Long Island Climbs Out of an 11-point Hole to Edge Duquesne
Eleven points. That was the hole Long Island University dug for itself by the middle of the second quarter, and it still walked out of Duquesne with a 17-14 win.
The early script belonged to the home team. LIU got a 43-yard field goal from Will Johnson, then Duquesne answered with Dazhaun Hopkins running in from 13 yards out with 19 seconds left in the first quarter. Ness Davis added a 5-yard run with 4:33 left in the half, and it was 14-3. LIU got one back before the break: Luca Stanzani found Sam Slade from nine yards with 1:48 to go, and it was 14-10 at the half. Nobody scored in the third quarter. The only points after halftime were Slade again, a 5-yard run with 11:29 left in the fourth, and Johnson kicked the extra point for the first lead of the day at 17-14. That was the last score. Duquesne got to 14 and stopped there.
The box score says why. Duquesne threw two interceptions and lost a fumble, three turnovers against none for LIU, and still outgained the visitors 295 yards to 273. You can win the yardage battle by a hair, lose the turnover battle by three, and that is how a 14-3 lead turns into a three-point loss.
The ground game was a grind for both sides. LIU carried 41 times for 117 yards, Duquesne 42 times for 93. Stanzani threw it only 13 times (10 completions, 156 yards) and ran it 20 times himself. Nobody was running away from anybody.
The records tell their own story. LIU moves to 2-3. Duquesne drops to 0-2, still looking for its first win. For fantasy purposes, Slade was the name: a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown, and both of them came when LIU needed them.