DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton (10-2, 7-1 PFL) fell victim to the suffocating defense of Western Illinois University (7-5, 5-3 MVC) in the opening round of the FCS Playoffs on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Welcome Stadium.
The game was the first Football Championship (FCS) playoff appearance in program history.
Dayton broke open the scoring for the game, but Western Illinois put together 24-straight points to bring home the victory.
SCORING • Dayton struck first thanks to a five-yard TD scamper by
Alex Jeske in the first quarter to put the Flyers up 7-0.
• Western Illinois came back with a score of its own in the second quarter on a Nikko Watson seven-yard rush to tie the game.
• The Leathernecks made it ten straight points to take a 10-7 lead with a 27-yard field goal to cap off a four-minute drive to end the first half.
• WIU expanded their lead to 17-7 on a 22-yard connection from Sean McGuire to Lance Lenoir to end the third quarter.
• The games' only score of the fourth quarter came on a nine-yard pass from McGuire to Stacey Smith to bring the game to its final score of 24-7.
STATS• With a narrow deficit at the half, Dayton's offense was shut down in the second stanza, mustering just 26 yards of total offense.
• Jeske finished the game 13-of-27 for 124 yards and three interceptions.
•
Tucker Yinger led the Flyers in rushing with 79 yards,
•
Cory Stuart led the receivers with four receptions for 37 yards.
•
Christopher Beaschler led the Flyers with 14 total tackles, nine of which were solo.
•
Nolan Harmotto and
Jack Crain also finished the game with double-digit tackles, each registering 11.
•
Cameron Stubbs and Chris Searles each snagged interceptions.
• WIU out-gained Dayton 224-25 in total yards in the second half.
• Dayton had four turnovers inside the red zone in the game; they had had one redzone turnover all season.
NOTES• Today was the first matchup in program history between Dayton and Western Illinois.
• The two teams have played over 2,000 combined games in 200 seasons on the gridiron.
• No Pioneer Football League team has ever won in the FCS Playoffs. Butler lost 31-0 to Tennessee State in 2013, and San Diego lost 52-14 in 2014.
