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August
22, 2007
With September just around the corner, the start
of the 2007-08 season is fast approaching. It all
officially begins on Nov. 9 at home against
Howard. Three of our first five games will be at
home in what should be a challenging stretch in
November. We will also play host to Winston Salem
State and Niagara, with road games at Rice and
Oakland. We will close out the month at the Drake
Tournament, in Des Moines, Iowa.
We will return home from the Drake Tournament to
face Pittsburgh on Dec. 4. Four days later we will
travel to Morgantown to play West Virginia. The
remainder of the non-league schedule may not have
the name power of our first two December
opponents, but they will be no less challenging.
After a short break for exams, we close out the
month with three straight home games, beginning on
Dec. 21 against St. Francis (PA). On Dec. 28 will
take on Robert Morris and Dec. 30 we will face
South Carolina Upstate. The non-conference
schedule concludes on Jan. 2 with a road trip to
Bowling Green.
Seven of our pre-conference opponents won 17 or
more games last season (Drake 17-15, Niagara
23-12, Oakland 19-14, Pitt 29-8, Robert Morris
17-11, South Carolina Upstate 17-11 in D-II and
West Virginia 27-9). Three opponents contended for
titles in their respective leagues. Niagara
finished second in the MAAC, Oakland was second in
the Mid-Continent (now called the Summit League)
and Pittsburgh finished second behind Georgetown
in the Big East.
I like our schedule. I think it will challenge us
and help to better prepare us for competition in
the Atlantic 10 Conference. The league will be
formidable again this season so it will be
important for us to use the months of November and
December to improve.
We are fortunate in that we have an opportunity to
get started a little earlier this season. This
Labor Day weekend we will travel to Toronto,
Ontario for Duquesne’s first-ever foreign tour. We
will play four games in three days, beginning on
Saturday, Sept. 1 against the University of
Toronto. We will also face Ryerson University,
Sheridan College and the University of Waterloo.
The NCAA allows schools to embark on such trips,
once every four years. It’s a great opportunity
for the coaching staff to evaluate and for the
players to work on our offensive and defensive
concepts. And with 10 days of practice before we
head north, it is an excellent for everyone to
improve.
- COACH RON
EVERHART
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Copyright © 2006 Ron Everhart and
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All Rights Reserved. |
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