The University of Dayton football team will close out the 2013 season Saturday at Valparaiso. Kickoff will be at 2:00 p.m. ET.
The Flyers, 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the Pioneer Football League, will be gunning to put 2013 in the record books with a one-game improvement. Having clinched their seventh straight winning season, and 36th season in the last 37 years, the Flyers are looking to end with a 7-4 record after going 6-5 a season ago.
Dayton has had at least seven wins in 10 of the last 13 years.
Valparaiso is 1-9 overall, and 1-6 in the PFL.
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 418 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 88-29 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
Dayton leads the series 20-2, and has won the last nine meetings. UD shutout Valpo 45-0 a year ago on Oct. 20 in Dayton.
SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS
Valparaiso will be under the guidance of a new coach for the Dayton game. Assistant head coach Mike Gravier was named interim head coach on Sunday when former head coach Dale Carlson was relieved of his duties on Sunday.
VU is fourth in the PFL in passing offense, thanks to the play of quarterback Eric Hoffman. Hoffman, already the Valpo career leader in completions, is 226 of 364 (.621) in the air for 2,589 yards, with 20 TD's against eight interceptions.
Sophomore linebacker Alex Green leads the PFL and is ninth in FCS football in tackles per game (10.6).
THE MAN AT THE TOP
Head coach Rick Chamberlin has guided UD to 46 wins in his nearly six 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 438 of UD's 1,023 games.
LONG TIME STARTERS
Twelve Flyers own start totals of 10 or greater. Cornerback Kyle Sebetic has 38 starts in his career. QB Will Bardo has 30. LB Colin Monnier has 29, and OT Tom Corcoran has 28. DT Brannon Dunn has 22. CB Howard Savage has 21. DE Pat Dowd has 20. WR Branden Johnson has 19. WR Ross Smith has 17 and OG Chris Cortopassi has 16. OT Ben Estey has 12 and S Matt Bianco has 10. Monnier's 29 is the longest string of consecutive starts on the team.
DOWD GOES THE QUARTERBACK
UD senior DE Pat Dowd had a record-setting day last week at Drake, coming up with six solo sacks. That set the Dayton and PFL single-game records, and tied the NCAA Division I FCS mark set by Southeastern Louisiana's Damien Huren in 2004. Dowd had a game-best nine tackles (including eight solo stops) and was the PFL Defensive Player of the Week.
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 fifth in the PFL in tackles per game (9.5). 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. This year he leads the team in tackles (95), TFL (10.5), is second in sacks (3.5) and third in solo tackles (37).
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 leads UD in PBU (7) and is second in solo tackles (39).
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 leads the team in solo tackles (44), is tied for first on the team in fumbles forced (2), tied for second in passes broken up (6) and is third in total tackles (67). He had 10 tackles (9 solo) and two passes broken up against Butler.
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 fifth in the PFL. He is also fourth on the team in tackles (52).
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. At halftime of the Butler game, he was named the 2013 recipient of the Lt. Andy Zulli Memorial Trophy, a character-based award that is regarded as the most prestigious in the program.
WHERE THERE IS A WILL (LEFT-HANDED VERSION)
Will Bardo missed Drake with an injury and is behind Luke Johnson on the depth chart. Bardo, a three-year starter, is now second in career total offense at UD (6,482 yards). Flyer QB coach Kevin Hoyng is the record holder with 9,528 yards. Bardo passed two-time PFL Offensive Player of the Year Steve Valentino during the Butler game. On the year, Bardo is 131 of 240 (.546) passing for 1,672 yards. He is second on the team in rushing (519 yards), rushing TD's (9), and yards per carry (5.4).
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 vs. Butler, he was 17 of 25 for 299 yards and two TD's. Over his last five games, he is 66 of 107 (.617) for 879 yards and seven TD's.
SEE CONNOR RUN
Running back Connor Kacsor had his string of four straight 100+ yard performances snapped when he suffered a concussion on the fifth play of the Butler game (for the game he had two carries for 27 yards). He was held out of the Drake game, and is now listed second on the depth chart behind Robert Washington. Kacsor is now second in the PFL in rushing (94.6 yards a game), and in league play, leads with a 121.2 average. 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 18 career games. He has 1,307 career yards in those 18 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.
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 leads the PFL in all-purpose yardage per game this season (142.1, nearly 15 more than Butler's Trae Heeter). Hunter has a 20.5 yards-per-touch average over his career. He caught 11 passes in the season's first two games, then missed two games with a hamstring injury before returning for a few plays against Davidson. Since then he has 19 receptions for a 24.1 yard average, including a career-high seven for 155 yards vs. Butler.
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 is tied for team honors in receptions (32 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 tied with Macis (32 for 12.5 avg.). Gary Hunter is third (30) and leads the team in yards per catch (19.8).
MR. SMITH
Dayton senior Ross Smith has caught at least one pass in 19 straight games. He is first on the team in receptions (32) and third in yards per catch (12.5). 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 22 for 180 (fourth on the team).
IT'S WHAT'S UP FRONT THAT COUNTS
Dayton is averaging 5.3 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 nine-for-ten in field goals, good enough for second (tied) in the PFL.
PIGGY'S PUNTS
Kyle Pignatiello is back for his second season as UD's punter. He is averaging 40.2 yards a punt, fourth-best in the PFL. He has 15 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 net punting (36.5) and third in the PFL in punt return average (10.2). 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
Four Times: Gary Hunter; Twice: Christopher Beaschler, Branden Johnson, Connor Kacsor, Colin Monnier, Kyle Pignatiello, Kyle Sebetic, Cameron Stubbs, , William Will; Once: Will Bardo, Tom Corcoran, Pat Dowd, Clay Krafft, Gabe Macis, Howard Savage, Ryan Schwenke, Ross Smith, Nick Weston
2013 SCOUTS OF THE WEEK SCORECARD
Four Times: Nick German; Three Times: Jack Crain; Twice: Jack Adams, Danny Dudek, Jim Hammontree, Austin Mullins, Graham Peters, Cory Stufflebeam, Spencer Weeks, ; Once: Shane Companey, Parker Fair, Tommy Fanning, Austin Lacke, Ricky Lawniczak, Alex Middleton, Ben Pendrey, Mike Ryan, Michael Scott, 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 was 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
Ross Smith and Danny Leach were named Capital One Academic All-District. A total of 16 Flyer football players were nominated 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.
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 207-45-2 (.823). 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--DRAKE 36, DAYTON 10
Des MOINES -- Despite six sacks by senior defensive end Pat Dowd, the University of Dayton football team fell at Drake 36-10 in Des Moines on Drake's Senior Day. UD, playing without starting running back Connor Kacsor and starting quarterback Will Bardo, committed six turnovers on the day.
Dayton took the opening kickoff and needed just two plays to score. Gary Hunter hauled in a pass from Luke Johnson and out-ran the Drake defense for a 64-yard TD. After an exchange of punts, Drake scored when quarterback Andy Rice scored on a one-yard plunge. But Bulldog kicker Spencer Lee missed the PAT and Dayton held a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, UD upped its lead to 10-6 after a William Will 28-yard field goal. With 6:47 left in the half. Three minutes later, Johnson was sacked and fumbled, giving Drake the ball on the Dayton 16. Six plays later, Rice scored on his second one-yard dive to give Drake its first lead and send the teams to the locker room with the score Drake 13, Dayton 10.
The 'Dogs got the ball to start the second half and increased their lead to 16-10 when Cam Bohnert kicked a 38-yard field goal. Over the next seven minutes, the two defenses combined to allow just 45 yards between them. But then Dayton had a nightmarish final four-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter and Drake scored 21 points in that span.
That put Drake ahead 36-10 and ended the scoring for the day.
Robert Washington carried the ball 14 times for 72 yards for UD, but sacks and other lost yardage held the Flyers to a season-low 42 yards net rushing. Johnson was 18 of 37 for 214 yards in his first career start, with one touchdown and two interceptions. Ross Smith led UD with seven catches for 56 yards. Hunter (85 yards), Colin McManamon (26) and Cory Stuart (23) each had three receptions.
Dowd and linebacker Christopher Beaschler led Dayton with nine tackles. Dowd's six sacks were included in a total of eight solo hits.
UP NEXT
The Flyers Club-sponsored UD football banquet will be held on Sunday, Dec. 8 in the Kennedy Union Ballroom on campus.
