Sept. 10, 2005
Pittsburgh, PA - Every coach dreads two things entering a football games. Giving up big plays and turning the ball over. Unfortunately, both happened to Fordham University as the Rams gave up two passing touchdowns over 60 yards and turned the ball over three times, two of those leading two more scores, as the Rams fell to Duquesne University (2-0) 30-13 on Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field. The win is the first for the Dukes over Fordham in the fourth meeting between the two schools.
On their first possession, the Rams kept the ball on the ground with James Prydatko grinding out 38 yards on eight carries to put the ball on the Duquesne 28. But a Micah Clukey 35-yard field goal attempt was wide right.
The Fordham defense got the ball back right away for the Rams as Josh Jenrette forced a Duquesne fumble on the Dukes' 22 which was recovered by Matt Cole. The Rams turned that into a 31-yard Clukey field goal with 5:07 left in the first.
The 3-0 lead didn't last for long as on the first play from scrimmage, Scott Knapp found Bruce Hocker over the middle for a 65-yard touchdown pass to put the Dukes up 7-3 just 16 seconds later.
On the Rams' first possession of the second quarter Derric Daniels took to the air, completing four straight passes for 42 yards to put the ball on the Duquesne four. Jamaal Hunte covered those four yards on the ground to give Fordham a 10-7 lead with 11:34 left in the half.
The lead again didn't last long as the Rams were called for a personal foul on the ensuing kickoff return to give the Dukes the ball on the Duquesne 37 yard line. Two Knapp long completions put the ball on the Fordham seven where the Fordham defense held the Dukes and Mark Troyan came on to boot a 21-yard field goal to tie the game at ten with 8:57 remaining in the second.
With just over five minutes left in the half, the Rams were trapped deep in their own end following a punt and penalty. On the first play, Prydatko fumbled on the four and the ball was recovered by the Dukes. One play later, Jeremy McCullough rambled into the endzone for a 17-10 Duquesne lead with 5:20 left in the half.
The Rams took the ensuing kickoff and drove to the Duquesne 19 where Clukey connected on a 34-yard field goal to cut Fordham's deficit to four, 17-13, with 40 seconds left in the half.
Following a short punt the Rams took over on the Duquesne 41 with 23 seconds left in the half but a Daniels pass was intercepted by Kyle Postell who returned it 62 yards for a touchdown with four seconds left for a 23-13 Duquesne lead at the intermission.
On Duquesne's second possession of the second half the Dukes used another big play, a 66-yard touchdown pass from Knapp to Conrad Carter with 8:51 remaining in the third for a 30-13 lead.
Fordham had a chance to cut into the Duquesne lead early in the fourth but Hunte was tackled in the backfield on fourth and goal from the two, giving ball back to the Dukes.
Midway through the fourth the Rams saw another potential scoring drive stopped when James Caffarello fumbled after he caught a Daniels pass on the Duquesne 39 with five minutes left.
"We obviously didn't play well today," said head coach Ed Foley. "But we have to be resilient and focus on getting better and get ready for Columbia."
Daniels, who was sacked six times on the day, completed 19 of 39 passes for 205 yards while Mike Melvin led all Fordham receivers with six catches for 70 yards. Prydatko rushed 22 times for a game-high 61 yards.
Defensively, Josh Jenrette led the Rams with eight tackles, six solo, while also forcing a fumble and Marcus Taylor notched seven stop, four solo, while also forcing a fumble.
The Rams next be in action next Saturday, September 17th as they host Columbia University for their home opener on Jack Coffey at 7:00 p.m. in the annual battle for the Liberty Cup.