The question now becomes what can Duquesne do for an encore? And coach Jerry Schmitt is as excited as anyone to find out.
After a couple of firsts — first outright Northeast Conference title, first trip to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs — the Dukes lose their all-time leading receiver and a slew of other key contributors, but also bring back some critical pieces in 2016.
“There’s no doubt, and the young guys have learned from the guys who are graduating,” Schmitt said Tuesday, a few days after the Dukes (8-4) saw their season end with a wild, 52-49 loss at William & Mary in the first round of the playoffs. “They’re ready to step into those roles and compete in spring ball for them.”
It won’t be easy to replace Chris King, whose 175 career receptions are the most in school history, or three other seniors who were first-team All-NEC picks this season, but the linchpin of the offense isn’t going anywhere.
Quarterback Dillon Buechel, a Montour grad, will be a redshirt senior next year after throwing for 2,871 yards and 24 touchdowns to just eight interceptions in 12 games. Also slated to be back is second-team All-NEC running back Rafiq Douglas, who rushed for 977 yards and 11 touchdowns but missed the playoff game with an ankle injury.
On the other side of the ball, linebacker Christian Kuntz will try to improve on his NEC defensive player of the year campaign in his final season, while several other starters will return for the defense.
“I think the expectations will be high — always are here — but I think the confidence that we can contend for that title and potentially get to the playoffs is better than it’s ever been,” Schmitt said.
As for this past season, the end was bitter, but the rest of the ride was one of the sweetest in Dukes history.
“It was an awesome run and for me … to finish off playing as well as we did, even though we didn’t win, that was a special thing to watch as our players and our team developed in that second half of the season,” Schmitt said. “We suffered some injuries in the first half, and we had some games that we know we didn’t play our best football, but the character of our team showed to rebound from that.”
Carnegie Mellon
The Tartans women’s basketball team is perfect so far this season, and Monday night, their star player was, too. Junior center Lisa Murphy, of McLean, Va., finished 16 of 16 from the floor for a career-high 37 points and set the NCAA Division III record for consecutive field goals made in a game. Most important to her, though, the Tartans (5-0) rallied past La Roche, 81-73.
“I had no idea as I was playing that I hadn’t missed a shot,” Murphy said. “It was a close game for us, so I think I was really just focused on playing to win.”
Murphy, who led Division III with a .664 field-goal percentage in 2014-15 and is averaging 31.8 points per game so far this year, does most of her work around the basket. She also went 11 for 11 from the field for 27 points in a Nov. 20 rout of Muskingum, so if that pattern holds, she should be headed for a 21-for-21 performance in about a week or so, right?
“I wouldn’t rule it out,” coach Jacquie Hullah said with a laugh. “I think with Lisa, anything’s possible.”
Robert Morris
The women’s volleyball team, which won the NEC tournament title Nov. 22, will open NCAA tournament play Friday. The Colonials (19-12) will visit Ohio State (23-9) for a 7 p.m. first-round match in their first NCAA appearance since 2003.
Brian Batko: bbatko@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrianBatko.
First Published: December 3, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
