Senior running back Tucker Yinger went into the game needing 291 yards to become the all-time leading rusher for the Flyers (5-5, 4-3), and he almost got there.
Yinger had 151 yards rushing in the first half, and it didn’t take him long to top 200 yards for the day. Yinger took a hand off on the first play of the third quarter and raced 68 yards to the end zone to give the Flyers a 49-13 lead.
He added a 37-yard sprint for six more points on Dayton’s next possession, and with the blowout in full bloom, Yinger’s day was done. He finished with 264 yards and three touchdowns on 18 carries, leaving him 28 yards shy of becoming the Flyers’ all-time leading runner.
“People like to tell me about it but I try not to focus on it,” Yinger said. “I try to just go out there and play, but it’s always in the back of my mind.”
Yinger also caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Jack Cook. The Flyers redshirt freshman quarterback ran for two first-half touchdowns.
The home team also got a touchdown run from an unlikely source. Ben Gauthier is a starting guard, but the senior lined up in the backfield on second-and-goal at the 1-yard line on the second drive of the game. Gauthier plowed in for the score and a 14-0 Dayton lead.
The Flyers now have plenty to play for when they travel to Jacksonville on Saturday. Yinger will chase the all-time rushing record and Rick Chamberlin’s team can lock up a winning season with a win over the Dolphins.
“We’re right at the position where we want to be,” Chamberlin said after the game. “We’ve battled through the ups and downs this year and here we are, we go to Florida to get that win and have that winning record.”
The final home game is when the Flyers hand out one of the program’s most coveted honors. Back-up punter Christopher Papalia is the 2018 winner of the Lt. Andy Zulli Memorial Trophy. The award honors a senior who best exemplifies the Dayton program on and off the field.
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