Duquesne aims to pack more of a potent offensive punch in ’23
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When Duquesne’s offense debuts Saturday in the 2023 opener against Edinboro, the 11-man unit that walks onto Rooney Field will be a mixture of familiar players and unproven talent.
At every position group, the Dukes have returning players from last year’s squad to lean on, in addition to an influx of transfers and new additions seeking to make their mark.
Up front, Michael Dorundo anchors the offensive line at center.
With 26 straight starts under his belt dating to the abbreviated five-game campaign in the spring of 2021, he is one of the most experienced offensive linemen in the Northeast Conference.
Quarterback Darius Perrantes returns for his third season at Duquesne, as does wide receiver and preseason All-NEC selection Joey Isabella.
“I think that we can be a really complete group,” said 13th-year offensive coordinator Anthony Doria. “We’re going to be a two-dimensional group. We’re not going to have to hang our hat on one way or the other. I think we can really, based off of who we’re playing and what they’re dictating defensively, we can kind of utilize our best skillsets against those matchups.”
Perrantes’ collegiate career has been full of adversity.
In 2021, his first year at Duquesne after transferring from Rhode Island, he underwent a baptism by fire, stepping into the starter’s shoes when Joe Mischler suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first quarter of the season-opener at TCU.
Perrantes looked good in his debut collegiate season, throwing for 1,620 yards and 17 touchdowns with seven interceptions.
Last year, coach Jerry Schmitt utilized Perrantes and Mischler under center, but Perrantes missed Duquesne’s final four games with a knee injury.
In seven games, he completed 52.1% (37 of 71) of his passes for 539 yards, six touchdowns and three picks.
Now, with Mischler having graduated, the play of Perrantes will be key this fall for the Dukes, who hope to bounce back from a 4-7 season in which they lost three games by a touchdown or less.
After Edinboro, tough matchups loom, with Duquesne playing four straight games away from home, including at West Virginia Sept. 9 and Coastal Carolina on Sept. 16.
“He’s in the best shape he’s been in since he’s been here physically,” said Schmitt, who enters his 19th season leading Duquesne. “He’s always had the athletic skills with his feet and his arm, but he’s dialing in more to the mental part of the game and is starting to grow as a leader.”
Like Mischler, Dwayne Menders, last year’s top receiver who caught 55 passes for 917 yards with six touchdowns, graduated.
Isabella highlights a receivers room restocked with transfers, such as juniors Ian Sheehan (Shippensburg) and Tedy Afful (Stony Brook).
“D.J. Powell, Jermaine Johnson — we have a lot of key players returning and coming in, so I’m very excited,” Perrantes said of his wideouts.
“ … I’m feeling great. I feel great about my play. My team is working very hard to build chemistry, and just getting to know each other on and off the field will help us in the long run.”
At tailback, Duquesne moves on from Billy Lucas, who transferred to Liberty in the spring.
Redshirt sophomore tailback JaMario Clements, who battled for touches in 2021 and ‘22 despite a crowded backfield, looks primed to assume a larger workload this fall, as does Missouri transfer Taj Butts, of whom Schmitt and Doria spoke highly.
While Perrantes is more experienced and the Dukes have promising groups at running back and receiver, all that might end up mattering little if the offensive line fails to do its part.
Last year’s group allowed the second-fewest sacks per game (1.73) in the NEC.
Duquesne lost its starting right tackle in Vincent Lumia, who transferred to Louisville, but Dorundo leads a group of returners that includes Chris Oliver, who started 10 games at left tackle in 2022, and Shawn Jones, who got his feet wet at right guard last fall.
As the Dukes near their opener at noon Saturday, Doria has high hopes for his offense, which he feels can be multi-faceted.
“We’re going to establish the run game,” he said. “We’re going to run the football, but we’re also going to throw it vertically and challenge people down the field, as well.”