Monday, September 22, 2014
by Cody Bush, PFL Media Relations

AHEAD IN WEEK 5

Saturday, Sept. 27

Jacksonville at Butler, Noon
Location: Indianapolis, Ind. (Butler Bowl)
Series: JAC leads, 7-2    Streak: BUT, two wins
Last Meeting: Butler def. Jacksonville, 45-27 (2013)
Notably: Jacksonville puts its 1-0 PFL start on the line when it travels northward to help Butler open PFL play. The Dolphins won the first seven meetings in the series, but the Bulldogs have won the last two contests. Butler owns the PFL’s top passing offense after three games, averaging 267.7 yards per game and posting a 156.1 pass efficiency rating. Jacksonville ranks third in pass defense efficiency, limiting opponents to a 116.6 rating thanks to a league-leading seven interceptions.

San Diego [RV/–] at Marist, 1 p.m.
Location: Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (Tenney Stadium)
Series: SAN leads, 9-0
Last Meeting: San Diego def. Marist, 35-33 (2013)
Notably: San Diego makes its second trip to the east coast when it travels to Marist in the second PFL contest for both teams. The Toreros trek east after an impressive 39-29 victory against Ivy League favorite Princeton. Marist returns home after losing a defensive battle 21-6 at Drake. San Diego has scored 34 and 35 points in its last two meetings with Marist. The Red Foxes defense owns a league-leading nine turnovers gained (two fumbles, seven interceptions), but the team has only a +1 turnover margin after four games.

Valparaiso at Campbell, 6 p.m.
Location: Buies Creek, N.C. (Barker-Lane Stadium)
Series: VAL leads, 4-2    Streak: VAL, three wins
Last Meeting: Valparaiso def. Campbell, 49-42 in OT (2013)
Notably: Valparaiso also heads east to face Campbell in the PFL opener for both teams. The Crusaders continue a road trip that began with a nonconference win at William Jewell, its first non-PFL win since 2009. Campbell returns to action after an off week, seeking its season’s first victory. Valparaiso is seeking back-to-back wins for the first time since 2007 and enters the game after scoring 39 points, its highest point total since scoring 49 points in last season’s win against Campbell. The Camels opened the season with losses to FBS foe Appalachian State and FCS members Charlotte and Charleston Southern.

Davidson at Princeton [RV/–], 6 p.m.  
Location: Princeton, N.J. (University Stadium)
Series: PRIN leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: Princeton def. Davidson, 42-6 (1987)
Notably: Davidson visits the Garden State to meet Ivy League preseason favorite Princeton. Both teams enter the Week 5 contest after Week 4 defeats. Davidson saw Morehead State post a 40-32 come-from-behind win, while Princeton could not hold of PFL member San Diego in a 39-29 loss. The Wildcats enter the game with 119 points in the season’s first four games, nearly equalling its 154 points in last season’s 11-game slate.

Off Week: Dayton, Drake, Morehead State, Stetson

NEWS AND NOTES FROM AROUND THE PFL

LEAGUE SLATE CONTINUES SLOW BUILD UP IN WEEK 5 | Six teams have started the 2014 PFL race after four weeks and this week three more teams join that race in Week 5. Butler, Campbell and Valparaiso join the fray with three league games on the slate. League-leading Jacksonville will travel to Butler while Campbell will host Valparaiso. In addition, San Diego heads east for the second time this season to face Marist. In nonconference action, Davidson will head north to meet Ivy League favorite Princeton.

PFL TEAMS PITCH CLEAN SLATE IN WEEK 4 | Pioneer Football League members went unbeaten in six nonconference tilts during Week 4 action. That winning six pack included two victories against Ivy League squads (Princeton and Penn) and one against a Northeast Conference foe (Robert Morris).

VALPARAISO ENDS 9-GAME SLIDE | Valparaiso ended a nine-game losing streak with a victory at Division II William Jewell, Sept. 20. It also was the Crusaders first nonconference victory since Sept. 12, 2009 – a 15-game stretch between nonconference victories.

DAYTON SCORING STREAK HITS 423 | Dayton continues one of the more remarkable streaks in college football – a NCAA record 423 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 160 games. 

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.