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Duquesne comes to YSU coming off a playoff season
Duquesne arrives in town as a playoff team
Game day has finally rolled around and with it comes a bit more than a cupcake tuneup game to get an easy number one on the left side of the win column.
The Duquesne Dukes come into town off of a successful 2015 campaign that featured an 8-4 record, a Northeast Conference championship and a playoff appearance. Youngstown State is coming off a 5-6 season that saw the team lose their final two games by a total of six points.
The Penguins have all the history on their side. YSU hasn’t lost a home opener since 1995, they’ve won 26 of their last 27 non-conference home regular-season games and they’ve beaten the Dukes each of the last two times the schools have met (59-17 in 2013, 34-23 in 2014).
The offense looking to change that history is Dillon Buechel. The senior threw for 239 yards a game last year and threw 24 touchdowns opposed to eight interceptions. He will likely carry the burden of moving the offense since the Dukes lost their top two running backs from last year.
Rafiq Douglas and Klartel Claridy combined for 1,466 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2015. P.J. Fulmore, who averaged 42 yards a game and didn’t find the end zone last year, is the top returning back so the Dukes will likely air the ball out.
Senior defensive end Derek Rivers, YSU’s all-time sack leader with 26, said the experience and maturity of the YSU defense will give Buechel a tough first test.
“Our speed comes from our experience,” Rivers said. “Last year we were just learning it and this year we’re a lot more comfortable and confident. Now that we know the basis of the defense we can run a few more things out of it. It gives us more options.”
With an offense that likes to go deep through the air, the Dukes are likely to hit a couple big plays, which Rivers said he doesn’t believe will negatively affect the mentality of the defense like it did last year.
“Last year something we wanted to focus on was when someone makes a big play on us just forgetting it and having a short-term memory,” Rivers said. “This year that’s one of our big focuses that we’ve turned around a lot in camp.”
The biggest question mark on YSU’s sideline will be who takes the majority of the snaps under center. Hunter Wells is listed as the projected starter in the game notes but head coach Bo Pelini still wouldn’t budge on if that meant Wells will see the field more or even before backups Ricky Davis or Trent Hosick. Wells was hindered the final week of practice with a sore shoulder but that’s not an issue according to Pelini.
The loss of junior linebacker Lee Wright to a suspension that will last through December will have to be overcome by an otherwise experienced defense. Eight of the 11 defensive starters (nine of 12 counting the nickel back) are seniors. Sophomore Armand Dellovade will fill the hole left by Wright.
On the offensive line, depth and mobility are expected from a unit that was forced to start eight players at some point last year as injuries plagued the team from the midpoint of the season on.
“I think we’re pretty good at mobility,” junior left tackle Justin Spencer said. “We’re a big o-line but we can move pretty much with everybody. [The coaches] emphasize it. We’re starting to mesh and play together.”