“We're Gonna Play a Big Game Every Week”: Business as Usual for Duquesne in Big Win

It had to be asked, and it was.

There was a lot of hype for the Lakers heading into Saturday’s contest. Mercyhurst was an official 2-0 with an unofficial win over New Haven. The Lakers had gone out to play Sacramento State, Youngstown State, and Montana State, and come out of the gauntlet looking competitive in each game. Mercyhurst had a chance at a big moment in Erie, and they made sure to create it.

The athletic department staff did a tremendous job. There was a pre-game concert from country musician and alum Garett Owen. A white out. A press conference early in the week. Some of the biggest names in FCS football were talking about this game in the days leading up to it.

But was there anything about this game that made Duquesne want to send a message?

Coach Schmitt noticed the atmosphere, but he didn’t care. His team didn’t, either. “We’re gonna play a big game every week,” Coach Schmitt said.

“This was a big game, both teams, 2-0, but we came in, and we're just gonna play our football. And I'm really proud of our guys for executing it that way. Just dialing in and not worrying about all the peripheral stuff. There was a concert before the game and all this… We just were focused on the football game. I'm really proud of our kids, because they go to work during the week, and that's what they play for.”

I still have to wonder, though, if there was just a little bit of extra sauce on Duquesne’s game on Saturday.

When you have to look too closely for something, it probably isn’t there. In terms of extraneous “bad blood” prior to the matchup between the Lakers and the Dukes, that’s probably true. You’d have to look close. It was a white out, and the Dukes wore their white jersey and white pants. Unless there was some kind of refusal from the Dukes to wear color during the white out… but again, you’re looking too hard. Way too hard.

There was some talk earlier in the week that this could develop into a rivalry. I think that this is the case now more than ever before. It wasn’t a tight contest, but that isn’t how hatred builds up, either.

That score of 37-0 doesn’t lie. There is a positive aspect to it, though. Ironic though it may be, a score like that only gives incentive to improve, not to find moral victories. An outcome like that is one that the Lakers are going to have to sit with for a year. Every time they look at Duquesne’s name, they’ll remember that score. Some of them are going to be listening to the game when they work out during the offseason. If you want to remember what it looks like when a team is a step ahead of you, that’s the game to replay. Every single player on the Lakers wants to be a champion. They want to compete. You’ve now seen what it takes to be a championship level program in the NEC. Each one of them wants it, and there is no better way to motivate yourself than to see what it takes to get to it.

So there’s hatred if you’re the Lakers, or at least every opportunity to develop it. The Dukes don’t have that incentive right now.

But what I did see from Duquesne on the field looked aggressive. The Dukes were playing hard, of course, but the first drive was an imposition of will. They made it clear early that they had the ability to control the clock and sustain a long, methodical, physical drive. That physicality was evident on defense throughout the night. Clearly evident. The Dukes had an edge that was just about the ideal in football: well within the rules, but playing with great physicality and assertiveness. It was beautiful, physical football, part of what makes the game so great in the first place.

Ultimately, well, football fans want to see rivalries. I want to see new ones develop in the NEC. I’m almost certainly just grasping at straws because there is nothing better than two programs who just can’t stand each other.

That’s my nature, and at least I can recognize it.

If there was any directive to send a message, no one’s telling. As Coach Schmitt said, “The last thing I said to them in the team meeting was have fun.”

If you were a Duke, it was probably fun for you.

If you weren’t, let this one eat at you and get back up for next year. There’s a lot of football to be played between these two teams, and I can’t wait.