WVU football 2023 opponents -- Duquesne: Dukes aren't shying away from challenges

MORGANTOWN — After a top-10 test on the road to open the season, West Virginia will see a step down in competition for its home opener.
The Mountaineers are scheduled to play their first game at Milan Puskar Stadium in 2023 against FCS foe Duquesne on Sept. 9, a week after opening at Penn State.
The Dukes won’t be backing down from a fight early in the year, however. The Mountaineers are one of several strong teams the visitors from Pittsburgh will face before hitting the meat of their Northeast Conference schedule.
After starting the year at home against Edinboro, Duquesne will play at WVU and at Coastal Carolina. The Dukes will then travel to LIU for their conference opener before their fourth straight road game against Delaware.
The Blue Hens made the FCS playoffs and beat 2022 NEC champion and 2023 conference favorite Saint Francis before falling to eventual national champion South Dakota State last year.
“We want to give them opportunities to stress themselves and be as good as they can be,” Duquesne coach Jerry Schmitt said last week at NEC Media Day in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
“We want to play as good as we can, and we’ll have to in those games. The preparation for the staff and for the players will be great, we’ll plan on it. We’ll go enjoy that opportunity and go and play as hard as we can and go after those games the same way we go after every game.
“We take it one game at a time. There’s no set philosophy to the preparation to the season. We’re just trying to put ourselves in position to be as good as we can each and every week.”
The Dukes are coming off a down 2022 season in which they finished just 4-7 — the first losing season for Duquesne since 2014. Schmitt has led the Dukes since 2005, and during his tenure, Duquesne has won five NEC championships and made two trips to the FCS playoffs.
Duquesne was picked third in the eight-team NEC this season behind Saint Francis and Merrimack. The Dukes were one of four teams to receive a first-place vote.
“I don’t believe it’ll change anything for our players [after a down season],” Schmitt said. “They understand it’s what happens on the football field. We appreciate all the media beforehand, but our guys really dial into that first football game and preparing for it. Our plans are the same every year: to play as good as we can every single football game to give ourselves a chance to be there at the end.”
The Dukes averaged 24.6 points per game last season and enter the year with an offense highlighted by preseason all-conference wideout Joey Isabella. He had 191 yards and two scores on 12 receptions last year while being limited to four games due to injury.
Defensively, the Dukes are highlighted by preseason All-NEC selection A.J. Ackerman. The defensive lineman is coming off a season in which he posted 20 tackles, including 4.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks. Duquesne allowed 27.6 points per game in 2022.
WVU is 4-3-1 against Duquesne all-time. All eight previous meetings took place between 1914 and 1935.
The Sept. 9 meeting between WVU and Duquesne is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. and will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.