: ''For information on all Duquesne University sports, see

Duquesne Dukes The Duquesne Dukes are the athletic teams of Duquesne University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Dukes compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Football and bowling, howeve ...

'' The Duquesne Dukes football program is the intercollegiate

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

team for

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Gh ...

located in the U.S. state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and is a member of the

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

. Duquesne has played football as a club team from 1891–1894, 1896–1903, 1913–1914, and 1920–1928, in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) from 1929–1942 and 1947–1950, again as a club team from 1969–1978, in NCAA Division III from 1979–1992 and in the NCAA Division I FCS from 1993–present. The Dukes have won or shared 16 conference championships in the past 26 years. The team plays its home games at the 2,200-seat Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. The Dukes are coached by Jerry Schmitt. The Dukes have qualified for the FCS playoffs twice due to an automatic bid for being NEC champions in 2015 at 8-3 (5-1) and again in 2018 at 8-3 (5-1).

History

The Dukes started play in 1891 and have had a continuous program since 1969. They were

co-champions in 2011, 2013, 2016 and 2018 and outright champions in 2015. Previously, Duquesne football was a member of the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and ...

, winning or sharing 11 conference titles. Duquesne was the ECAC Bowl champions in both 1995 and 2003. Duquesne was rated #1 in NCAA Division I by the Massey Ratings for the 1941 season and won a NCFA Club National Championship in 1973 after the program was revived in 1969 by then student-athlete Sam Costanzo in cooperation with university administration. Duquesne is noted for establishing numerous firsts in collegiate football. Former head coach Elmer Layden is credited with devising the system of hand signals that officials use today. The signal system was put to use for the first time on November 11, 1928, when Duquesne hosted Thiel College at

Pitt Stadium Pitt Stadium was an outdoor athletic stadium in the eastern United States, located on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1925, it served primarily as the home of the un ...

. Layden was also the first coach to use two sets of uniform jerseys for home and away contests. In 1929, graduate student manager John Holohan conceived the idea of the first night game at Pittsburgh's

Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to June 28, 1970. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball (MLB) team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers ...

. On the evening of November 1 that year, the Dukes made history by defeating Geneva College, 27-7, in front of more than 27,000 spectators. This led to the Duquesne Football team's nickname "the Night Riders." At the club level, Duquesne won the 1973 National Club Football Association national championship at Three Rivers Stadium and was runner-up in 1977. The Dukes football team also boasts the greatest all-time intraconference winning streak (tied with the University of San Diego) in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

Division I FCS history with 39 straight wins in the MAAC. The 39-game streak also ties for the second-longest intraconference winning streak in

Division I Football history, five games shy of the all-time record. Duquesne defeated

Ohio University Ohio University is a public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confederation and subse ...

in the fall of 2021 for the program's first victory over a

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

opponent since the divisions were created in 1978.

Conference championships

† Co-champions

FCS Playoffs results

The Dukes have made two appearances in the FCS Playoffs. Their combined record is 1–2.

Major bowl games

The Dukes had some success before

college football's alignment into divisions. Duquesne won the 1934

Festival of Palms Bowl The Festival of Palms Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game held New Year's Day in Miami, Florida. The game was held twice, following the 1932 and 1933 seasons, before being renamed the Orange Bowl (game), Orange Bowl. In 1932, George ...

and 1937

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in ...

. The Dukes turned down invitations from the Cotton Bowl, Sun Bowl, and Olympic Bowl in 1939.

AP Poll appearances

From 1933 to 1942, Duquesne was among the elite college football teams in the United States, garnering the sixth-highest winning percentage (71-22-2, .762) in the nation behind Alabama, Tennessee, Duke, Fordham and Notre Dame. In 1941, Duquesne finished the season undefeated and untied, earning a No. 8

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

ranking while leading the nation in scoring defense, rushing defense and total defense. (Duquesne also led all of NCAA Division I football in scoring defense in 2002 and rushing defense, passing defense and total defense in 2005.) *October 19, 1936 #11 *November 16, 1936 #20 *November 23, 1936 #12 *November 30, 1936 #14 FINAL *November 1, 1937 #16 *October 23, 1939 #11 *October 30, 1939 #13 *November 6, 1939 #12 *November 13, 1939 #10 *November 20, 1939 #20 *November 27, 1939 #6 *December 4, 1939 #10 *December 11, 1939 #10 FINAL *October 27, 1941 #16 *November 3, 1941 #12 *November 10, 1941 #10 *November 17, 1941 #6 *November 24, 1941 #5 *December 1, 1941 #8 FINAL *October 12, 1942 #13

Notable players

Leigh Bodden Leigh Edmond Bodden (born September 24, 1981) is a former American football cornerback. He was originally signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He played college football at Duquesne. Bodden has also played for the D ...

Art Rooney Arthur Joseph Rooney Sr. (January 27, 1901 – August 25, 1988), often referred to as "The Chief", was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, an American football franchise in the National Football League (NFL), from 1933 until his death ...

Aldo Donelli Aldo Teo "Buff" Donelli (July 22, 1907 – August 9, 1994) was an American football player and coach, soccer player, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Duquesne University from 1939 to 1942, Boston Univ ...

* Mike Basrak *

Boyd Brumbaugh Urban Boyd Brumbaugh (August 24, 1915 – April 5, 1988) was a professional football player in the National Football League (NFL) for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Pittsburgh Pirates (who were later renamed the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1941). Col ...

* Ernie Hefferle * Christian Kuntz *

Armand Niccolai Armand Niccolai (November 8, 1911 – December 2, 1988) was a guard who played nine seasons in the National Football League. Niccolai attended Duquesne University. Armand Niccolai played nine seasons for the Pittsburgh Pirates/Steelers aft ...

* Nick DeCarbo * Al DeMao *

Ray Kemp Raymond Howard Kemp (April 7, 1907 – March 26, 2002) was an American football player and a charter member of the Pittsburgh Pirates football team (now called the Pittsburgh Steelers). He was also the first African-American player in the team's h ...

* Tony Zimmerman

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duquesne Dukes Football 1891 establishments in Pennsylvania American football teams established in 1891