DAYTON – The University of Dayton football team went toe-to-toe with the PFL defending champion St. Thomas, but a dramatic Flyer comeback ended at the St. Thomas six-yard-line with 0:05 left in the game with the final score St. Thomas 20, Dayton 14.

Game Recap
1st Quarter – St. Thomas 7, Dayton 0
•    Mistakes and bad breaks put Dayton in a 20-0 hole in the game's first 25 minutes.
•    St. Thomas took the opening kickoff and the UD defense forced a three-and-out, but the Flyers muffed a punt and gave the ball back to the visitors with a short field.
•    Dayton stopped St. Thomas on downs on the UD 34, but turned it back on downs at the Tommy 31.
•    St. Thomas gained 36 yards on the next p[lay and ran two more plays in Dayton territory to end the quarter.
•    The Tommies gained 95 yards in the quarter, while Dayton had 44 with one less possession due to the turnover.
2nd Quarter – St. Thomas 20, Dayton 7
•    Two minutes into the second quarter, St. Thomas made it a two-score game by completing a seven-play, 69-yard drive.
•    A 23-yard punt gave the Tommies the ball at the Dayton 49, and two key penalties kept the next St. Thomas 14-play scoring drive alive.
•    A tough unnecessary roughness call on a fumble that was ruled down by contact turn a fourth-and 35 situation into a fresh set of downs at the UD 32.  Then on second-and-goal from inside the one, a bad snap put the ball back on the five, but Dayton was offsides out on a wide receiver.  
•    It took two more plays, but St. Thomas scored to go up 20-0 after a failed pass on a fake PAT.
•    Freshman receiver Gavin Lochow made the big play that gave the Flyers life, taking the kickoff at the goal line and returning it 92 yards.
•    Three plays later, Dante Casciola ran it in from the 10 to put Dayton on the board with 3:24 left in the half.
•    St. Thomas gained 106 yards, while Dayton had 40 yards, plus the 92-yard field-flipping kick return.
3rd Quarter -- St. Thomas 20, Dayton 7
•    If you like defense, you loved the third quarter as the two teams combined for 33 yards in offense.
•    The Dayton defense held St. Thomas to six total yards and a negative three yards on the ground.
•    Flyer punter Logan Forcum continued to give Dayton a field position advantage, with three of his best punts of the season.  He averaged 38.7 yards a punt with no return yardage.
4th Quarter – St. Thomas 20, Dayton 14
•    The Dayton defense held St. Thomas to two yards in the Tommies' first two possessions.
•    The Flyer offense got it going with a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.  UD converted a third-and-nine, a fourth-and-seven and a third-and-eight to get inside the five, and then Cole Dow hit Lochow for a five-yard TD on third down to make it a one-score game.
•    Dayton weathered an interception in its own territory and a missed field goal, but had to burn all three timeouts.
•    The Flyers got the ball on their own 28 with 1:55 left in the game.
•    Casciola hit Dominic Vrbancic for 13, and then Jake Coleman for 47 to moved the ball to the St. Thomas 12 (credit to Grif Wurtz for a game-saving tackle). 
•    After a pair of sacks, Casciola hit Coleman for 21 yards to the six, giving Dayton one more play on four fourth and four from the six with five seconds to go.
•    Joey Swanson got inside Johnson Fallah and Casciola delivered the ball at the goal line, but Fallah was able to reach in and break up the pass.
•    Dayton gained 142 of its 253 yards in the fourth quarter, while the UD defense held St. Thomas to 16.

BY THE NUMBERS
•    UD out-gained St. Thomas 253-223 for the game.
•    The Dayton defense held St. Thomas to 22 yards in the second half.
•    Ca'ron Coleman had a game-high 13 tackles, with Coleman, Matt Lenti and Gideon Lampron each in on a team-high four solo tackles.
•    Lampron also had two hits in the backfield and a pass broken up.
•    Michael Neel had a game-best 69 yards rushing on 16 attempts.
•    Dante Casciola was 11 of 23 passing for 161 yards, with a interception and he was sacked five times.
•    Jake Coleman and Neel each caught three passes. Coleman had 93 receiving yards.  Neel had 30 yards, with 26 yards-after-catch.
•    Gavin Lochow returned two kickoffs for 111 yards.
•    Turnovers were in the favor of the Tommies four to one.
•    Dayton is now 2-3 on the season, and 0-2 in the PFL.  St. Thomas is now 3-2, and 2-0 in the PFL.

UP NEXT
•    Dayton is at Morehead State on Saturday, Oct. 7.
•    Game time is 1 p.m. ET. 
•    The Flyers' next home game is Saturday, Oct. 14 against Presbyterian.