Monday, October 6, 2014
by Cody Bush, PFL Media Relations

AHEAD IN WEEK 7

Saturday, Oct. 11

Dayton [RV/–] at Marist, Noon
Location: Poughkeepsie, N.Y.  (Tenney Stadium)
Series: DAY leads, 4-1    Streak: MAR, one win
Last Meeting: Marist def. Dayton, 31-20 (2013)
Notably: Dayton returns to the east coast for the second consecutive week, traveling to Marist for a Week 7 matchup. Marist, which ended a season-opening five-game losing streak last week, begins a stretch of four home games in its next five outings. This will be the third meeting between the two teams in Poughkeepsie and the first two were thrillers. Dayton won a 2010 matchup in overtime to clinch the PFL title and then needing an interception on the final Marist drive of a 21-17 victory in 2012. 

Butler at Campbell, Noon
Location: Buies Creek, N.C. (Barker-Lane Stadium)
Series: BUT leads, 4-2    Streak: BUT, two wins
Last Meeting: Butler def. Campbell, 35-14 (2013)
Notably: Butler also makes a return trip to the east coast, visiting PFL unbeaten Campbell. The Camels, who are 2-0 in PFL for the first time, begin a stretch where they will play four of the next five at home. Butler has won the last two meetings in the series, but both were played in Indianapolis. Campbell won a 38-23 decision in 2011 – the last time the two teams met in North Carolina.

Jacksonville [RV/–] at Morehead State, 1 p.m.
Location: Morehead, Ky. (Jayne Stadium)
Series: JAC leads, 9-4    Streak: JAC, eight wins
Last Meeting: Jacksonville def. Morehead State, 69-19 (2013)
Notably: Jacksonville becomes the PFL’s road warriors this week, starting a stretch of five consecutive road games when it visits Morehead State. This series has been lopsided recently with Jacksonville outscoring Morehead State, 157-50 in the last three meetings. This season, the Dolphins have won their first three PFL contests by an average of 20 points, while averaging 33 points per outing. Morehead State has averaged 32 points in its first two PFL contests, but will face a Jacksonville defense holding PFL opponents to just 13 points per game.

Davidson at Drake, 2 p.m.
Location: Des Moines, Iowa (Drake Stadium)
Series: DRA leads, 5-1    Streak: DRA, four wins
Last Meeting: Drake def. Davidson, 27-6 (2013)
Notably: Davidson travels to Drake for the first time since 2010. Drake puts its 17-game home win streak in PFL play on the line but it has not lost to Davidson at home (3-0). Davidson came oh-so-close to an upset victory at Dayton, falling in a PFL record five overtimes. The Wildcats are averaging a PFL-leading 30.7 points per game while the Bulldogs rank 10th with just 16.6 points per game.

Missouri Baptist at Valparaiso, 2 p.m.
Location: Valparaiso, Ind. (Brown Field)
Series: First Meeting    
Notably: Valparaiso continues its homestand when it hosts first-year Missouri Baptist in nonconference action. The Crusaders will seek to bounce back after being held to a season-low 239 offensive yards in a loss to Marist, which came one week after a season-best 533-yard performance at Campbell.

Stetson at San Diego [RV/–], 5 p.m.
Location: San Diego, Calif. (Torero Stadium)
Series: SAN leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: San Diego def. Stetson, 59-0 (2013)
Notably: Stetson makes its longest trip in program history when it travels to San Diego. The Hatters have had better luck on the road this season, where they are 2-0 against an 0-3 mark in DeLand. San Diego returns to the field after its off week and will seek to extend a two-game win streak. Stetson’s offense has been firing in the last two weeks, totalling 1,034 offensive yards and 78 points. The Toreros have 59 points and 740 offensive yards in its last two outings – wins against Princeton and Marist.

NEWS AND NOTES FROM AROUND THE PFL

BUSY WEEK 7 AROUND THE LEAGUE | All 11 PFL teams will be in action during Week 7 with five conference games and one nonconference tilt on the schedule. The PFL’s three unbeaten teams will be in action with Dayton (at Marist) and Jacksonville (at Morehead State) on the road while Campbell hosts Butler.

FIVE OT THRILLER BETWEEN DAVIDSON-DAYTON | Dayton and Davidson got off to a slow start but raced headlong into and through overtime before Dayton escaped with a 54-48 victory in five overtimes, Oct. 4. The Flyers led 13-7 after three full quarters but both offenses exploded in the fourth quarter, combining for 34 points en route to a 27-27 tie. The Flyers and Wildcats scored 48 points in extra time, before Dayton’s Connor Kascor scored in the fifth overtime and UD’s Tom Fanning intercepted a pass on Davidson’s ensuing drive. It was the longest game in the FCS since Sept. 10, 2011 when Towson and Coastal Carolina went five overtimes. It also broke the PFL record of three overtimes set by Campbell and Davidson, Oct. 29, 2011.

KACSOR STRIKES AGAIN | Earlier this season, Dayton running back Connor Kacsor posted what remains a FCS best 301 yards in a Week 2 contest against Georgetown. He backed that up in Week 6 with a 213-yard performance against Davidson – the ninth best rushing performance this season. He joins St. Francis (Pa.)’s Khairi Dickson as the only runners to post two Top 10 totals this season. Kacsor also ran the ball 47 times in the win against Davidson, the only rusher to post more than 40 runs in the FCS this season.

WILD AND CRAZY FOURTH QUARTERS IN WEEK 6 | It was a wild Week 6 across the PFL with five games combining for 332 points, or an average of 66.4 points per game. The fourth quarter was particularly crazy with 102 points (20.4 points per game) scored in that frame. Dayton and Davidson, the game that went a PFL record five overtimes, had 34 points scored in the fourth quarter plus another 48 in overtime. Butler and Stetson combined to score 27 of their 90 points in the fourth.

DAYTON SCORING STREAK HITS 424 | Dayton continues one of the more remarkable streaks in college football – a NCAA record 424 consecutive games without suffering a shutout. The last team to blank Dayton was Marshall by a 9-0 score on Oct. 16, 1976. San Diego owns the PFL’s second longest such streak at 161 games. 

TWO PFL ALUMNI ON NFL ROSTERS | Marist alumnus Terrence Fede, the 2013 PFL Defensive Player of the Year, was named to the Miami Dolphins’ active 53-man roster. Fede, a 7th round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, recorded his first tackle as a professional against Oakland, Sept. 29. In addition, Drake alumnus and 12-year NFL veteran Billy Cundiff is in his second year as a member of the Cleveland Browns. 

THREE PFL STUDENT-ATHLETES NAMED TO CAMPBELL LIST | Jacksonville quarterback Kade Bell became the second PFL quarterback to throw five Three Pioneer Football League student-athletes were named among 167 candidates for the 2014 William V. Campbell Trophy®, presented by Fidelity Investments®.  Campbell’s Adam Lutz, Dayton’s Will Bardo and San Diego Troy McClelland were each named to the semifinalist list, Sept. 25.

DOLPHINS’ BELL RECORDS LEAGUE’S SECOND 5 TD OUTING | Jacksonville quarterback Kade Bell became the second PFL quarterback to throw five touchdowns in a game, turning the trick against Butler in Week 5. The redshirt junior is one of 10 FCS quarterbacks to throw five or more touchdowns in a game this season.

DAVIDSON’S MORRIS RUNS FOR 208 | Davidson wide receiver William Morris posted a 16-reception, 208-yard performance at VMI, Sept. 13. The 16 receptions are the most in the FCS this season while his 208 receiving yards were third most. It is the 21st 200-yard receiving performance in the PFL since 2002 and first this season.

DAYTON’S KACSOR SECOND TO TOP 300 YARDS | Dayton running back Connor Kacsor became the second PFL runner to record 300 rushing yards in a game, piling up 301 yards against Georgetown, Sept. 6, in Welcome Stadium. It was the 55th 300-yard performance in FCS history and was a Dayton program record. The senior from Leo, Indiana, had just 14 yards in the first quarter but ran for 287 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown, in the game’s final 45 minutes.

EAGLES’ GAHAFER THROWS FIRST 5 TD OUTING | Morehead State quarterback Austin Gahafer put together the PFL’s first five-touchdown performance of 2014, in a 49-36 win against NAIA foe Pikeville. The PFL saw five five-touchdown efforts in 2013, but none occurred prior to Week 7 (Oct. 12).

MARIST’S FEDE MAKES DOLPHINS ROSTER | Marist alumnus Terrence Fede, the 2013 PFL Defensive Player of the Year, was named to the Miami Dolphins’ active 53-man roster. Fede, a 7th round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, is listed on the Dolphins depth chard at right defensive end entering the NFL season’s opening week.

NEW SIGNAL CALLERS ABOUND | New quarterbacks will be at the helm of six of the PFL’s 11 programs in 2014. Butler, Campbell, Davidson, Marist, San Diego and Valparaiso will each be under new leadership on the field. Dayton and Drake each return a senior under center with Will Bardo and Andy Rice, respectively. Morehead State (Austin Gahafer) and Stetson (Ryan Tentler) each used a freshman quarterback in 2013 that returns for their sophomore campaigns in 2014. Jacksonville junior Kade Bell rounds out the list of returning quarterbacks.

WELCOME NEW HEAD COACHES | Two new faces will join the PFL’s head coaching fraternity in 2014 with Rick Fox taking over duties at Drake while Dave Cecchini grabs the reins at Valparaiso. Fox was as an assistant coach for six seasons under former head coach Chris Creighton, who took the head coaching position at Eastern Michigan. Cecchini became Valparaiso’s 17th head coach after four seasons as the offensive coordinator at Lehigh.

PFL TIEBREAKER MODIFIED | The PFL automatic qualifier tiebreaker was modified during the league’s August president’s council meeting. In 2014, the league will no longer use computer rankings to determine its automatic qualifier. Instead, the league will use a “Strength of Victory” and “Strength of Schedule” – both based on conference games only – to help determine its representative in the FCS Championship. The complete PFL tiebreaker is available online at pioneer-football.org/tiebreaker.

PFL ADDS SIXTH MAJOR AWARD | In addition to the change in the league’s tiebreaker procedure, the league’s presidents voted to add a Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award to its postseason accolades. The Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be selected as part of the league’s Academic All-PFL squad voting in November.

THREE PFL ATHLETES NOMINATED FOR 2014 ALLSTATE AFCA GOOD WORKS TEAM | Three PFL student-athletes – Davidson’s Dan Casey, Drake’s John Hugunin and Marist’s James Holodnak – were among a 182 nominees for the 2014 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®, which recognizes the selfless contributions to volunteerism and community service made by college football student-athletes across the nation. Two 11-member teams will be selected, one composed players competing in the NCAA® Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the other is a combined team representing the NCAA® Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Divisions II, III, and the NAIA.

NO ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS IN SAN DIEGO REVIEW | The PFL concluded its review of a matter involving the San Diego Football program. The league has ruled no additional sanctions will be imposed on the San Diego football team beyond its voluntary removal from the 2013 conference championship.

PFL’S 22ND CAMPAIGN | The 2014 season marks the 22nd year for the Pioneer Football League – the nation’s only non-scholarship, football-only NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conference. The league boasts 11 members in 2014 with the departure of Mercer after its first season.