Who: Dayton (1-4, 0-2) at Davidson (0-4, 0-1)
When: 1 p.m. today
Where: Richardson Stadium, Davidson, N.C.
Radio: WHIO Radio (95.7-FM; 1290-AM)
Dayton is making some adjustments in hopes of winning its first Pioneer Football League football game of the season.
UD (1-4, 0-2) takes on Davidson today at Richardson Stadium in Davidson, N.C. The Flyers are 9-1 all-time against Davidson (0-4, 0-1). Last year, UD beat the Wildcats 28-0 at Welcome Stadium.
Due to slow starts in games, the UD coaches have changed the playbook. These slight changes to the offense come after the Flyers have gotten off to their worst start since 1969.
“That’s kind of the growing process of any team as you go into the season with a spread offense — what works best for your personnel? And then you just start narrowing it down,” UD head coach Rick Chamberlin said. “That’s what we do on defense. We put all this stuff in, but once you get into the games you say these are the things we can do particularly well against this team.”
The offense is now focusing on plays it can execute time and time again. First-year coordinator Chris Ochs said UD is moving the ball down the field, averaging over 300 yards of offense a game. Dayton just isn’t getting into the end zone.
“We’ve gone back to the drawing board, back to the basics,” Ochs said, “and we’re focusing in on how to finish drives.”
The Flyers are tied for 99th in the FCS for red-zone offense, according to the NCAA. Dayton is 9-for-14 (64 percent) when inside the 20 with eight of those drives resulting in touchdowns.
“We’ve talked to our guys,” Ochs said. “They’re aware of it. In practice, we’ve tried some different things. We’ve moved the ball more, so that they always end with a score. They’ve been psychological type things. For whatever reason, we’ve had some breakdowns there. We need to be more confident, more consistent in what we’re doing.”
Davidson has the second-ranked red-zone defense in the PFL.
“What we need to do down at Davidson is something we’ve not been doing for the last five weeks and that’s being more consistent on offense, putting the ball in the end zone and getting some points,” Chamberlin said.
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