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Wednesday, November 13, 2002

By Phil Axelrod, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Duquesne is the most dominating team in NCAA Division I football. Not Miami. Not Montana. Not anybody else.

The numbers say so.

Of the 240 schools in Division I and I-AA, Duquesne is No. 1 in terms of record and point differential against its opponents. The Dukes (10-0) have outscored the opposition, 370-91, and are the only team to allow fewer than 100 points.

	Duquesne Domination Duquesne is No. 1 in terms of record and point differential among teams in Division I-A and I-AA. The top five: School Conf. W L PF PA Diff. 1. Duquesne MAAC 10 0 370 91 + 279 2. Boise State WAC 9 1 479 207 + 272 3. Dayton Pioneer 9 1 368 101 + 267 4. Miami Big East 9 0 370 144 + 226 5. Kansas State Big 12 8 2 461 114 + 347

Kansas State has the widest point differential, scoring 461 and allowing 114, but the Wildcats have lost two games.

These statistics do not suggest Duquesne is the premier team in Division I. But they illustrate that, against the teams they play, they have had more success than any other team at winning while containing their opponents.

Duquesne, a non-scholarship program competing in Division I-AA Mid-Major, is one of four unbeaten Division I teams, along with Miami (9-0), Ohio State (11-0) and Montana (10-0).

"I feel very fortunate to be 10-0 against the type of schedule we've played. This football team has done everything we could ask of them," Duquesne Coach Greg Gattuso said. "Our skill level is very high. We're fast at every position. We've never had speed like this."

Duquesne, winner of a fourth consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship, will play at the home of the Northeast Conference champion (Albany or Stony Brook) Nov. 23 in the ECAC Classic.

Duquesne's final regular-season game is against second-place Fairfield (5-5) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Rooney Field. This could become the first Duquesne team to win 11 games in a season in the school's 102 years of official records.

This is the sixth season a Duquesne team has won 10 games, four of those coming under Gattuso. The last time the Dukes went undefeated was 1973, when they won the national club championship.

The Dukes, top-ranked in Mid-Major by The Sports Network the past seven weeks, moved up to 24th in the I-AA Sports Network and USA Today/ESPN polls that include scholarship, partial scholarship and non-scholarship programs. The highest a Mid-Major team has been ranked was when Dayton was 18th in the Sports Network poll late in the 1997 season.

To receive one of the eight at-large bids to the 16-team national Division I playoffs, Duquesne most likely will have to be ranked at least 16th. A non-scholarship team never has been invited. The bids will be announced Nov. 24.

That Duquesne is even flirting with an invitation to the playoffs has stirred considerable debate. The conventional wisdom is a Division I-AA Mid-Major would be overwhelmed by the scholarship schools and shouldn't even be considered for the playoffs.

Gattuso disagrees. "Look at the Cinderella teams in the NCAA Division I basketball tournament. That's what makes March Madness so great. Wouldn't it be something if a Duquesne team would win a game in the football playoffs?

"There's always been a misconception about Mid-Major football," Gattuso said "It's better than you think. Top teams in each level can compete up.

"We think we could compete against scholarship teams in a one-game playoff situation. I don't know if we could over a season."

IUP playoff bound

IUP (10-1), winner of 10 consecutive games since a 37-34 loss to Findlay, is bound for the NCAA Division II playoffs for the 13th time in 16 seasons. The Indians won't know whom or where they play until bids are offered Sunday.

IUP, third in the Northeast Region poll, is guaranteed a playoff berth because the top four teams receive bids. If No. 2 Findlay (9-1) loses to No. 1 Grand Valley State (9-0) Saturday, IUP could move up to second and be at home in the opening round of the playoffs. Nos. 1 and 2 receive home games, with the highest remaining seed being the host for the region final.

IUP defeated Slippery Rock, 34-28, in overtime Saturday. A fight marred the end of the game, when celebrating IUP players ran toward a ceremonial rock outside of the east end zone of Slippery Rock's N. Kerr Thompson Stadium. Players clashed with Slippery Rock ROTC students who were guarding the rock, which is dedicated to former coach Bob DiSpirito.

The Associated Press reported that Steve Murray, commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, is reviewing videotape of the incident and that disciplinary action might be taken against players from both teams.