The first hurdle for Dayton is a noon game at Welcome Stadium on Saturday against Butler (4-3, 2-1), which is tied for fourth place with Stetson.
“We’ve been at this point before,” redshirt sophomore cornerback Tehron Spencer Jr. said. “We’re trying to stay present and keep the main thing the main thing, and that’s Butler.”
Dayton beat Butler 21-14 last season when Drew VanVleet threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Luke Brenner with 11 seconds to play.
With that victory, Dayton ended a two-game losing streak in the series. A 31-0 loss at Butler in 2022 ended Dayton’s 501-game scoring streak. Butler won big again in 2023, 37-10 at Welcome Stadium.
This season, Butler opened PFL play with a 31-28 victory against Marist and then beat St. Thomas 21-14 in overtime on the road. It lost last weekend 31-25 at home to Presbyterian.
Butler leads the PFL in scoring offense (35.6 points per game) and scoring defense (16.3). Quarterback Reagan Andrew has 11 touchdown passes and eight touchdown runs.
Dayton has started 3-0 in the PFL two seasons in a row after losing its first six PFL games in 2023. The 3-0 start in 2024 was its first 3-0 start since 2015 when it last won a share of the league title. It won its first six PFL games in 2015 before losing at Drake in the regular-season finale.
Dayton gets another big test next week with a noon home game Oct. 25 against Presbyterian (6-0, 2-0), which ranks 19th in the Football Championship Subdivision Coaches Poll.
Last Saturday, Dayton won 41-10 at Valparaiso. Quarterback Bryce Schondelmyer completed 15 of 22 passes for 202 yards with three touchdowns. He has 15 touchdown passes and no interceptions. He won the PFL Offensive Player of the Week award for the second time.
“Bryce is playing great,” said wide receiver Dominic Vrbancic, one of five players with touchdown catches this season. “He’s playing the best ball that he can right now, throwing it to everyone, showing love to everybody. It’s great to see everyone get involved.”
Dayton also won the PFL Defensive Player of the Week award. That went to redshirt sophomore Brandon Martin, who had three tackles for a loss, one sack, one fumble recovery, a pass breakup and six tackles.
“I’m very proud of him,” Andrews said. “I talked to him about it the other day, but I hope he keeps pushing himself because he’s not a finished product by any stretch of the imagination. He has come so far over the last year to six months, just making himself an every-down type of guy.”
About the Author
