It is rare for a freshman athlete to jump into a team's starting rotation.
It is even more uncommon for a first-year player to be named a football team's starting quarterback -- the one who calls the shots and directs other players -- particularly when there are two other players, including a redshirt junior, competing for the spot.
But Duquesne redshirt freshman Scott Knapp defies the odds.
In his first two games -- both Dukes victories -- he threw for a combined 630 yards and three touchdowns, completing 35 of 65 passes.
He threw for 365 yards in his first career start against Robert Morris, a record for Duquesne freshmen. Last week against Fordham, Knapp connected on five passes over 20 yards, including touchdowns of 66 and 65 yards.
For both of these efforts, Knapp was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week.
Penn coach Al Bagnoli is impressed by Knapp's early-season success.
"He came out of the blocks, threw for well over 300 yards against Robert Morris, their crosstown rival, which is a very emotional game," Bagnoli said. "And then against Fordham, one of the better Patriot League teams, they scored 30 points."
"He definitely got our attention," Bagnoli added.
Success is nothing new to Knapp, who guided the Perry Traditional Academy in Pittsburgh to a 37-4 record and three City League championships between 2001 and 2003.
After former Duquesne quarterback Neil Loebig graduated last year, there was speculation that the Dukes would have difficulty filling his shoes. Indeed, Loebig is one of only five players in I-AA history to have thrown for over 10,000 yards and 100 touchdowns for his career.
That concern appears to be fading.
"The rumor mill coming out of spring ball was that they were struggling to find a quarterback," Bagnoli said. "Obviously the rumor mill can't be right, because in two games, [Knapp] has averaged over 300 yards throwing the ball."
Indeed, Penn's secondary may have a difficult time defending Duquesne's prolific passing attack tomorrow.
That is not to say, however, that the Quakers plan to play conservatively to protect against the long bomb.
"If you stay back and guard the long pass all the time, they'll catch a lot of short stuff on you," senior defensive back Michael Johns said. "It's an occupational hazard."
Bagnoli, like Johns, believes that Penn's defense does not need to make any significant changes to adapt to Duquesne's passing-heavy offense.
"We gotta do what we do," he said. "Hopefully we'll give him some different looks, and try to pressure him from different areas, and try to get him out of a rhythm, and try to make it so that he can't set his feet."
Penn's defense will have to overcome the fact that it has never seen any film footage of Knapp.
"He's thrown for a lot of yards," Johns said. "We have to respect him. That's all we can say about him, though."
Because the Quakers have not played an official game yet this season, it would be unfair for them to watch the tape from Duquesne's first two victories, because Penn could not reciprocate.
As a result, Bagnoli has relied primarily on discussions with Fordham head coach Ed Foley, who worked as an assistant coach at Penn from 1991-1993 and again from 1995-1997.
"We spoke to the Fordham coaches," Bagnoli said. "They were tremendously impressed with [Duquesne's] skill kids, including the quarterback.
"We're going to have our hands full."
