PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Duquesne head coach Jerry Schmitt says the message is the same for every football game. Will his team really hear that message when playing in a 46,000-seat stadium Saturday night at TCU?
See Duquesne is playing at TCU. The Big 12 opponent of West Virginia.
“Our guys are really excited,” Schmitt said. “I don’t think I have to do anything for them. They are excited about the opportunity, the challenge. To measure themselves against the top football players in the country.”
The measurements look like this across the Horned Frogs offensive line—6’6”, 325 pounds, 6’4”, 321 pounds, 6’4”, 334 pounds, 6’5”, 297 pounds, 6’8”, 334 pounds. The measurements for Duquesne across the front three—6’4”, 235 pounds, 6’2”, 300 pounds, 6’2” 235 pounds.
“There will be guys, bigger, stronger, faster, and there will be more of them,” Schmitt said. “They will be able to gauge themselves. I’m sure there are some athletic moves that they will learn from.”
Several TCU players have athletic moves. They led the Big 12 in rushing in 2020 and were 20th nationally. In their wins last season, the Horned Frogs averaged 275 yards per game on the ground.
“Our focus is to play our best football,” Schmitt said. “The goal is for us to be as good as we can be, focus really on ourselves and play our best football. We always say, if we do that, we have a chance to be successful.”
Odds makers don’t believe in that chance; TCU is favored by 49.5 points.
“We’ll take that into TCU also understanding it’s a major challenge for us,” Schmitt said. “We will judge our performance on ourselves.”
Duquesne will once again be a conference title contender after going 4-1 and 4-0 in the NEC in the spring. Dukes have QB Joe Mischler back, who Schmitt praised for his leadership. Tailback Garrett Owens returns after five TD and 411 yards in five games. Receiver Cyrus Holder had five touchdowns as well with 491 yards receiving.
Defensively, five All-NEC players return including a pair of first-team safeties. At linebacker, a pair of all-conference players and another returning from injury. AJ Garson, 5.5 tackles for loss, returns to the defensive line.
It should be a good year for the Dukes even if it may not start that way.
“I think it will give our kids confidence to move forward,” Schmitt said. “That we can take the successes on the field and move on from there.”
It’s all a matter of perspective.