Bulldogs Visit Dayton For First Place Showdown

FEATURE ATTRACTION:  For the first time since the Pioneer Football League was founded in 1993, Butler and Dayton will meet in a November game that has championship implications for both teams.  The two squads, currently sharing first place in the PFL with Drake, will meet at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m. (ET).  Butler, the PFL’s lone unbeaten team, improved to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in league play with a 14-7 victory at home over Davidson last weekend.  Dayton kept pace in the PFL race and improved to 7-1 overall with a 21-14 come-from-behind win over San Diego.  Drake, the PFL’s third 5-0 team, picked up a 45-38 come-from-behind win over Jacksonville.  Dayton will play at Drake on Nov. 14, and Drake will visit Butler on Nov. 21.  Dayton is the PFL’s all-time leader with nine league championships.  Butler has one league crown, a title it shared with Dayton in 1994.  The Bulldogs are 8-0 for the first time since 1961.                

Butler is one of just three unbeaten teams in the NCAA Division I FCS.

ON THE AIR:  For the fifth straight year, Butler football games can be heard on XL 950 (AM) in Indianapolis and on the internet at BigPlayProductions.com.  Calling the game are play-by-play announcer Brian Giffin and former Butler football coach Ken LaRose.  This weekend’s game against Dayton will be carried live on the internet and on XL 950, starting with a pre-game show at 12:40 a.m. (ET).

LONG HAUL:  Sophomore quarterback Andrew Huck engineered a 98-yard scoring drive late in the fourth quarter to lift Butler past Davidson at the Butler Bowl.  With the game tied, 7-7, Huck directed a scoring march that started at the Butler two-yard line, took 11 plays and lasted just over four minutes.  He completed three of five passes for 42 yards on the drive, and he added 28 rushing yards, including a one-yard touchdown run for the game-winner with just over four minutes remaining.  Butler’s defense held Davidson on its final attempt to give the Bulldogs their eighth consecutive victory. 

Butler defeated Davidson for the first time in six meetings.    
 
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS:  The win over Davidson was Butler’s fourth by seven points or less in five PFL outings and the Bulldogs’ fifth league game that was settled in the closing minutes.  Butler has an overtime victory against Morehead State and a win on the final play against San Diego.    

RUN THROUGH:  Junior Scott Gray picked up a season-high 117 rushing yards on 14 carries against Davidson.  It was his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season and the fourth of his Butler career.  The Butler tailback had a season-long 48-yard run on the first play of the game, and he picked up 24 yards on three carries on Butler’s first scoring drive of the contest.  Gray has averaged 90 rushing yards in Butler’s last four contests.  His performance against Davidson gave him 515 rushing yards on the season and 1,163 yard for his career.

Butler had a season-high 268 rushing yards on 42 attempts against Davidson.   

CATCHING UP:  Senior Dan Bohrer, who had two receptions for 23 yards against Davidson, continues to climb Butler’s all-time receiving list.  He enters this weekend’s action in third place on the all-time chart with 2,057 career receiving yards, 13 yards shy of Adam Lafferty (1999-2002) in second place.  Eric Voss (1990-93) is Butler’s all-time leader with 2,176 career yards.  Bohrer is Butler’s all-time leader in pass receptions (174) and receiving touchdowns (20).

Dan Bohrer has four career touchdown receptions against Dayton.            

TAKE TWO:  Redshirt freshman Michael Wilson had two punts on one play against Davidson, and the second was a career-long kick for the Butler punter.  Punting from the Butler 39-yard line, Wilson’s first kick was blocked by Davidson’s Nick Savarino, but the ball took a favorable bounce back into the punter’s hands.  He ran to his left and kicked the ball a second time.  The second punt rolled dead at the Davidson one-yard line - a career-best 69-yard kick!  Wilson’s punt was three yards shy of Butler’s record. 

HANDS AND FEET:  Sophomore quarterback Andrew Huck topped the 200-yard mark in total offense for the sixth time in eight outings with 217 yards against Davidson.  He completed 14 of 26 passes for 136 yards, and he added a career-high 81 rushing yards on 16 carries.  Huck, in his first season as Butler’s starting signal caller, ranks third in the PFL in passing (209.0), and he’s eighth in the league in rushing (47.5).  He leads the PFL and ranks 20th in the NCAA Division I FCS in total offense (256.5).

The top two rushing quarterbacks in the PFL are Dayton’s Steve Valentino and Butler’s Andrew Huck.

NATIONAL LEADER:  Butler ranks first in the NCAA Division I FCS in fewest quarterback sacks allowed (0.50).  Senior Brian Crable, juniors Donnie Gilmore and Mike Staniewicz and sophomores Pete Mattingly and Rob Hobson have started all eight games on Butler’s offensive line this fall.  The Bulldogs have yielded four quarterback sacks on the season and just one in the past four games.

BULLDOG BITS:

•Butler leads the PFL in scoring offense (30.8), total offense (400.9), first downs (180) and pass interceptions (12).  The Bulldogs are tied for first in the league in turnover margin (+7).

•The Bulldogs are ranked 12th in the NCAA Division I FCS in total defense (270.13) and scoring defense (15.63).  Dayton is second in the FCS in total defense (223.0) and fourth in scoring defense (12.13).

•Quarterback Andrew Huck has moved into 13th place on Butler’s single season chart for passing yards with 1,572.  He trails current Indiana University head coach Bill Lynch (1974) in 12th place by 44 yards, and he’s 173 yards behind Curt Roy (1981) in 11th place.  He needs 218 yards to catch Rob Cutter (1987) in 10th place.

•Sophomore linebacker Nick Caldicott led the Bulldogs with a career-high 11 tackles against Davidson.

•Defensive end Grant Hunter didn’t play against Davidson because of illness.  Hunter leads the PFL and ranks eighth in the NCAA Division I FCS in quarterback sacks (1.07).

•Sophomore Zach Watkins, who had a team-high four catches for 33 yards against Davidson, has moved into a tie for seventh place on Butler’s single season list for pass receptions (53).  He’s one reception shy of Todd Roehling in sixth place and two catches behind Paul Page and Mike Chrobot, currently tied for fourth on the all-time list.  Watkins is tied for 16th in the NCAA Division I FCS in receptions per game (6.62).

•Junior Scott Gray has scored 22 touchdowns in 20 career games at Butler.

•Senior Dan Bohrer has two career 100-yard receiving performances against Dayton.  He caught three passes for 101 yards against the Flyers in 2006 and then caught nine passes for 139 yards in last year’s meeting.

•Offensive guard Donnie Gilmore started his 30th consecutive game for the Bulldogs in the victory over Davidson.

ON THIS DATE:  Butler rallied from a 3-0 halftime deficit behind two second half touchdown passes from quarterback Bob Stryzinski to end Dave Flowers, and the Bulldogs went on to pin a 21-3 defeat on DePauw on Nov. 7, 1959.  The victory gave the Bulldogs the Indiana Collegiate Conference title and tied the Butler record of 11 consecutive wins.