Game Notes | NEC Front Row | Live Stats
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Sacred Heart football team looks to snap its current two-game slide Saturday when it travels to Pittsburgh to take on the Duquesne Dukes.
SHU (6-3, 1-3 NEC) lost its second consecutive game last week, falling 37-35 at Central Connecticut on an Ed Groth field goal with 0:15 left in regulation. The Pioneers took the lead, 35-34, with 1:28 to play on RJ Noel's second touchdown pass of the game to Moses Webb. Noel finished the day with 263 passing yards and four total touchdowns, three through the air.
The fifth-year quarterback became Sacred Heart's all-time leader in passing yards last week, passing Dale Fink's total of 8,803 with his mark of 8,869. Noel also now has 80 career touchdown passes which put him two away from tying Fink's record of 82. With his four touchdowns last week, Noel joined Mercer's John Ross as active FCS quarterbacks with over 100 total touchdowns. Noel enters this week with 102 total touchdowns with 22 rushing scores.
This week's game is a matchup of the top two active NEC leaders in passing yards in Noel and Dillon Buechel of Duquesne. Buechel has 9,778 career passing yards entering Saturday. He is second in the NEC in passing this season, averaging 258.1 yards per game. Duquesne enters this week having won four of its last five games after last week's 28-20 win at Wagner. Freshman running back A.J. Hines rushed for 136 yards and two touchdowns in the win on Staten Island. He leads the NEC in rushing with 121.7 yards per game. As a team, Duquesne boasts the top offense in the NEC, averaging 425.1 yards and 28.9 points per game.
Duquesne (6-3, 3-1 NEC) leads the all-time series against Sacred Heart 7-4. After SHU won back-to-back meetings in 2013 and 2014, the Dukes won last season's game at Campus Field 41-14. Buechel threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Noel had 236 yards and also had a pair of touchdown passes. The Dukes have won three of the five meetings in Pittsburgh.
