Northeast Conference weekly report. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Duquesne Athletics.