DAYTON -- The University of Dayton football Flyers will look to improve to 6-0 for the first time in 10 years, and remain alone in first place in the Pioneer Football League when they travel to Valparaiso on Saturday, Oct. 17. 

Game time is 2 p.m. ET.  The game can be seen on ESPN3.com and heard on WHIO Radio.

Dayton is one of eight FCS teams still undefeated at 5-0, and is 2-0 in the PFL.  Valparaiso is 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the PFL.

UD came from behind for the fourth time in five wins last week with a 13-12 win over San Diego.   Linebackers Jack Crain and Chris Beaschler combined to stand up 6-foot-5, 252-pound QB Chris Wilson and a 4th-and-1 at the Dayton 28 with just over a minute left in the game to clinch the win and edge the PFL preseason favorite.

Dayton was without All-American running back Connor Kacsor, who suffered a knee injury in practice and is out for the rest of the season.  Kacsor concludes his career with a Dayton record 3,543 yards rushing and 38 TD's.

This is the 23rd season of the PFL.  UD's 11 titles to date are the most in PFL history, counting ties.  San Diego and Drake are next with six each.

Dayton finished 8-3 overall and 6-2 in the PFL in 2014.  The Flyers finished tied for second in the Pioneer Football League and had their 37th winning season in the last 38 last year. 

GOOD NEWS WORTH REPEATING
The Flyers enter the season with the fourth-best winning percentage (.738, 124-41) in FCS football since 2000 AND have produced the most football Academic All-Americans (22) at any level of competition in the same time frame.  The top five in winning percentage are North Dakota State (.845), Harvard (.799), Montana (.775), Dayton (.738), and San Diego (.698).

STREAKING
UD has not been shut out in a school-record 436 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 Oct. 16, 1976. That is also the all-time FCS record.

SERIES STUFF
• Dayton leads the series 22-2, and has won the last 11 meetings.    
• Last year on Nov. 1 in Dayton, Dayton broke open a close game to win 42-19.  Valparaiso scored to make it 14-12 early in the third, did not convert on the two-point try that would have tied it, and UD scored the next 28 points.
• Dayton came up with four turnovers in last year's contest, three interceptions and a fumble.

SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS
• Valparaiso is seeking its first win at Brown Field this season. 
• The Crusaders are led on offense by sophomore quarterback Ryan Clarke.  Clarke, who lettered last season primarily as the team's long snapper, was the PFL Offensive Player of the Week two weeks ago after leading VU to a 42-35 win at Davidson.
• Clarke has completed 48 of 99 passes (.485) for 539 yards.
• All seven of the Crusader TD's this season have come through the air, six by Clarke.
• The defense is led by senior linebacker Alex Green, who averages 10.6 tackles a game. 
• Safeties Joey Diaz-Martin and Kellan Hughes each have three interceptions.

PFL POWER
• The Pioneer Football League is in its 23rd 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 98-31 PFL mark is the best in PFL history.

600 CLUB
• The Flyers were the 11th NCAA FCS team (and the first west of the Alleghenies) to win 600 games in its football history in 2008.
• The 16 members of the club, heading into the 2015 season are: Yale (884), Harvard (848), Penn (830), Princeton (804), Dartmouth (676), Delaware (674), Lehigh (671), North Dakota State (671), Lafayette (669), Dayton (649), Northern Iowa (641), Cornell (633), North Dakota (625), Colgate (625), Holy Cross (613) and Brown (601).
• Of the 600 Club members, Dayton has played the fewest seasons (106, nine fewer than Northern Iowa's 115).

THE MAN AT THE TOP
• Rick Chamberlin is now in his eighth season in charge of the Flyer football program. His record is 60-23.
• He is third all-time in wins at Dayton, behind two members of the College Football Hall of Fame -- Mike Kelly (246 wins) and Harry Baujan (124).
• Chamberlin is also in his 41st season as part of the Flyer football program.  A Flyer All-American linebacker in his playing days, he has been a part of 354 of UD's 654 wins – 26 as a player, 268 as an assistant coach, and 60 as a head coach.  He has also been a part of 455 of UD's 1,040 games.
• The Springfield, Ohio native is the 23rd head football coach since the program began in 1905. He is the first of the 11 modern era coaches to have lettered for the Flyers, and the second to be a graduate of the University of Dayton (Pete Ankney was the first when he coached in 1963 and 1964).
• Chamberlin, 59, had been on the Flyer coaching staff for 29 seasons before being named head coach. First as linebackers coach and then as defensive coordinator, Chamberlin helped mold the Dayton D's reputation for its preparation and execution as a unit. Under Chamberlin's guidance as an assistant and now as a head coach, the Flyers have led the Pioneer Football League in scoring defense in nine of the last 12 seasons.
• A four-year letterwinner (1975-78) for the Flyers, Chamberlin was named to the Football Coaches Association Small College All-America team. He was the third Dayton player to be named a First Team All-American, and was the first defensive player.  He was inducted in to the UD Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.

KNEE INJURY ENDS KACSOR'S CAREER
• Redshirt senior running back Connor Kacsor suffered a non-contact knee injury in practice on Oct. 8, which ended his season and career. 
• The All-American from Leo, Ind. finished as Dayton's career record holder in rushing yardage with 3,543 yards.
• He is second in FCS football in yards per game this season (151.5 yards per game) and rushed for over 200 yards in two of his four games played.
• Kacsor was twice named PFL Player of the Week in UD's first four games.
• He was fifth in FCS football in rushing yards per game (140.6) in 2014.
• His 1,457 yards in 2014 were the third-best Flyer single-season total, behind Gradlin Pruitt (1,591) and Dave Jones (1,803).
• He was named First Team Preseason All-PFL for the second straight season.
• He has six of the top 10 Flyer single-game rushing performances of 200 yards or more. (Gary Kosins has two, Dave Jones has one and Jermaine Bailey has one).
• Kacsor had 16 games of 100+ yard efforts in 34 career games.
• Six of those 16 were for 200 yards or more.

JUST IN TIME JESKE
• With the Flyers limited to 16 yards in their first six possessions at Robert Morris., Dayton turned to redshirt freshman Alex Jeske to spark the offense late in the second quarter. 
• Jeske was 11 of 17 for 162 yards with an interception and a TD.  He also carried the ball six times for 41 yards and a rushing TD.
• With Jeske at the helm, Dayton gained 277 yards in a little more than a half.
• In his first career start (Duquesne), he was 15 of 26 passing for 206 yards.
• At Stetson, he was 15 of 23 for 223 yards and three TD's (he had two going into the game).
• He leads the PFL in yards per attempt (7.99) and is second in the league in passing efficiency (133.9).
• He has completed 63 of 112 passes (.562) for 895 yards, with six touchdowns and four interceptions.

UP NEXT
• Dayton is home for two straight games -- Butler and Jacksonville. 
• The Butler game on Saturday, Oct. 24 is the Flyer's second and final night game of the year, starting at 6 p.m. ET. 
• It is also UD's annual Military Appreciation Day.