by Jack Morgan | staff writer
Duquesne football was greeted with a rude welcome to the 2024 season in its first two games. After losing its opener to Toledo two Thursdays ago, 49-10, they were blown out by Boston College on Saturday afternoon, 56-0, at Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill.
The game marks the last time Duquesne will play an FBS school this season, and it is its sixth-straight loss to an FBS school since its upset of Ohio in 2021.
Duquesne quarterback Darius Perrantes finished 8-for-18 with two interceptions for just 62 total yards, his least in a regular season game since 2022. A troubling trend for Duquesne in the early going of the season has been its efficiency on third down, as they have only converted on third down 16% of the time.
“We didn’t have a lot of time,” Duquesne Head Coach Jerry Schmitt said on the third down struggles for the Dukes. “I think [Perrantes] was pressured a little bit. It wasn’t as sharp as he had been through camp.”
Boston College started the game off by going three-and-out in its first drive. Duquesne forced two tackles for loss, with Antonio Epps and Nico Pate getting credited for one apiece. Duquesne responded by doing the same, however, and that is where the rout began.
On the ensuing drive, Eagles QB Tommy Castellanos hit Jerand Bradley for 30 yards, putting BC in Duquesne territory across midfield. Three plays later, they rode the momentum from Lewis Bond’s 27-yard reception to a three-yard Treshaun Ward rushing TD. Duquesne picked up two first downs’ on its next drive (one by way of roughing the punter), but once again the drive stalled out around midfield, and they punted and pinned the Eagles inside the 5-yard line. Despite the poor field position, BC struck again with a 72-yard touchdown catch by Reed Harris to take a 14-0 lead.
The nightmare first quarter didn’t end there. Perrantes tried to hook up with wideout Joey Isabella but was picked off by Khari Johnson, who took it 45 yards the other way for the score. Boston College continued their dominance from there, scoring on their next three drives. Those three consecutive scores came courtesy of touchdown passes from Castellanos. By the end of the first half, the Eagles had an insurmountable 42-0 lead.
Duquesne’s defense came out to play to start the second half, although Boston College had taken out their starters. With 12:32 to play in the third quarter, Jacobe Robinson, who came in for Castellanos, was unable to get off a pass attempt as Jack Dunkley stripped the ball away from him and Kevin Kurzinger recovered the fumble.
Schmitt expressed his pleasure with how Dunkley has ‘picked up where he left off last year.’
“He’s a tough, physically put together kid,” said Schmitt. “He just works really hard. I’m glad he gets rewarded from it, and we’re looking for big things from him moving forward.
Duquesne would pick up two first downs on the resulting drive, but it concluded with a missed 31-yard field goal by Brian Bruzdewicz. Boston College added two more touchdowns before the clock mercifully ran out.
While the Eagles used the win to launch to No. 24 in the AP Poll, Duquesne remains winless as it heads into their third-straight road game, this one at Youngstown State. It’s an FCS playoff rematch from last year in which the Penguins won, 40-7.