Final Stats // Photo Gallery
The Butler Bulldogs scored the first 10 points of the game, and the last six, and it was just enough as Butler edged the University of Dayton Flyers 29-27 Saturday at Welcome Stadium. Flyer defensive end Pat Dowd blocked a Butler punt and returned it 58 yards to put UD ahead 27-23 with 12:59 left in the game, but Butler’s David Lang answered with a pair of 35-yard field goals with 7:52 and 1:31 left to win the game for the visitors.
The loss snapped Dayton’s 11-game Pioneer Football League winning streak and dropped the Flyers to 3-2 on the season, and 1-1 in the PFL. Butler is now also 3-2 and 1-1.
The game began with Butler scoring on its first drive of the game. On the eleventh play of an efficient drive, senior quarterback Andrew Huck found senior wide receiver Zach Watkins from three yards out on third-and-goal as the ball was threaded between a couple of Dayton defenders.
With two punts by Dayton, Butler converted on its third possession of the game. After getting the ball on the Dayton 41-yard line, Huck converted to senior wide receiver Jeff Larsen for 12 yards on the first play. Three straight stops by Dayton forced Butler into a field goal attempt, and Lang converted from 46 yards away, making it 10-0 Butler.
Dayton got on the board in the second quarter, when quarterback Will Bardo punched it in from three yards out. That culminated an eight-play, 56 yard drive that included two excellent catches of 17 yards and 16 yards to wide receivers Luke Bellman and Branden Johnson respectively.
The Flyer defense forced Butler to punt on its next two possessions, and the Dayton offense went 44 yards on five plays to give UD its first lead. Bardo ran for 23 yards on the first play. On a key third-and-four Bardo once again found a lunging Johnson for five yards. And then on the ensuing play, Bardo found Luke Bellman in the back left corner of the end zone. The reception gave the Flyers a 14-10 lead.
Huck led Butler right back, manufacturing an 80-yard drive. After getting down to the Dayton 22-yard line on two key receptions for 21 yards by Zach Watkins, Butler needed to complete a third-and-three to keep the drive alive. Huck connected with sophomore wide receiver Brendan Shannon for 18, getting the ball down to the Dayton four-yard line. Three plays later, on third-and-goal from the four with 39 seconds left in the half, Larsen received a four-yard pass in the back of the end zone. Even with a missed extra point, Butler retook a 16-14 lead that the ‘Dogs would take to the locker room.
At halftime, former Flyer coach Mike Kelly was honored by the National Football Foundation with a “Campus Salute” in honor of his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame on July 16. Kelly, whose .819 winning percentage makes him the winningest coach in FCS football, is now a Senior Associate Director of Athletics at UD.
UD took the lead on its first possession of the second half. After the Flyer defense forced a quick punt, the offense went 58 yards on seven plays when Bardo found Nik Gillum from 18 yards away on a leaping catch in the back of the end zone. Dayton went for 2 to try and take a 6 point lead, but again Andy Dauch picked it off to keep the score at 20-16.
The back-and-forth battle between these two PFL rivals continued as after the two teams exchanged punts, the Butler Bulldogs that took the lead 23-20 on a two-yard pass from Huck to Shannon. The play capped a brilliant 80-yard drive where the Bulldogs converted a critical fourth-and-two on a seven-yard pass from Huck to Brendan Watkins at the Dayton 11-yard line.
On the ensuing Flyer drive, the combination of senior running back Brian Mack and Bardo ran the ball down to the Butler 38-yard line, where Dayton found itself faced with a fourth-and-one. Bardo was stopped for no gain, and he stretched the ball forward on second effort, it popped loose and Butler’s Paul Yanow recovered.
As sack at midfield by UD senior standout defensive end Devon Langhorst was the big play in a Flyer stop. On the Bulldog punt, redshirt freshman Pat Dowd blocked Michael Wilson’s punt and then picked up the ball and ran untouched 42 yards for the score, once again giving UD the lead 27-23.
Butler answered with a 35-yard field goal by Lang to make it 27-26. Butler was faced with a third-and-one inside Dayton territory when Dayton committed one of its three penalties on the day, a five-yard offside giving Butler a fresh set of downs. Huck faced a third-and-14 but hit running back Trae Heeter for seven and then 13 yards to keep the drive alive and move the ball into field goal territory.
Dayton got the ball back with 7:46 left, and was able to penetrate into Butler territory, and sack on third and three forced a Flyer punt. Nate Miller dropped his punt to the 12, but Watkins returned it to the 23, putting Butler 77 yards away with 4:57 to go.
Butler used the majority of the remaining clock to take the lead. Huck hit Heeter for 28 yards on the first play to get BU Butler back inside Dayton territory. Huck ran for six yards to convert the only third down he needed in the possession. Four plays later Lang’s third and final field goal, another 35-yarder, made it 29-27 Butler, leaving Dayton with just 91 seconds to work with.
Bardo moved UD to midfield but Bulldog linebacker Nick Caldicott made a phenomenal one-handed interception along the sideline to stop the hoped-for Dayton comeback in its tracks. It was one of three Flyer turnovers on the day.
Butler outgained Dayton on the day 401-240. Dayton converted just 2-9 on third down compared to 6-18 by Butler. The Bulldogs also went two-for-two on fourth down.
Heeter was the offensive star for the ‘Dogs. He carried the ball 25 times for 142 yards and caught five passes for 61 yards. Huck was 28 of 45 for 255 yards and three TD’s.
Bardo gained a career-high 78 yards on the ground and completed nine of 18 passes for 78 yards with two TD’s.
Defensively for Dayton, Langhorst led all tacklers with 12 hits, 2.5 sacks, three tackles in the backfield and two quarterback hurries. Steve Wirkus added 10 tackles (7 solo). Eric Robbe and Howard Savage each had nine hits and two passes broken up.
Dayton returns to action next Saturday, October 8, when the Flyers play at Jacksonville. Game time is 1:00 p.m. ET.
