Alumni Game Kicks Off At 1 PM ET

DAYTON — The University of Dayton football team will host Butler Saturday on Flyer Football Alumni Day.  More than 50 alums have indicated that they are returning to campus for the game.  This year’s featured team is the 2001 Pioneer Football League championship team that finished 10-1 overall and 5-0 in the PFL.

UD is 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Pioneer Football League after last week’s 20-17 overtime loss vs. Presbyterian.

A huge factor in all four PFL losses are turnovers.  Dayton committed three last week, which was an improvement, but two of them were in Flyer territory, and they set up both of Presbyterian’s touchdowns.

Dayton leads the PFL in plays run (500) and first downs (138).

Michael Neel leads the PFL in carries (125), Gavin Lochow is second in kick return average (24,4) and Dante Casciola is third in yards per pass completion (13.5).

GOOD NEWS WORTH REPEATING
The Flyers entered the season with the fourth-best winning percentage (.7273, 176-66) 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 were North Dakota State (.807), Harvard (.749), Montana (.748), Dayton (.7273) and San Diego (.7269).

700 CLUB
The Flyers are one of nine FCS teams to win 700 games.  The previous eight members of the FCS 700 Win Club are Yale, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, North Dakota State, Dartmouth, Delaware and Lehigh.

PFL POWER
• 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’ 136-51 record is the best in PFL history.
• UD’s 12 league championships are the most in PFL history.  San Diego also has 12.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
• Saturday’s game will feature the top two workhorse backs in the Pioneer Football League.
• Dayton’s Michael Neel has carried the ball 125 times in seven games, while Butler’s Jyran Mitchell has 123 rushing attempts in seven games.
• Mitchell leads the PFL in rushing (116.0 yards per game), while Neel is fifth (78.3).
• Mitchell is also seventh in FCS football in rushing.
• The ‘Dogs lead the PFL in scoring defense (22.3), red-zone defense (68.8%) fewest penalty yards per game (34.1).
• Quarterback Bret Bushka is 105-for-180 (,583) for 1,088 yards and with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. He is already over 5,000 yards passing for his career.
• Nick Bafia leads the defense with 48 stops (29 solo) with 3.0 TFL, two PBU and two fumbles forced.

FLYER AT THE HELM
• Trevor Andrews was named the University of Dayton’s head football coach on Dec. 12, 2022.
• A 1998 Dayton graduate, he brings 25 years of college coaching experience to his alma mater.
• Andrews was a three-year letterwinner at defensive back for the Flyers.
• He was a member of three Pioneer Football League championship teams that had Mike Kelly as the head coach, and Andrews’ predecessor at Dayton, Rick Chamberlin, as the then-defensive coordinator.

CAPTAINS, MY CAPTAINS
• The Flyer co-captains for the 2023 season are redshirt senior linebacker Nathan Arthur, graduate safety Matt Lenti, graduate offensive guard David Tkatch and redshirt senior wideout Derek Willits.
• Michael Franks was voted the special teams captain at the start of the season.

PRESEASON PFL
• Four University of Dayton Flyers were named 2023 Preseason All-Pioneer Football League, as chosen by the PFL.  Dayton’s selections consisted of linebacker Nathan Arthur, safety Cole Hildebrand, defensive tackle Sam Schadek and offensive tackle David Tkatch.
• The Flyers’ four selections were second only to defending champion St. Thomas’ six picks.
• Phil Steele’s College Football also picked eight Flyers to its All-PFL teams.  In addition to Arthur, Hildebrand, Schadek and Tkatch, four others were also named. Luke Brenner (KR) and Sam Webster (PK) were on the second team, and  Sam Bubonics (WR) and Michael Neel (RB) were on the third team.

QUARTERBACK COMPETITION
• The first snap of the Trevor Andrews era was taken by redshirt sophomore Dante Casciola in the season opener at Illinois State, but it didn’t take long for both Casciola and redshirt senior Cole Dow to contribute for the Flyer offense.
• Casciola was 7-for-11 passing for 43 yards at ISU.
• Dow was 10-for-20 for 63 yards, and was the UD co-leader in rushing with 12 carries for 54 yards.
• In the Central State win, the duo combined to go 15 for 24 passing for 195 yards and four touchdowns.  Casciola was 10 of 16 for 160 yards with two TD and a pick.  Dow was five of eight for 35 yards and two TD.  He also ran 13 times for 47 yards and a score.
• Against Taylor, Casciola completed 12 of 18 passes for 277 yards and two TD.
• Dow started the Taylor game, and it was his first college start, and his first start in any game since 2018.
• Casciola is second in the PFL in yards per completion (14.8) and third in yards per attempt (7.5).
• Casciola started the first five games of 2022 when he suffered a broken thumb on his throwing hand at Butler.  The injury required surgery and he missed the rest of the season.
• He was second in the PFL in completion percentage at the time of the injury in 2022.
• Casciola completed 72 of 111 passes (.649) for 757 yards, with five TD and four interceptions last year.
• Dow had played in six games in the last two seasons, with eight rushes and five pass attempts with one completion.
• He is tied for the PFL lead in TDs responsible for (9, 5 rushing, 4 passing).
• A strong athlete, he actually moved to wide receiver for part of last year in hopes of getting his athleticism on the field.
• Dow started one season at Maine South High School, leading them to a Chicago Central Suburban League championship in 2018.  He passed for 2,140 yards with 26 TD and ran for another 700 yards with nine TD.
• Freshman Drew VanVleet (the son of two-time All-PFL Flyer linebacker Brad VanVleet) entered the picture with a start in the Presbyterian game and went 9-of-15 for 79 yards.

ON THE RECEIVING END
• Dayton has seven players who have at least seven catches already this season.  Joey Swanson has 17, Derek Willits has 16, Gavin Lochow has 15, Michael Neel  has 13, Jake Coleman and Alec Keithley each have nine, and Sam Bubonics has seven.
• UD also has six who average at least 10.0 yards per catch  — Coleman (16.4), Lochow (16.3), Bubonics (12.4), Swanson (11.8), Willits (11.8) and Keathley (10.4).
• Last year, UD only had three receiving TDs scored by wideouts.  Dayton matched that in the Central State game, and now has on six on the year.
• All of this without last year’s leading pass catcher, Luke Brenner for the first five games.  Brenner returned from injury  at Morehead State and caught three passes.
• In 2022, Brenner had 28 catches for a 9.9 avg., Swanson had 20 for 11.7,  Willits 17 for 12.4, Bubonics 14 for 14.1 and Jake Coleman five for 9.4.
• Brenner led UD in yards per catch in 2021 (11 receptions for 24.7 yards per catch), while Bubonics led in total receptions (34 for 14.0).

WHERE THERE IS A WILLITS
• Redshirt senior receiver Derek Willits is not only a team captain, he is also the president of UD’s Student-Athlete Advisory Council.
• He was named the 2022 winner of football’s Emil Karas Award for outstanding leadership.
• He is a semifinalist for the 2023 NFF Campbell Trophy.

NEEL HERE
• After backing up one of the best (and durable) running backs in UD history in Jake Chisholm, Michael Neel is back for a post-grad year for the chance to be Dayton’s lead back.
• He currently is sixth in the PFL in rushing (83.6 yards per game), third in rushing attempts (17.2) and fifth in yards per carry (4.9).
• He shared team rushing honors with Cole Dow at Illinois State.  Neel ran the ball 18 times for 54 yards.
• Neel ran 20 times for a career-best 125 yards with a 70-yard touchdown against Central State.
• In the Taylor win, he had 15 rushes, 110 yards and two TD in three quarters.
• Neel missed the first four games of 2022 with an injury, and then appeared in seven games, with 36 carries for 204 net (5.7 avg.) with four TD.
• 175 of his 204 yards came in the last four games of the year, in 2022.
• He has played in 24 games in his career, with 184 carries for 831 yards (4.5 avg.) and nine TD.
• Neel needs 18 yards this season to double what he gained in his first four years at UD.

TO SERVE AND PROTECT
• Dayton returned two starters on the O-line in 2023.
• Co-captain and All-PFL performer David Tkatch at guard and Dylan DeMaison at center each played and started nine games last year.
• Tkatch started his nine games at tackle in 2022.  The co-captain and All-PFL performer graduated Magna Cum Laude last spring and is working on his MBA.  A two-year starter, he is also a two-time First Team Academic All-PFL selection.
• DeMaison is also a two-year starter.  Most of his starts have come at center, but he has also started at guard.
•DeMaison was UD’s Offensive Player of the Week in the season opener.
• Tackle Conor Clyde played in six games with three starts in 2022.
• At right tackle, Ryan Iiams is a transfer from Robert Morris, where he started 12 of 14 games played the last two seasons.  He transferred in January, and participated in spring ball with the Flyers.
• Injuries have depleted some of the Dayton depth on the line, and talented freshmen have stepped up.  Brock Adams and Zachary McDowell started at guard vs. Central State and Taylor.
• They both saw significant time at Illinois State in the college debuts.

TO REALLY SERVE & PROTECT 
• The Taylor game was UD’s “Military Appreciation Day,” and the Flyers were led onto the field by redshirt freshman wide receiver Levi Moell.
• Moell is a Marine Corps veteran who walked onto the team in the fall of 2022.

KING ME
• Redshirt senior linebacker Nathan Arthur was second for UD in tackles last year, with 73 tackles (37 solo).
• His three fumbles forced led Dayton and tied for the most in the PFL.
• Arthur’s 8.5 TFL were third on the team last year.
• He also had two sacks, two QB hurries, a fumble recovery and a PBU in 2022.
• He led UD with seven tackles (five solo), with a pass break up and a QB hurry in the CSU win.

AIDEN & A-TACKLING
• In his first college start at ISU, redshirt sophomore LB Aiden McKinley led UD with 15 tackles, including a fumble forced and a fumble recovered.
• McKinley had 10 tackles (six solo) in the Taylor win.
• He is tied for team honors and tied for seventh in the PFL in hits (7.3).

CA’RON-RON-RON-RON, DA-DO CA’RON
• Ca’ron Coleman had a game-high 13 tackles (with a TFL) in the Taylor win.
• He had another 13 against St. Thomas.
• He was UD’s Special Teams Player of the Week in the Central State win.
• He leads UD (tied) and is tied for seventh in the PFL in hits (7.3).

FLYER FAMILY
• Seven current Flyers have a direct relative who played for UD in the past.  They are Sam Bubonics (brother Joe), Gavin Lochow (dad Steve), Ben Meehan (brother Danny), Marc Rumpke (dad Rob,) John Sciaretti (uncle Matt and cousin Dominic), Tyler Stylski (dad Mike) and Drew VanVleet (dad Brad).

UP NEXT
• Dayton has a bye week coming up.
• UD’s next game is at Valparaiso on Nov. 4.
• The Flyers’ next home game is Nov. 11 against Marist.

COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS