Nov. 8, 2008

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The University of Dayton football team had to play without two of its three captains, but their understudies came through in the clutch as the Flyers beat Butler 28-21 in overtime at the Butler Bowl. With the win, UD improved to 9-1 overall and remained atop the Pioneer Football League with a 6-0 record.

Quarterback Rob Florian, the PFL's Offensive Player of the Week the last two games, was out with a hand injury. And on defense, Dayton's leading tackler, Steve McDonald, missed the game with an injured knee. In their places stepped up redshirt freshman QB Jeff Pechan and redshirt sophomore Flyer J.J. Vercammen.

Pechan led the UD offense in his first start by completing 23 of 42 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns, including the 15-yard game-winning score to Justin Millio. Pechan also ran 15 times for 53 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

Vercammen was one of three Flyer defenders with a team-high nine tackles. The biggest tackle Vercammen had in the game was a sack on a blitz on the first play of overtime. In addition, he had two passes batted down and two tackles in the backfield.

After a scoreless first quarter, Dayton opened the scoring with a 13-yard run by Justin Watkins. In the third quarter, Butler took advantage of a Flyer turnover to tie the game at 7-7. The Bulldogs returned the favor when linebacker Joe Reis picked his second pass to set up Pechan's 35-yard TD run. When Pechan hit Watkins in the back left corner of the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter, UD took a 21-7 lead with 14:52 to go.

But Butler would not go down quietly on its Senior Day, gaining 206 of its 335 yards of the day's total offense in the fourth quarter. BU quarterback Matt Kobli hit Dan Bohrer from five yards out with 11:06 left to make it a seven-point game, and Dionte Wiggins ran in a six-yard TD with 42 seconds to go to send the game into overtime.

Butler won the coin toss and elected to go on defense first. Pechan rolled right and then tucked it in for a nine-yard gain on first down, and then moved the chains with a one-yard QB sneak. Pechan then found Millio with a diving catch in the back right corner of the end zone to put UD up 28-21 after Nick Glavin's fourth PAT of the day.

Flyer head coach called Vercammen's number on a blitz and was rewarded with a nine-yard sack of Kobli. After Joe Castaneda caused an incomplete pass on a deep fade route, Kobli completed a pass over the middle to Jordan Koopman that Reis kept to just a five-yard gain. On fourth-and-14 from the 29, Kobli tried to hit Wiggins in the end zone, but Scott Horcher knocked the ball to the ground to end the game.

Steve Valentino was Pechan's favorite target, catching six passes for 110 yards. Millio added five for 25, and Watkins had three for 30. Ben Shappie was the game's leading ground gainer, with 10 carries for 61 yards.

The Dayton defense held Butler to 38 net yards rushing, 120 yards under its average. Vercammen, Ries and Matt Smyth each had nine tackles to lead UD. Smyth had a game-high seven solo hits. Sean Heenan and Kalen Hemmelgarn each had a sack. Team captain Scott Vossler, who had a hamstring injury and was expected to join fellow captains Florian and McDonald on the sidelines (Vossler was unable to even jog as late as Thursday), played every down on defense and made two of his three tackles in the backfield.

The win was UD's 12th straight win in the Pioneer Football League, tying the Flyers with NEC champion Albany for the longest conference win streak in FCS football. The Flyers have also not been shutout in an active NCAA-best 363 games. Butler falls to 6-3 overall, and 4-2 in the PFL, tying them with San Diego for third place in the league.

Dayton will return home for its own Senior Day next Saturday, November 15 when Morehead State, the last PFL team to beat UD, visits Welcome Stadium. Kickoff will be at 1:00 p.m. ET. The Flyers have won their last 13 home games, the longest active streak in FCS football.