By Cord Rankin
GAME NOTES
https://daytonflyers.com/documents/2024/10/30/Notes_Presbyterian_Web.pdf
DAYTON — The University of Dayton football team goes to Presbyterian Saturday, looking to turn the page and bounce back after suffering their first loss in Pioneer Football League play last week, 14-6 to Morehead State. Dayton is now 5-2 overall and 3-1 in league.
The Flyers are one of four teams with no more than one loss in the PFL pennant race with four weeks to go. Drake and St. Thomas are 4-0, while Dayton and Morehead State are 3-1. Just one game back in the loss column are Davidson (3-2), Butler (2-2) and San Diego (2-2).
UD leads FCS football in total defense (231.7 yards per game) passing yards allowed (118.6) opponent first downs (11.7) and blocked kicks (7). Dayton is second in FCS scoring defense (13.9) and opponent third down conversion (22.4%).
Linebacker Gideon Lampron leads FCS in TFL (2.2). Lampron and safety Vincent Firenze are tied for second nationally in blocked kicks (2) and safety Ca’ron Coleman is tied for third in fumbles recovered (3)
Presbyterian is a very deceiving 3-6 overall and 1-4 in the Pioneer Football League. Among the PC losses are three single-possession defeats to teams in the top half of the PFL, including overtime losses to Drake and San Diego.
Presbyterian quarterback Collin Hurst leads the PFL in passing efficiency (150.3), cornerback Caleb Francis leads the league in passes defended (1.3 per game) and running back Zack Switzer is the PFL’s top kickoff returner (26.6 yards per return).
• Hurst and UD QB Drew VanVleet are both on the Jerry Rice Award Watch List.
The Flyers entered the season with the fifth-best winning percentage (.711, 180-73) in FCS football since 2000 AND have produced the most football Academic All-Americans (36) in Division I in the same time frame. The top five in winning percentage are North Dakota State (.804), Montana (.766), Harvard (.751), San Diego (.712) and Dayton (.711).
The Flyers are one of 11 FCS teams to win 700 games. The first eight members of the FCS 700 Win Club were Yale, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, North Dakota State, Dartmouth, Delaware and Lehigh. Dayton was the ninth. Northern Iowa and Lafayette joined the 700 win club last season.
The Pioneer Football League is in its 31st 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. The Flyers’ 141-53 record is the best in PFL history. UD’s 12 league championships are tied for the most in PFL history. San Diego also has 12.
Trevor Andrews was named the University of Dayton’s head football coach on Dec. 12, 2022. A 1998 Dayton graduate, he brought 25 years of college coaching experience back home to his alma mater. Andrews was a three-year letterwinner at defensive back for the Flyers., and a member of three Pioneer Football League championship teams.
UD is back home for the next two weeks – Nov. 9 vs. San Diego and Nov. 16 vs. Valparaiso. Both games kick-off at 12 Noon ET.
COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS
