Aug. 30, 2007

The University of Dayton football team will kickoff the 2007 season Saturday when the Flyers travel Pittsburgh-way to visit Robert Morris. Game time at Joe Walton Stadium is 1:00 p.m. ET. Dayton is looking to bounce back from a 4-6 campaign in 2006, UD's first losing season in 30 years. Robert Morris was 7-4 last season.

Saturday's game is a rematch of the 2006 opener played in Dayton between the two teams. The Flyers rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit to win 21-14.

The Flyers will be led by team captains Kevin Hoyng, Brian Kelly and Brandon Cramer.

Back for his third season as the starting quarterback, Hoyng is already UD's career record holder in passing yardage, completions and total offense. A career 58% passer who has a 3.5 yards per carry average, Hoyng is only the third two-time football captain in Flyer football history. Kelly led the Pioneer Football League in tackles (10.1 per game) and was tied for 19th in the nation. The two-time All-PFL selection also was UD's leader in tackles in the backfield (6.5) and had two sacks. Cramer has played almost every down on defense since arriving on campus. He has been third on the team in tackles the last two seasons (52 last year in nine games) and led UD with three interceptions in 2006.

The Flyer football captains are three of UD's 16 returning starters (14 from last year, plus two from 2005) and 40 returning letterwinners to this season's ball club.

SERIES STUFF This is the tenth meeting between Dayton and Robert Morris (UD leads 7-2 in the series) but this is the Flyers' first visit to Joe Walton Stadium. Dayton won three of the four contests played at Moon Township High School.

STAYING POWER The 2007 campaign is UD coach Mike Kelly's 27th season as Dayton's head coach, the longest tenure of any UD head coach in any sport.

NO ONE'S DOING IT BETTER The Flyers enter the season with the second-best best winning percentage in FCS football since 2000 (.773) AND has produced the most football Academic All-Americans at any level of competition in the (13) in the same time frame.

STREAKING UD has not been shut out in 341 straight games, the best such active string in all of college football. The last team to shut out the Flyers was Marshall, 9-0, on October 16, 1976.

MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH Dayton's 4-6 record was its first losing season in 30 years. Included in the loss column were four straight losses in the middle of the season by a total of 18 points.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN This is the second time in three years UD has opened the season away from home. Dayton wore white in the opener four times in the last ten years (a 31-14 win at Monmouth in 1998, a 39-0 win at St. Francis in 2002, a 38-0 win at Tiffin in 2005 and this game at Robert Morris).

YOU ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST TIME Nine players starting their first college game will line up today, based on the mid-week depth chart. On offense, tackles Jim Croghan and Ryan Pollock, guard Patrick McCormick and tailback James Wade will post for the first time, and tackle Sean Heenan, linebacker Drew Fumagalli and cornerback Jake Van Asten will do the same on the defensive side of the ball. Nine first-time travelers, including freshmen Joe Casteneda and Matt Riddle are also on the trip.

LEADERS ON AND OFF THE FIELD Not only are team captains Brandon Cramer, Kevin Hoyng and Brian Kelly the Flyers' top performers on the field, they are also leaders in the classroom. All three were repeat members of the PFL's All-Academic Team in 2006. Kelly is a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection, and Cramer has been twice named an Academic All-American by ESPN The Magazine. Hoyng is only the third two-time football captain in Flyer football history.

HOYNG REPORT Kevin Hoyng has enters his senior season already holding three UD career records - passing yardage (4,545), completions (279) and total offense (5,425). Last season, he was second in the PFL in passing efficiency (146.46), and third in total offense (219.8). For the year, he was 131 of 221 (.593) for 2,052 yards and 11 touchdowns,

NOW THAT'S A BULLPEN Backup quarterback Rob Florian made his first career start last season at Jacksonville in place of Kevin Hoyng, who was out with an injured knee. Not only was Florian's first start, but the first pass he threw in the game (16-yard completion to Carlton McFadgen) was the first of his college career. All Florian did was throw for the second-highest single-game passing total in UD history. His 411 yards (308 in the second half) were second only to Kevin Johns' 414 against San Diego in 1996.

AERIAL CIRCUS The 2006 Flyers set the UD single-season team record for passing in a season (2,472 yards). Both quarterbacks are back from that team, as are seven of the ten players who caught passes (including four of the top five). The Flyers were the only team with two receivers in the NCAA I-AA Top 15 in receiving yards per game (Nick Ruhe was fourth, and the now-graduated Carlton McFadgen was 14th.)

THE GOOD HANDS PEOPLE Dayton returns two of the top three receivers from last year, two players who had exceptional seasons at their respective positions. Wideout Nick Ruhe set the school record in for receiving (977 yards) and his 49 receptions were the fourth-best total in Flyer football history. Matt Champa had the best season by a Dayton tight end since Fred Dugan's All-America season in 1957. Champa was UD's third-leading receiver in 2006, catching 29 passes for 400 yards (13.8 yards a catch). Dugan had 37 receptions for 546 yards. A wild card for the 2007 season is flanker Jack O'Dell, who started ahead of Ruhe two seasons ago before sitting out last season. In two seasons of 12 catches each, O'Dell has a per-catch average of 21.3 yards.

BACKFIELD IN MOTION In the backfield, fullbacks Ben Shappie and Matt Marshall are back. Both have starting experience, are the Flyers' top two returning rushers and have better than 5.0 yards per carry averages. Dayton's stable of tailbacks make up for a collective lack of experience with the most speed and athleticism at that spot in years. James Wade came on in the last five games of 2006, gaining 81 yards in spot duty behind a pair of seniors. Joe Gulick is penciled in at #2, after switching from the secondary in the spring. He won the team's off-season fitness competition. Explosive Bo Balogun, a former walk-on, is also being counted on. Wideout Jack O'Dell could also line up in the backfield in an effort to keep UD's most potent offensive weapons on the field as much as possible.

TO SERVE AND PROTECT Up front, the UD offensive line returns four of five starters from last season, led by center and 2006 Stan Kurdziel Outstanding Lineman Award winner Blake Bikowski. Three-time letterwinners Jake Lay (right guard) and Dan Ress (left tackle) are also back. Left guard Chris Vermillion also returns. Junior Ryan Pollock will get the first shot at right tackle, with Jim Croghan and Zach Witten also in the mix at tackle, and Patrick McCormick and Marcus Overman at guard.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS Senior wideout Nick Ruhe led the PFL in punt returns (11.3) and all-purpose yardage (167.3). He was also fourth nationally in all-purpose yardage. He is a two-time All-PFL selection, and was the Associated Press named him to their All-America Third Team as an all-purpose player last year.

SOMETHING ABOUT THE NAME, AND BEING A LEADER Senior linebacker and captain Brian Kelly (no relation) led the PFL in tackles per game and was tied for 19th nationally (10.1). The two-time All-PFL selection also was UD's leader in tackles in the backfield (6.5) and had two sacks. He was the 2006 winner of Dayton's Chief Toscani Hitter Award.

4.0 BC Senior safety and captain Brandon Cramer has never earned anything less than an "A" in the classroom and has played almost every down on defense since arriving on campus. He has been third on the team in tackles the last two seasons (52 last year in nine games) and led UD with three interceptions in 2006. He scored what turned out to be the game-winning points against Austin Peay with an 84-yard interception return for a touchdown. That was his third career TD of more than 65 yards.

TOPS IN I-AA NON-SCHOLARSHIP In the 13 years I-AA Non-Scholarship has been an option, UD has the best winning percentage (.786, 125-34) of the 21 schools playing at this level. Duquesne's .738 (110-39) is second, followed by Drake (.677, 101-48-1), Robert Morris (.622, 81-49-1) and Albany (.583, 81-58).

PFL POWER The Flyers' 49-14 PFL record is the best in the history of the league. UD has won eight league championships in the 14 years the PFL has existed.

WELCOME MAT The UD Flyers moved to Welcome Stadium in 1974. The word "Welcome" implies hospitality, but Dayton has been anything but hospitable to its opponents at home. UD is 181-37-2 (.827) at home. The "Welcome" in Welcome Stadium is not a greeting, but honors the late Percival Welcome, longtime Director of Athletics for the Dayton Public Schools. UD has won 38 of its last 47 home games, and 20 of its last 25 road games.

GRAB A PAINT BRUSH The University of Dayton, Dayton Public Schools and the Dayton-Montgomery County Port Authority have signed a letter of agreement to work together to renovate Welcome Stadium. Thanks to the agreement, the Port Authority was able to acquire funding from the State of Ohio. Safety improvements, painting and new seating occurred in the program's first phase, with a new FieldTurf playing surface and a new press box scheduled to follow.

GREAT GRAD RATES UD'S 96 score in the latest GSR (Graduation Success Rate) is the fifth-best in NCAA Division I football. Fellow PFL member Davidson was atop the rankings with 100, followed by Navy and William & Mary (98), and Furman (97). Boston College and UD were next at 96. Other schools with APR's above 90 were Bucknell (95), Stanford (94), Air Force, Duke and Villanova (93).

GOTTA PLAY SMART The University of Dayton placed a league-best 14 players on the 2006 Academic All-Pioneer Football League team. It was the fourth straight year UD had the most players on the PFL Academic team. Since the league's origin in 1993, over a quarter (138 of 509) of the PFL All-Academic selections have been Dayton Flyers. UD also had 64 players on the PFL Academic Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or better). That was 24 better than the next-best school.

HITTING THE BOOKS The Dayton football program has produced 13 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans since the 2000 season. That's most at any level of college football. Safety Brandon Cramer was named a First Team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America in 2006, after being named to the second team in 2005. In the history of the Academic All-America program, UD has had 45 football Academic All-Americans. Among schools currently playing Division I football, only Nebraska (81) and Notre Dame (46) have had more. UD has had at least one football player named Academic All-American in 15 of the last 16 years. UD had five players named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team, the most of any school in the district for the fifth straight year. Twelve Flyers were nominated for Academic All-America in each of the last four years.

THE CREAM DOES RISE TO THE TOP UD's 2007 roster includes a number of what some might call "over-achievers." Forty-nine current Flyers were in the National Honor Society, and 99 were team captains in some sport. Twenty-six captained two different teams, and 13 were three-sport captains.

SUPER STAT When Jon Gruden coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Super Bowl championship in 2003, he became the second UD grad to coach a Super Bowl winner. Former UD co-captain and 1993 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Noll won four Super Bowls (IX, X, XII & XIV) as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Noll started at center and linebacker for the Flyers and graduated from the University in 1953. Gruden played quarterback at Dayton and earned his degree in 1986. UD became only the third school to have two alumni coach Super Bowl winners. The others San Jose State, with grads Bill Walsh (XIV, XIX, XXIII) and Dick Vermeil (XXXIV), and Arkansas with grads Jimmy Johnson (XXVII, XXVIII) and Barry Switzer (XXX). Gruden is the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl, and Noll is the fourth youngest. As a matter of fact, UD has ties to 18 Super Bowl rings. In addition to Noll's four and Gruden's one, five former members of Dayton coaching staff own a total of 13 Super Bowl rings between them. They are the late Len Fontes (New York Giants, Super Bowl XXI), Jon's father Jim Gruden (San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowls XXII & XXIV), John McVay (49ers, XVI, XIX, XXII, & XXIV), Tom Moore (Pittsburgh Steelers, XIII & XIV) and George Perles (Steelers, IX, X, XII & XIV). McVay was the Flyers' head coach from 1965-72. The other four were assistants.

UP NEXT The Flyers return home to host Urbana at Welcome Stadium. Game time is 1:00 p.m. ET.