Dan Deighan has proven he can beat teams with both his arm and his legs, but during the Muhlenberg football team’s game at Juniata, the Mule quarterback showed he can beat teams with his hands as well.

In the Mules’ 28-3 win over the Eagles yesterday, he caught three passes for 113 yards and two touchdowns to become the first player in program history to score multiple touchdowns both passing and receiving in the same season.

“It’s like riding a bike, it comes back to you quick,” said Deighan, who spent some time at receiver during his freshman season. “I’ve been in the position before, so it was nothing strange. And if that’s what it takes to win, that’s all that matters.”

On the first play of Muhlenberg’s third drive, backup quarterback Joe Carlucci hit a wide-open Deighan over the middle. He turned on the jets and outran three pursuers to complete an 80-yard touchdown.

That play, coupled with his 95-yard scoring pass against F&M, made him the first Mule player to throw and catch 80-plus yard touchdowns in the same season.

On Muhlenberg’s first drive of the fourth quarter, Carlucci hit Deighan two more times, including the final score of the day, a 12-yard touchdown along the left sideline.

“Coach schemed up the plays pretty well, and Joe put the throws right on; they were perfect,” Deighan said. “All I had to do was catch them, and I have to admit, I did get a little worried I might drop them.”

The idea was hatched earlier this week when the coaches approached the two quarterbacks with the plan. And when Deighan split out wide for the first time during practice on Tuesday, it raised some eyebrows, especially on the other side of the ball.

And since Deighan’s jersey No. 3 and Carlucci’s No. 8 can look similar from afar, it made some players squint to make sure they were seeing straight.

“It was a little weird at first,” senior linebacker Patrick McDonough said. “You get pretty used to seeing Dan in the backfield. But it was cool to see a little change up, and it obviously worked, the offense played well.”

Deighan’s stellar day made him the first Mule player to have a 100-yard receiving game and 200-yard passing game in the same season.

“Today I was pretty used to it because we practiced it all week, but Tuesday it was a little bit weird seeing him out there,” Carlucci said. “But eventually I got more comfortable with it. And I like throwing to him, I can definitely tell you that.”

But just because he had a big receiving day, don’t think for a second that Deighan is going to start giving his receivers grief if they don’t catch his passes.

Besides learning how to find open spaces in the defenses and evade defenders down the field, he also said he got an even greater appreciation for just how difficult it can be to haul in a pass in traffic.

“I’ve definitely seen the other side of it; it’s not as easy as it looks,” Deighan said. “It felt great to help the team get a win, and I’ve got even more respect for all of our receivers now.”