Gateway grad Matt Brooks helps Duquesne to Northeast Conference title
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When Matt Brooks stepped on Duquesne’s campus for the first time in the spring, he thought he would have more time to develop his craft on the defensive line before he played any meaningful snaps for the Dukes football team.
However, by the end of the season the Gateway grad found himself in the starting lineup for the Dukes when they squared off against Youngstown State in the first round of the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs Nov. 25.
The Dukes lost 40-7 against the Penguins, but Brooks couldn’t believe his journey in his first season at Duquesne and how far he has come on the football field.
Duquesne finished the season 7-5, won the Northeast Conference title for the second time in program history and reached the FCS playoffs for the fourth time.
“It was a blessing. I didn’t think at the beginning of the year, I was going to be a guy starting in a playoff game in my freshman year,” Brooks said. “It was nerve-wracking when we got there, but it was an incredible experience. I hope to get in more games like that with a different outcome.
“I honestly thought every single moment I got to play in a game was an exciting moment. Just being out there with the guys and dominating other offenses was really fun.”
Brooks started five of the last six games for the Dukes on the defensive line after injuries to A.J. Ackerman and Kevin Kurzinger moved Brooks up the depth chart.
Brooks cracked the starting lineup against Saint Francis (Pa.) on homecoming weekend Oct. 21. Duquesne narrowly defeated the Red Flash, 38-35.
He finished the season with 14 tackles, including five solo and 2.5 for loss. Brooks, who appeared in 12 games, recorded his only sack at Delaware on Oct. 7.
“I was thinking I was going to redshirt,” he said. “Even when everyone was healthy, I asked Coach (Reggie) Wells (Jr.) if could redshirt. He told me I would be better off for me to not redshirt because I was going to play. The focus changed when everyone started to get hurt from developing to doing my job and doing what’s best for the team.”
The 6-foot-1, 280-pound Brooks transferred from Canon-McMillan before his junior season. Brooks received first-team Big East honors in each of his two seasons at Gateway where he finished with 63 tackles as a junior and 66 during his senior season.
“Personally, I developed a whole lot more. If I have half the things I have right now when I played high school football, I don’t even know,” Brooks said.
“Coach Wells and Coach (Mike) Craig are unbelievable. The development process was incredible. I had top feet to fill behind those top guys in the D-line. They definitely helped me out to a point where I could benefit this team.”
Brooks, who majors in theology, will look to add weight during the offseason in order to withstand the grind of competing against bigger offensive lineman as he looks to take on a bigger role next season at Duquesne.
“The skill, size and speed, but it’s a lot more mental in this game,” he said. “The culture is different. Everything is more serious. These are actual business trips. The playbook is different. I learned six plays in high school. Now I’m running 20-30 plays. I’m having a lot more fun.
“I’m a little undersized. We played against those big lineman at 320 pounds and I’m 270. I still need to put on some good weight, but I still need to have my speed and athleticism so I can hold my ground.”