The Duquesne Football team put together some first half drives but fell to an opportunistic Toledo side 49-10 Thursday night at the Glass Bowl.
“It’s obviously not the result we wanted,” Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt said. “I told the guys we did a lot of good things. That first half (we) made a couple of mistakes that separated a little bit. Went into half, made a couple more mistakes and it really separated us from having a chance.”
Dukes quarterback Darius Perrantes was 15-for-26 for 143 yards, earning both a touchdown and an interception. Wide out John Erby had the most prolific receiving day with his 69 yards and a few highlight reel catches, totaling a career high seven receptions. A total of eight Dukes caught at least one pass.
“I had faith in my coaches and my coaches had faith in me,” offered Erby. “Just executed what we practiced. It wasn’t me by myself, for what we did execute, everybody had to be doing their jobs… I’ve been through a lot. Darius was at Rhode Island when I was there, and when he left, he came here. That’s how I ended up here all these years later. I was looking for an opportunity and my old quarterback gave me one. They bought into me; the team bought into me. I’m blessed to have all of this happen to me…. It was a full-circle moment actually.”
Defensively, Duquesne (0-1) recorded two sacks, with both Jack Dunkley and Jason Patterson each earning one, while Antonio Epps took top tackling honors with eight.
Toledo (1-0) saw quarterback Tucker Gleason make his first start and threw for 205 yards and three touchdowns.
Duquesne opened the game with an unforced error immediately after the first whistle, as a kickoff bounced out of bounds.
Toledo needed nine plays to find the end zone, with Junior Vandeross III punching the ball in.
The Dukes attempted to use the ground game early on, handing it to JaMario Clements on each of the first three downs, falling a yard shy of a first down, and being forced to punt the football.
Patterson’s sack gave Duquesne a chance to draw even, but it could not generate offense. Instead, Toledo got the ball back, converted a fourth down and two plays later found the end zone for a second time.
Perrantes gave Duquesne its first true offensive highlight when he connected with Ian Sheehan for a 35-yard gain.
The drive continued and despite Clements fumbling the football, the ball popcorned 19 yards up the field, where a Dukes lineman dove on top of it.
Later on, Perrantes sought out Tedy Afful, but Toledo was called for pass interference. Instead, Duquesne earned its first score from four yards out as transfer Noah Canty caught his first ever touchdown as a Duke.
Duquesne’s momentum lasted mere moments, as Gleason found Jerjuan Newton, who cut towards the ball, broke a tackle while stiff arming a Dukes defender, juked a couple more white jerseys and went 54 yards for the quick response.
The Dukes offense began to connect down the field on their ensuing drive converting a fourth down as Perrantes found Erby, but the drive stalled leading to a Brian Bruzdewicz field goal.
While Toledo drove down the field, Dunkley sack meant that the Rockets had a 51-yard field goal to answer right back, but the kick missed the mark.
Now with a chance to draw within three points, Duquesne handed the ball off to Clements who was unable to hold onto the football, with Toledo taking over possession.
The Rockets would find the end zone, taking a 28-10 lead into halftime.
Duquesne fielded the opening kick in the second half, but fumbled the football, once again turning the ball over.
Toledo once again found the end zone, extending the lead and would add another seven points in the third quarter, neither of which the Dukes could match.
In the fourth quarter, Jordan Heisey took over at quarterback, providing an opportunity on the field against a Division I opponent.
Gleason would take a seat for the Rockets, allowing for John Alan Richter to go under center. The effort was all six passes being completed for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Duquesne will look to bounce back Sept. 7 when it takes on Boston College. The opening kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 and will be carried both by ACCNX and ESPN+.
