GAME PREVIEW: Lehigh at Duquesne
The #10 Lehigh Mountain Hawks are making the cross-state trip to take on Duquesne this Saturday at Rooney Field.
It’s been an interesting two games for the Dukes so far. While they’ve had an away game against a P4 opponent, that opponent was in the city and just down the road (actually closer to Duquesne’s campus than Pitt’s) at Acrisure Stadium. Next, they welcomed in D2 Lincoln (PA). Both games were lopsided, one in the favor of the opponent, and one in favor of the Dukes.
We had expected to see a more competitive Duquesne team against Pitt, reasoning that the strength of the Dukes is their offensive and defensive lines and that Pitt would be breaking in some new faces in the trenches. We had thought that the experienced OL from the Bluff would be able to hold off Pitt better. Unfortunately, Duquesne wasn’t able to compete with their P4 neighbors, and so we looked to the D2 game as a better test of what the Dukes might be capable of. They delivered in spades. Taj Butts looked superhuman on the first drive, but a lot of that was due to the push the Dukes were getting against the 3-4 front for Lincoln. They seemed like a wall in front of quarterback Ty Riddell, and from the first drive it became very clear that this would be a strength for Duquesne on that day, and when you win by a wide margin in the trenches, you almost certainly will win the football game.
But just like a game against a P4 opponent in Pitt can only tell us so much, a win over a Division II program just doesn’t shed enough light on who the Dukes are and how good they can be.
When the Dukes are on offense, we’ve seen Ty Riddell find his groove against Lincoln and even show some flashes against Pitt. Joey Isabella can play with any defense in the country, so he should be effective once again against Lehigh. TJ Burke (2 sacks already) and Matt Spatny lead a strong defensive line that will do all they can to emulate Pitt’s performance. Linebacker Brycen Edwards is also a standout for the Mountain Hawks. The pre-season Patriot League favorites will be very difficult to move the ball on despite the weapons Duquesne brings into the fray on Saturday.
On the other side of the ball, Lehigh rolls with quarterback Hayden Johnson, although he’s only been called on for 41 passes so far this season. He’s thrown for 2 TD to 3 INT and is completing 56% of his passes, which tells you that Lehigh will certainly be committed to the run. It’s a much better situation for Lehigh there. For one thing, Johnson is a threat in the running game, with a long of 20 already this season. But more importantly, the Mountain Hawks have a one-two punch that will likely be the best Duquesne will see all season in Luke Yoder (171 yards) and Jaden Green (167 yards). The Dukes have players on the line like A.J. Ackerman and Jack Dunkley who we know can rush the pass. Dunkley in particular has shown athleticism in being able to work in the run game even when it reaches the second level, and Tyson Meiguez at linebacker has been a revelation for Duquesne. This will definitely be an area that the Dukes need to win to pull off the upset. Yoder should still be effective no matter how good the Dukes are on Saturday, as he came into 2025 highly touted as a Patriot League pre-season first teamer.
This will undoubtedly be a tough challenge for the Dukes, but if they can win this one they’ll be expected to thrive the rest of the way through NEC play and their remaining FCS schedule. A Top 25 ranking is almost certainly on the line. It would be exciting, sure, but in the NEC, the only thing that really matters from a postseason perspective is winning the NEC. Therefore, this is a great chance for the Dukes to test themselves again this season and hopefully get a feel for what they’ve got when they head into the meat of the schedule. This one, just like the Pitt game, breaks down into trench warfare. If the experienced Duquesne OL can hold off an excellent frontline for the Mountain Hawks, and if the DL can slow down Lehigh’s vaunted rushing attack, this could go in favor of the Dukes. But it’s certainly a daunting task.
