By Packy Moore
GAME NOTES
https://daytonflyers.com/documents/2024/10/22/Notes_Morehead_State_Web.pdf
DAYTON — The University of Dayton football team returns home Saturday when Morehead State comes to town. Saturday’s contest is UD’s annual Alumni Game and UD’s 2010 PFL champs are the guests of honor. It is also the annual Breast Cancer Awareness Game.
Dayton is one of three teams undefeated in the Pioneer Football League. Drake is in first place with a 4-0 PFL slate, with UD and St. Thomas a half-game back at 3-0. Morehead is one of three teams with one loss in league — 4-3 overall and 2-1 PFL
The Flyers improved to 5-1 overall on the year last week with a 21-14 win at Butler. Dayton scored the game-winning TD on a 33-yard Drew VanVleet-to-Luke Brenner flea-flicker with 11 seconds left. The Dayton D held Butler to a season-low 260 yards in total offense. Mason Hackett had his third straight 100-yard rushing game, with 111 yards.
Quarterback Drew Van Vleet is on the Stats Perform Jerry Rice Award Watch List, which goes to the top freshman in FCS football. He has completed 104 of 157 passes (.662) for 1,229 yards, with 15 touchdowns against four interceptions. He is the top-ranked freshman in FCS in passing efficiency (11th overall) and completion percentage (23rd overall).
Morehead State is 4-3 overall, and 2-1 in the PFL under new coach Jason Woodman. .
MSU is third in the nation in turnover margin (+10). The Eagles’ 10 interceptions lead the PFL, and safety Matthew McClelland leads the league with four. He is also fifth in the PFL in tackles per game. Wideout Nate Garnett’s 21.5 yards-per-catch average is second in FCS football. QB Carter Cravens now has 3,195 career passing yards for Morehead State.
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’ 141-52 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.
He was a member of three Pioneer Football League championship teams.
The Flyer co-captains for the 2024 season are senior safety Ca’ron Coleman and redshirt senior center Dylan Demaison. Coleman was UD’s 2023 White Allen MVP. He was Honorable Mention All-PFL after finishing third on the team in tackles (77), solos (34) and TFL (8). DeMaison has started all 36 games of his Dayton career, and is a two-time First Team All-PFL selection. He is also a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation’s Campbell Trophy.
UD is on the road next week, traveling to Presbyterian. Game time is 1 p.m. ET. The Flyers return home on Nov. 9 to play San Diego at 12 Noon.
COURTESY DAYTON MEDIA RELATIONS
