DAYTON -- The University of Dayton football team continued its come-from-behind magic on Saturday night at Welcome Stadium, charging past the Butler Bulldogs in the fourth quarter to win 27-24.
The win keeps the Flyers unbeaten on the season, with an overall record of 7-0 and a Pioneer Football League mark of 4-0.
With the victory, UD becomes the first member of the PFL to reach 100 conference wins.
SCORING• Butler wasted no time in breaking open the scoring, with Matt Shiltz connecting with Anthony Scaccia for an 83-yard touchdown on its very first play from scrimmage of the contest.
• The Bulldogs tacked on another three points after a drive stalled at the 10-yard line, making it 10-0 to start the game.
• Dayton closed out the first quarter scoring with an 11-play, 69-yard drive capped off by a
Jack Adams 1-yard rushing TD to cut the deficit to 10-7.
• Butler answered when Shiltz rushed in from two yards out to give the Bulldogs a 17-7 advantage in the second quarter.
• UD responded on its next drive with a 33-yard connection from
Alex Jeske to
Tucker Yinger to bring the score to 17-14.
• BU opened up the second half scoring with another touchdown pass from Shiltz to make the score 24-14.
• Flyer kicker
William Will connected on a 44-yard field goal to cut the lead to 24-17.
• Dayton's final drive of the third quarter stalled in the red zone and Will connected on a 28-yard field goal to make the score 24-20.
• UD grabbed a 27-24 lead, it's first of the game, thanks to a 50-yard scamper from Yinger with 7:10 remaining in the game. Yinger got the ball on third and short, and after getting the first down, kept his legs moving, spun out of a tackle and out-raced the Bulldog secondary for the score.
STATS• Yinger finished the game with 55 yards rushing on four attempts and three receptions for 49 yards, plus two touchdowns.
• Redshirt senior
Cory Stuart had eight receptions for 70 yards, marking the 20th consecutive game with a reception for the Solon, Ohio native.
• Jeske went 22-for-38 for 219 yards with a touchdown and interception. It was his third 200+ yard game of the season.
• The Flyers defense had an interception, fumble recovery, three sacks and recorded six tackles for loss against the PFL's second-best total offense.
• Dayton trailed for nearly 52 of 60 minutes in the game, but managed to pull out their fifth come-from-behind win of the season.
• The Flyers held the Bulldogs to 116 rushing yards, nearly 70 yards below their season average.
• Dayton trailed for nearly 52 of 60 minutes in the contest.
•
Nolan Harmotto and
Christopher Beaschler led UD with eight total tackles on the night.
• Harmotto had not played in a game since the second game of the season against Duquesne on September 19th.
•
Nick Surges had two sacks on the night and finished with 2.5 tackles for loss.
• The Flyers held Butler quarterback Matt Shiltz to a 3.1 yards per carry average. He came in to the night's matchup with an FCS-best 8.1 average.
•
Christian Searles picked up his second interception of the season with a key third-quarter pick.
•
Cameron Stubbs recovered a fumble that switched the momentum of the game and set up the game-winning drive.
• With Butler averaging 26.9 yards per kick return and 12.8 yards on punt returns, Dayton held the Bulldogs to just an 18.5 yard kick return average and seven yard punt return mark.
NOTES• UD has not been shut out in an FCS-record 438 straight games, the best such active string in all of college football.
• Dayton is the only remaining team in the Pioneer Football League with an unblemished record.
• The Flyers are now 28-12-1 against the Bulldogs all time.
UP NEXT• Dayton returns to Welcome Stadium Saturday, October 31st for its Halloween game when it takes on Jacksonville University at 1 p.m. ET.
