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First place in the Pioneer Football League will be on the line when the University of Dayton hosts Butler on Senior Day Saturday at Welcome Stadium. Game time is 1:00 p.m. ET.

The Flyers and the Bulldogs are two of the four teams tied for first in the PFL with 4-1 conference records (Marist and San Diego are the other two).

Twenty-six Flyers will take part in UD's annual Senior Day ceremonies. They are Will Bardo, Tom Corcoran, Chris Cortopassi, Pat Dowd, Brannon Dunn, Pat Dyer, Ben Estey, Grant Georgic, Brian Horansky, Grant Huckestein, Gary Hunter, Branden Johnson, Victor Kaczkowski, Clay Krafft, Gabe Macis, Tyler Massie, Colin Monnier, Andy Powers, Sal Salvato, Howard Savage, Kyle Sebetic, Ross Smith, Sean Sward, Robert Washington, Nick Weston and Mitch Yinger.

At halftime, one of these players will be named the recipient of Lt. Andy Zulli Memorial Trophy, a character-based award that has been presented since 1956. It is considered to be the most prestigious award in the program.

Dayton, 6-2 overall, has clinched its 36th winning season in 37 years as a non-scholarship program. It is also UD's seventh straight. Butler enters Saturday's game 6-3.

GOOD NEWS WORTH REPEATING
The Flyers entered the season with the third-best winning percentage (.762, 109-34) in FCS football since 2000 AND the most football Academic All-Americans (22) at any level of competition in the same time frame. The top five are Harvard (.775), Montana (.769), Dayton (.762), Appalachian State (.739) and North Dakota State (.710).

STREAKING
UD has not been shut out in an NCAA-record 416 straight games, the best such active string in all of college football. The last team to shut out UD was Marshall, 9-0, on Oct. 16, 1976.

PFL POWER
The Pioneer Football League is in its 21st season. The original (and now the only) Division I strictly need-based football league began with charter members Butler, Dayton, Drake, Evansville, San Diego and Valparaiso. UD's 88-27 PFL record is the best in league history. Dayton has won 11 (shared or outright) league championships, the most of any PFL team.

SERIES STUFF
The Butler series is the longest current series for UD. This will be the 39th meeting between the two schools. Dayton leads 26-11-1 and has won 14 of the last 18 contests, but the 'Dogs have won the last two and three of the last four. Butler won in Indy last year 21-11 on Sept. 29.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Butler boasts one of the best one-two punches on offense in the PFL. Quarterback Matt Lancaster, the 2012 PFL Offensive Player of the Year, is having another worthy year. He has thrown for 1,784 yards and 11 TD's in eight games, completing 169 of 269 passes (.628) with only five interceptions. He also has run for 414 yards (5.8 yards per carry) with eight TD's. Running back Trae Heeter is the PFL's leading rusher (104.6 yards a game, 5.1 yards per carry, eight TD's).

The BU defense leads the PFL in turnovers gained, red zone defense and has 50 tackles in the backfield. Safety David Burke leads the Bulldogs in tackles (56), solo hits (36), TFL (6), interceptions (2) and fumbles recovered (2).

THE MAN AT THE TOP
Head coach Rick Chamberlin has guided UD to 46 wins in his five+ seasons. Dayton won a share of PFL championships in two of his first three years, and missed the third by just five points at Jacksonville in the last game of 2008.

MORE THAN HIS FAIR SHARE
Rick Chamberlin has been a part of 340 of UD's 640 wins – 26 as a player, 268 as an assistant coach, and 46 as a head coach. He has also been a part of 436 of UD's 1,021 games.

LONG TIME STARTERS
Twelve Flyers own start totals of 10 or greater. Cornerback Kyle Sebetic has 36 starts in his career. QB Will Bardo has 29. LB Colin Monnier has 27, and OT Tom Corcoran has 26. DT Brannon Dunn has 20. WR Branden Johnson has 19. CB Howard Savage also has 19 and DE Pat Dowd has 18. WR Ross Smith has 15 and OG Chris Cortopassi has 14. OT Ben Estey and S Matt Bianco have 10. Monnier's 27 is the longest string of consecutive starts on the team.

LET'S MAKE IT HAPPEN, CAPTAIN
The Flyers are being led by four co-captains in 2013 -- Brannon Dunn, Ben Estey, Colin Monnier and Kyle Sebetic.

Dunn started at defensive tackle in 2012, but was limited to six games due to an in-season appendectomy. He was in on 14 tackles and 2.5 hits in the backfield with 1.5 sacks. In 2011, he played in all 11 games with seven starts and had 38 tackles with eight sacks.

Estey started the last six games of 2012 at offensive tackle when the Flyers finished the season by winning five of their last six contests. He played in all 11 games last year after seeing action in just four career games heading into the season. He was the 2009 Offensive Scout Team Player of the Year.

Just the fifth two-time captain in Dayton football history, Monnier is a preseason First Team All-PFL selection. He was the team's White-Allen Most Valuable Player in 2012. The only member of the defense to start every game, Monnier led the team in tackles (92), solo hits (46) and tackles in the backfield (12.0). He was also tied for second in interceptions (2) and batted away another pass and had a quarterback hurry.

A three-year starter at cornerback, Sebetic led NCAA FCS football in passes defensed in 2012. He had 15 passes broken up and three interceptions in nine games, for a 2.0 per game average. He also had 52 total tackles and was second on the team with 39 solos. Sebetic was also named preseason First Team All-PFL.

"We've got a great mix" according to coach Rick Chamberlin. "Colin is the veteran of the bunch, having been a captain already last year. He's an outstanding player and the emotional leader of the team. Brannon is a down and gritty kind of leader. The tougher things are, the more he likes it and he showed that by battling back from having his appendix removed to play that last part of the year."

"Ben may have shown the biggest improvement as a football player of anyone on the team, and his hard work, maturity and leadership have earned him the respect of all of his teammates and coaches. Kyle is the quiet one of the group. He lets his play and work ethic do his talking for him. But when he does speak, everyone listens."

BIG-TIME BACKER
Linebacker Colin Monnier is third in the PFL in tackles per game (9.9). UD's MVP and leading tackler in 2012, Monnier picked up right where he left off by leading all players with 12 tackles at Youngstown State. He had eight solo hits and one TFL. He was PFL co-Defensive Player of the Week after getting 14 hits and UD's only sack in the Duquesne win. He was PFL Player of the Week after getting a career-high 15 tackles in the San Diego win.

GOTTA HAVE HEART
Senior cornerback Kyle Sebetic had 10 tackles at YSU, but none of his seven solos were as impressive as the one when he ran down Adaris Bellamy from behind to prevent an 83-yard TD. Bellamy had a15-yard lead on everyone on the Dayton defense when he broke free on a third-and-one, but Sebetic refused to concede and erased the gap. Sebetic is first on the team in solo tackles (33).

SHUTDOWN CORNER
Even though he made just one tackle on a running play, cornerback Kyle Sebetic's performance in the second half was a key in Dayton's come-from-behind win over Duquesne. At halftime, the Dukes' Gianni Carter had six receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns. During the break, the Flyers assigned Sebetic, last year's FCS leader in passes defensed, on Carter wherever he lined up. Sebetic blanketed him so thoroughly that Carter was held to one catch for four yards in the second half. Sebetic had a similar effort last year against Marist's Michael Rios, holding Rios to three catches for 24 yards when matched on him.

SAVAGE HITS
Senior cornerback Howard Savage returned this season after missing the last half of 2012 with an injury (ironically, the injury happened against Butler in his hometown of Indianapolis). He was second on the team in tackles per game (6.6) and also had two interceptions and four passes broken up. This season, he is tied for first on the team in fumbles forced per game (2), second in solo hits (31) and third in tackles (50) and passes broken up (tied, 3). He had five hits (four unassisted) at YSU. He had six tackles and a fumble recovery in the Duquesne win.

RYAN'S HANDS
Ryan Schwenke, who plays the hybrid linebacker/safety position called "Flyer" in the Dayton defensive system, has shown a nose for the ball in his move into the starting lineup. The soph's three interceptions are tied for second in the PFL. He is also fourth on the team in tackles (45).

GO WESTON
Safety Nick Weston was the PFL Defensive Player of the Week after the RMU win when he had 11 hits, an interception and a pass broken up .

DOWD GOES THE QUARTERBACK
One of three Flyer preseason First Team All-PFL selections, senior defensive end Pat Dowd led UD and was third in the PFL in sacks (0.85).

WHERE THERE IS A WILL (LEFT-HANDED VERSION)
Will Bardo returns for his third season at the helm of the Flyer offense, and is now third in career total offense at UD (6,134 yards). Steve Valentino had 6,218 yards and is in second place. He is 114 of 215 (.530) passing for 1,379 yards. A dual threat, he is averaging 6.9 yards a carry on intentional running plays in 2013 (6.9 per carry without sacks, 5.4 with sacks factored in). He is second in UD in rushing (467 yards) and rushing touchdowns (8), and leads the team in yards per carry (5.3678).

Bardo accounted for a career-high 361 yards in total offense with four TD's in the San Diego win and was named PFL Co-Offensive Player of the Week. He carried the ball 17 times for 136 yards and two scores, and was 17 of 32 passing for 225 and two. Thirteen of his 17 completions went for first downs. Against Davidson, he was 12 of 17 passing for 103 yards and also had eight runs for 69 yards (8.6 avg.). At Stetson, he was 7-of-13 for 164 yards and gained 41 yards rushing in eight attempts. At Morehead, he was 13 of 20 passing for 191 yards and a TD.

SEE CONNOR RUN
After four straight 100+ yard performances, running back Connor Kacsor is now second in the PFL in rushing (104.0 yards a game). He had one of the greatest single-game rushing performances in Flyer football history in the Davidson win. Kacsor carried the ball a career-high 26 times for 244 yards. He was just seven yards short of Jermaine Bailey's Dayton single-game record of 251 yards set against Drake on Oct. 21, 2000. Kacsor ran for two touchdowns and averaged 9.4 yards per carry. Five of his carries went for 20 yards or more. It was the best rushing performance in the PFL this season, and sixth-best in FCS football. Since then he has had games of 128, 127 and 159 yards. Kacsor has seven games of 100 yards or more in just 17 career games. He has 1,280 career yards, and 1,279 in his last 12 games.

FRESHMAN FEAT
Connor Kacsor was the first Flyer freshman football player to run for 100 yards in a game three times in a season last year as a redshirt freshman. He had 135 at Davidson, 106 in the Morehead State win and 124 vs. Valpo in back-to-back-to-back weeks. He is only the second freshman to rush for 100 yards in a game at UD. The first was quarterback Kelly Spiker, who ran for 142 yards vs. Morehead State and 157 vs. Butler in back-to-back weeks in the 2000 season. Kacsor led the PFL with a 10.6 yard-per-carry average in 2012. Kacsor missed most of his senior season in high school, and then redshirted his first year at UD in 2011.

BAD LUCK BRANDEN
For the second straight season, wideout Branden Johnson has suffered a season-ending injury while leading the team in receptions. This year, he sat out the first two games, but came through in the next two games with 13 catches for 207 yards (15.3) and four touchdowns. He broke his collarbone on the fourth TD, which was UD's last play from scrimmage in the Marist game. He was UD's top pass catcher in 2012 (28 catches for 270 yards, 9.6 avg) even though he missed the last five games of the season with an injured shoulder. He was the second-leading Flyer receiver in 2011 (25 catches for a team-high 15.9 yards per catch average).

SPREAD IT AROUND
Dayton had eight different pass catchers with at least 10 receptions in 2012. Eleven receivers have already caught passes this season.

THE HUNTER
Flyer senior slot receiver Gary Hunter has a 20.9 yards-per-touch average over his career. He had a career day at Morehead, with six catches for 117 yards. He gained 136 yards (34.0 avg.) with a 77-yard TD catch and three punts for 59 yards at Stetson. He opened the year with a career-high six receptions for 56 yards at Youngstown State. He missed two games before returning for a few plays against Davidson.

HUNTER THE HISTORY MAKER
The Dayton career record holder in kickoff returns, Gary Hunter is believed to be only the second Flyer football player to have three special teams touchdowns in his career (available statistics are incomplete prior to 1950). Kelvin Kirk (the original Mr. Irrelevant) had three from 1974-77. Hunter had what is believed to be the first kickoff return for a TD by a freshman in the history of University of Dayton football when he had an 82-yard scamper against Valparaiso in 2010. He returned a kickoff for a TD in both of his first two seasons at Dayton and had a 77-yard punt return in the 2012 opener at Illinois State.

PLAYING THE SLOTS
Slot receiver Gabe Macis leads the team in receptions (27 for 10.6 avg). Macis had eight catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the San Diego win. Ross Smith, who can play both outside and inside, is second on the team in catches (21 for 12.3 avg.). Gary Hunter is tied for third (20) and leads the team in yards per catch (17.6).

MR. SMITH
Dayton senior Ross Smith has caught at least one pass in 17 straight games. He is second on the team in receptions (21) and third in yards per catch (12.3). Smith was second for UD with 26 catches in 2012.

STEW
Redshirt freshman wideout Cory Stuart had eight catches for 65 yards in the first two games, and then missed the last two games with an injury. He now has 16 for 134 (third on the team).

IT'S WHAT'S UP FRONT THAT COUNTS
Dayton is averaging a PFL-best 5.9 yards-per-carry in conference games. UD returned three players with starting experience in 2013 on the offensive line. Tackles Ben Estey and Tom Corcoran are back from a year ago, and Chris Cortopassi, who has also started in the past at tackle and is now at guard, give the Flyer o-line experienced depth. The Flyers led the PFL in rushing (196.9 yards a game) in 2012, averaging 5.0 yards a carry. Estey returned to action at Stetson after missing three games with an injury.

BIG BAD TOM
Redshirt senior offensive tackle Tom Corcoran was named UD's offensive player of the week in the Duquesne win. He was the primary blocker assigned to the Dukes' Buck Buchanan Award finalist Dorian Bell. Bell, a transfer from Ohio State who averaged double-digits in hits last year, was held to four tackles (one solo, three assists) in the game.

WHERE THERE IS A WILL (RIGHT-FOOTED VERSION)
Redshirt freshman kicker William Will was named the PFL Special Teams Player of the Week after scoring the last nine points in UD's come-from-behind 23-20 win over Duquesne. Will was three-for-three in field goals in the three-point win. On the year, he is seven-for-eight in field goals.

PIGGY'S PUNTS
Kyle Pignatiello is back for his second season as UD's punter. He is averaging 40.3 yards a punt, fourth in the PFL. He has 12 punts inside the 20, with just three touchbacks. At RMU, he punted six times for a 42.5 average, with three kicks inside the 20. As a redshirt freshman, he averaged 37.4 yards a punt in 65 kicks. Twenty-four of his punts were inside the 20 (with only three touchbacks), and 19 were fair caught. Pignatiello was the first UD player to be named a team player of the week twice this season.

SPECIAL SPECIAL TEAMS
Dayton is second in the PFL in kick return average (23.2) and is fourth in punt return average (10.6) and net punting (36.3). Against Robert Morris, Flyer coverage teams limited them to one total return yard on three returned punts and 16.7 yards on three kick returns. RMU return man Eddie Antwan came into the game averaging over 13 yards a punt return.

2013 PLAYER OF THE WEEK SCORECARD
Thrice: Gary Hunter; Twice: Christopher Beaschler, Branden Johnson, Connor Kacsor, Colin Monnier, Kyle Pignatiello, Kyle Sebetic; Once: Will Bardo, Tom Corcoran, Clay Krafft, Gabe Macis, Ryan Schwenke, Cameron Stubbs, Nick Weston, William Will

2013 SCOUTS OF THE WEEK SCORECARD
Thrice: Nick German; Twice: Jack Adams, Danny Dudek, Cory Stufflebeam; Once: Shane Companey, Jack Crain, Parker Fair, Tommy Fanning, Jim Hammontree, Austin Lacke, Ricky Lawniczak, Alex Middleton, Austin Mullins, Ben Pendrey, Graham Peters, Mike Ryan, Michael Scott, Spencer Weeks, Owen Williams

LET'S TALK CAMPBELL TROPHY
Dayton has had at least a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation's Campbell Trophy, the major award of the NFF's Scholar-Athlete Award program (the academic Heisman if you will), for eight straight years. This season, linebacker Colin Monnier is UD's semifinalist. Previous Flyer picks were Bill Petraiuolo (2012), Devon Langhorst (2011), Brandon Wingeier (2010), Sean Heenan (2009), Bart Bergfeld (2008), Brandon Cramer (who was also a finalist in 2007), and Brandon Godsey (2006). Dayton is the only PFL team to even have three straight (Drake has two). Among Division I schools, the Flyers are one of 10 institutions with a semifinalist in the last seven years. The others are Austin Peay, Bucknell, Indiana, Montana, Nebraska, Rutgers, South Dakota State, Texas, and Wisconsin.

MORE THAN ONE SMART GUY
A total of 16 Flyer football players were nominated this week for the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America team. Dayton has had 22 Academic All-Americans since the 2000 season, the most of any school in the nation.

600 CLUB
The Flyers became the 11th NCAA FCS team (and the first west of the Alleghenies) to win at least 600 games in its football history when UD beat Davidson on October 18, 2008. Here are the 15 members of the club heading into the 2013 season: Yale (871), Harvard (829), Penn (824), Princeton (791), Dartmouth (662), Delaware (661), Lehigh (660), Lafayette (659), North Dakota State (641), Dayton (634), Cornell (629), Northern Iowa (625), North Dakota (617), Colgate (618) and Holy Cross (605). Of the 600 Club members, Dayton has played the fewest seasons (104, nine fewer than Northern Iowa's 113). UD moved into the Top 10 in 2010. The Flyers' .640 all-time winning percentage is fourth among the "600 club" and ninth all-time. The top 10 FCS winning percentages going into 2013 consists of Yale (.701), Grambling (.698), Harvard (.677), Florida A&M (.663), Princeton (.662), Tennessee State (.656), Ga. Southern (.647), Appalachian State (.6403), UD (.6395) and Penn (.634).

WELCOME MAT
The UD Flyers moved to Welcome Stadium in 1974. The word "Welcome" implies hospitality, but UD has been anything but hospitable to its opponents at home, where it is 207-44-2 (.822). The "Welcome" is not a greeting, but an honor to the late Percival Welcome, longtime AD for the Dayton Public Schools.

FLYER FAMILY
Six current members of the Flyer football team have had relatives who also played for UD, including three players whose fathers played -- Austen Alber (Tim, 1986-88), Alex Husted (Jon, 1986-89) and Kyle Pignatiello (Mike, 1980-82).

SUPER STAT
When Jon Gruden coached the Tampa Bay Bucs to the Super Bowl championship in 2003, he became the second UD grad to coach a Super Bowl winner. Former UD co-captain and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Noll won four as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Noll started at center and linebacker for the Flyers and graduated in 1953. Gruden played quarterback at Dayton and earned his degree in 1986. UD became only the third school (now there are four) to have two alumni coach Super Bowl winners. The others are San Jose State (Bill Walsh and Dick Vermeil), Arkansas (Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer), and Eastern Illinois (Mike Shanahan and Sean Payton). At the time of their wins, Gruden was the second-youngest coach to win a Super Bowl and Noll was the fifth-youngest. As a matter of fact, UD has ties to 19 Super Bowl rings. In addition to Noll's four and Gruden's one, six former members of Dayton coaching staffs own a total of 14 Super Bowl rings between them. They include current Saints QB coach Joe Lombardi (XLIV). Lombardi, an Air Force Academy grad and the grandson of Vince Lombardi, began his coaching career at Dayton. He coached for three seasons on Mike Kelly's staff while stationed at Wright-Pat AFB. Noll and Gruden are honored in the main entryway of UD's newly-renovated Football Offices.

LAST TIME OUT--DAYTON 42, MOREHEAD STATE 14
MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The University of Dayton gained a season-high 504 yards in offense and scored the last 28 points of the game to roll to a 42-14 win on the road at Morehead State Saturday afternoon.
MSU took the opening kickoff of the second half and thanks to good field position, only had to drive 46 yards to tie the game 14-14. From there Dayton took over, outgaining the Eagles 255-49 and outscoring them 28-0 over the last 36:57 of the game.

UD did most of its damage on the ground, getting 214 of its 313 yards rushing in the second half. Connor Kacsor gained 94 of his 159 yards rushing in the second half. It was the fourth straight 100+ yard game for the redshirt sophomore.

Kacsor carried the ball a career-high 31 times for his 159 yards, with a TD. Robert Washington added 80 yards on 11 carries, and also scored. Quarterback Will Bardo was 13 of 20 passing for 191 yards, with a 21-yard scoring strike to Dan Ney. Bardo also ran nine times for 41 yards with two scores. In the receiving corps, Gary Hunter had his best day as a Flyer wideout, with six catches for a career-high 117 yards. He also scored on a 17-yard end-around.

Defensively, UD held Morehead State to 41 yards net rushing and 223 yards in total offense for the game. Linebackers Christopher Beaschler and Colin Monnier led the way. Beaschler had nine tackles (five solo) with two in the backfield and a pass breakup. Monnier had eight with an interception and a pass break up. Cornerbacks Kyle Sebetic and Howard Savage each added five solo hits.

UP NEXT
The Flyers play their second straight bunch of Bulldogs, playing at Drake. Game time is 2 p.m. ET in Des Moines. Butler hosts Valparaiso.