Gun-slinging Loebig looks to slay Quakers with aerial attack

For nearly a decade, the Duquesne football program has imposed a stranglehold on the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Pittsburgh school has claimed six of the last eight league championships including the last four, and in 2002 became just the second mid-major I-AA team ever to be ranked in the top 25. But rarely have the Dukes looked more dominant than during the past two seasons, with quarterback Niel Loebig at the helm. Loebig has amassed a 20-5 record in a little more than two seasons as the Duke's primary signal caller. The junior represents the linchpin of coach Greg Gattuso's aerial attack. The most accurate passer in program history, the co-captain threw for 4,797 yards in his first two years, garnering first-team All-MAAC honors in both. His 51 touchdowns at the season's start was tops among rising juniors in all of Division I, and already ranks second all-time in the Duquesne record books. Last season, behind the 6'3" junior, the Dukes went undefeated in conference play for the fifth time during Gattuso's tenure. In addition to conference honors, Loebig was designated a Don Hansen Honorable Mention All-American. For both Loebig and his Dukes, this season has been no different. They enter tomorrow's contest at Franklin Field ranked No. 1 nationally in passing offense. Loebig has thrown for 635 yards and six touchdowns in the Dukes' first two contests, compiling a stratospheric 137.21 pass efficiency rating. In last weekend's 49-0 rout of Butler, Loebig hurled four touchdown passes. He went 18-for-31 passing for 291 yards. Michel Warfield and Yardon Brantley each caught a pair of TDs. However, while Duquesne boasts a No. 2 ranking in the Sports Network I-AA Mid-Major poll, a victory over the defending Ivy League champs -- currently ranked No. 23 nationally in Division I-AA -- would do much to justify their standing. The importance of Saturday's opener is not lost on the McDonald, Pa., native. "It's probably the biggest game of our careers," said Loebig in a press release, following Saturday's victory. "It's a jump to play somebody at their level. But it's their home opener and there will be a great crowd."

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