Seven Duquesne Dukes to know ahead of FSU Football season opener Saturday

With just two days remaining before the Florida State football team and third-year head coach Mike Norvell kick off the 2022 season against FCS program Duquesne, Seminole fans might still have questions about the team on the visiting sideline.

Picked by the media to finished second in the FCS’ Northeast Conference, Duquesne returns an experienced lineup of productive players and a handful of transfers from the FBS ranks that are likely to start against FSU inside Doak Campbell Stadium (5 p.m. ET, ACC Network).

“This Duquesne team that is coming in, it’s a program that’s had a lot of success over the last couple of years,” Norvell said. “Offensively, they can do a little but of everything. They’ve got really quality football players. … This is a team, they can play very good football.”

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Here are seven players to watch for Duquesne on Saturday, as well as a quick look at the Dukes’ coaching staff.

Sophomore running back Billy Lucas (#4), 6-0, 205 pounds

Lucas was selected as the conference’s offensive rookie of the year in the shortened 2020 season and was an All-Conference second-team pick following another year as the starting running back in 2021. Lucas gained 699 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground last year. A consensus three-star recruit per On3, the Pennsylvania native picked home-state Duquesne despite holding FBS offers from Bowling Green and Old Dominion.

Senior defensive tackle Maxi Hradecny (#94), 6-2, 315 pounds

An international standout from Austria, Hradecny is another returning two-year starter that held offers from a handful of FBS schools. The senior had four sacks last year and has played in every game for Duquesne going back to 2018. Behind Hradecny at defensive tackle is a 6-foot-3, 290-pound freshman Alex Reese, who held offers from Akron and Ohio coming out of high school.

Junior offensive lineman Vincent Lumia (#77), 6-3, 290 pounds

A Florida native and Palm Beach County standout from Suncoast HS, Lumia is a three-year starter. A second-team All-Northeast Conference selection in 2021, Lumia projects to line up at either left or right tackle.

Junior safety Jeremiah Josephs (#1), 5-11, 170 pounds

Pittsburgh native transferred back home after starting his college career with Miami (Ohio) in 2019. Was an On3 consensus three-star prospect in 2019 that played in five games in two seasons for his previous school. He then established himself in 2021 as an All-Conference defender with Duquesne while racking up 33 tackles and two interceptions.

Senior tight end Quan Easterling (#88), 6-3, 230 pounds

A transfer from Wisconsin, Easterling was rated as a three-star prospect in 2019 with a player rating of 83.02 per On3’s composite rankings. Easterling received looks as a fullback and tight end out of high school and selected the Badgers over UCLA, among others. He played sparingly at fullback for the Badgers before transferring to Duquesne earlier this year.

Junior linebacker Todd Hill (#9), 5-10, 240 pounds

A second-team All-NEC selection in 2021, Hill mans the middle linebacker spot for Duquesne. At 240 pounds, Hill first broke in as a starter in 2019 and enters his fourth year atop the depth chart.

Sophomore offensive lineman Chris Oliver (#59), 6-4, 300 pounds

Likely the other offensive tackle opposite Lumia, Oliver is yet another transfer that the Dukes were able to bring in from Bowling Green. The Pennsylvania native played defensive tackle at his previous school.

More players to know for Duquesne

The seven players listed above aren’t the only ones that left FBS schools to try their talents at the FCS level with Duquesne. There’s also defensive end Noah Palmer, a former Pittsburgh signee in 2018. Palmer (#6) played sparingly at Pitt, but was a consensus three-star prospect per On3’s composite rankings.

There is talent at quarterback as well. Sophomore Darius Perrantes (#7) filled in for starter junior Joe Mischler (#11) last season. Perrantes passed for 1,620 passing yards and 17 touchdowns in eight games while Mischler went for 1,195 yards and 9 touchdowns in a shortened five-game season in 2020. They both are options in 2022.

Other notable skill players beyond the two listed above are wideout Dwayne Menders (#8), a transfer from Marist, who went for a team-leading 45 catches and 525 receiving yards. Duquesne’s second-team running back, Demarcus Ware, is a Samford transfer with 19 rushing touchdowns in four seasons.

Other returning starters that should play a key role in 2022 include junior cornerback and Florida native Tim Lowery (#2), another Marist transfer in linebacker Jayden Johnson (#53), and first-team All-Conference kicker Brian Bruzdewicz (junior was 10-for-10 on field goal tries in 2021).

FSU faces experienced Duquesne coaching staff

Duquesne head coach Jerry Schmitt is the program’s all-time winningest head coach and enters his 18^th season after being hired in 2005. Schmitt also worked as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator with Duquesne from 1985-87 and 1992-99. Duquesne beat MAC opponent Ohio University, 28-26, last season.

“Very disciplined football team,” Norvell said. “They’re very multiple in their concepts, the have a new defensive coordinator who is going to be multiple in his approach with blitz packages.”

The Dukes’ pair of coordinators actually played together at FCS school Saint Francis (Pa.) in the early 2000s. Longtime offensive coordinator Anthony Doria has held that role with Duquesne since 2016, while Mike Craig enters his first season as defensive coordinator.

Other notable assistants on the staff include offensive line coach and assistant head coach Mike Silianoff, an alum who’s been on the staff for 15 seasons and played at Duquesne in the early ‘80s alongside Schmitt.

Another former Duke on staff is running backs Larry McCoy, who graduated as the program’s all-time leading rusher with 4,549 rushing yards. Defensive line coach Reggie Wells Jr. played offensive guard in the NFL for 10 seasons, in addition to being a team captain and starter on the 2008 NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals.

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.