Moon Township, Pa. – The University of Dayton football Flyers came from behind twice in the second half to pull out a hard-fought 27-24 win at Robert Morris on Saturday. Dayton trailed by 10 at halftime, gained a lead, lost a lead, tied the game with 6:15 left and took the deciding lead with 2:32 to go on a 37-yard field goal by
William Will.
Robert Morris got the ball back twice in the game's final minutes. The first ended on
Danny Leach's second interception of the day, and the second ended at the Dayton 37-yard line when UD defensive end
Nick Surges sacked Colonial quarterback Matthew Barr.
The Flyers open the season 1-0, while Robert Morris is now 0-1.
SCORING• After a scoreless first quarter, Robert Morris scored field goal and a TD to take a 10-0 halftime lead.
• Dayton scored 17 unanswered points in the third quarter to lead 17-10 heading into the third quarter.
• RMU scored the next two touchdowns to lead 24-17 with 12:53 to go in the game.
• The Flyers tied it 24-24 with 6:15 remaining on an
Alex Jeske 13-yard run, and one possession later, took the game-deciding lead on Will's second field goal of the game.
STATS• Jeske, a redshirt freshman, came off the bench late in the first half to spark the UD offense. He completed his first three passes, and for the game 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 touchdown.
•
Cory Stuart led all receivers with five catches for 91 yards and caught the TD pass.
•
Connor Kacsor ran the ball 33 times (23 in the second half) for a tough 72 yards.
• Safety
Danny Leach intercepted two passes on the day, and scored Dayton's first TD on a 93-yard return. It tied the game when it looked like RMU was going to take a two-touchdown lead, and it also tied the third-longest return in Dayton football history. Mark Kasmer and Sean Gorius both had 100-yarders in 1997 and 2001 respectively. Dan Thobe also had a 93-yard return in 1992.
• Leach also had four tackles and forced a fumble.
• Linebacker Chris Beaschler had a career-high 18 tackles (9 solo) with two sacks. He also had a pass batted away.
•
Nolan Harmotto had nine tackles, two passes broken up and a QB hurry.
• Freshman punters
Sean Smith and
Chris Papalia had impressive debuts. Smith averaged 45.0 yards on three punts with one inside the 20. Papalia's lone punt was a 40-yarder that went out at the seven.
NOTES• Dayton has scored in 432 consecutive games, the longest active streak in college football. The streak is also the FCS record, and goes back to 1976.
• The Flyers lead the series with RMU 16-2, and has won the last 13 meetings.
UP NEXT• After a bye week, UD's home opener will be on Saturday, Sept. 19 against Duquesne. Game time is 1 p.m. ET.
• That game is part of the University's Family Weekend. A special tailgate/ticket package is available for $15 for that game.
• Speaking of tailgates, due to the expected large crowd, the parking lots around Welcome will not open until 11 a.m. on that day.
