Monday, October 14, 2013
by Cody Bush, PFL Media Relations

PFL WEEK 8 HIGHLIGHTS

WEEK 8 MARKS HALFWAY POST IN PFL RACE | Week 8 will mark the halfway point in the PFL race for each of the teams in conference action, only Mercer and Stetson will wait until Week 9 to play their fourth PFL outing. Two pivotal match ups loom in the week, each a pairing of Original Four members. The first is a 1 p.m. contest with 2-1 Drake visiting 3-0 Butler, that will be followed by a 6 p.m. affair with 2-1 Dayton hosting 3-0 San Diego. Elsewhere, two other 2-1 squads will each be on the road attempting to stay with the pack with Marist at Davidson and Morehead State at Valparaiso. Mercer steps out of league play for a non-conference tilt against Carnegie Mellon while Stetson takes the week off.

AHEAD IN WEEK 7
Saturday, Oct. 5
Carnegie Mellon at Mercer, 1 p.m.
Location: Macon, Ga. (University Stadium)
Series: First Meeting
Notably: Mercer steps out of conference play this week and hosts its sixth home outing when Carnegie Mellon visits. The Bears are unbeaten at home in their return to football, posting a 5-0 mark with the offense averaging 42 points per game and the defense posting two shutouts in those games.

Drake at Butler, 1 p.m.
Location: Indianapolis, Ind. (Butler Bowl)
Series: DRA leads, 15-6-1    Streak: DRA, three wins
Notably: Drake, with one PFL loss, will seek to bring PFL-unbeaten Butler into the one-loss club when the two teams meet at the Butler Bowl. Drake has won the last three meetings in the series, including last season’s outing in Des Moines which helped create a three-way tie for the 2012 PFL title. Butler will look for its first home win against Drake since 2009. 

Jacksonville at Campbell, 1 p.m.
Location: Buies Creek, N.C. (Braker-Lane Stadium)
Series: JAC leads, 5-0    Streak: JAC, five wins
Notably: Jacksonville returns to action with a trip north to Campbell. The Dolphins entered last week’s off week with back-to-back losses and have not won on the road this season, losing three previous road trips. The Camels seek to end a 12-game PFL losing streak that dates back to a Nov. 5, 2011 home win against Morehead State.  

Marist at Davidson, 1 p.m.
Location: Davidson, N.C. (Richardson Stadium)
Series: MAR leads, 4-1    Streak: MAR, two wins
Notably: Marist continues its two-game road trip with a visit to Davidson. The Red Foxes have been road warriors in recent weeks and will conclude a stretch of five road outings in their last six games, but have posted a 3-2 mark (2-2 in road games) in that span. The Wildcats not only seeks their season’s first win but also its first home win against Marist.

Morehead State at Valparaiso, 2 p.m.
Location: Valparaiso, Ind. (Brown Field)
Series:  MOR leads, 15-3    Streak: MOR, six wins
Notably: Morehead State returns to the fray with a visit to Valparaiso. The Eagles are in rare territory, one-game back of the PFL’s co-leaders after three games and will seek their season’s second road win. The Crusaders have given the home crowd at Brown Field exciting action this season with their two outings decided by one possession en route to a 1-1 home mark. 

San Diego at Dayton, 6 p.m.
Location: Dayton, Ohio (Welcome Stadium)
Series: DAY leads, 14-6    Streak: SAN, two wins
Notably: San Diego puts its nine-game PFL win streak on the line when it visits Dayton. The Toreros return to the road after going 2-0 during its homestand, including a last week’s thriller against previously unbeaten Marist. Dayton has bounced back from its Week 5 loss to Marist with consecutive PFL wins, with the offense posting more than 40 points in both outings.

Off Week: Stetson

All times Eastern.
FCS rankings in brackets following school’s name: [Sports Network Poll/FCS Coaches Poll]

NEWS AND NOTES FROM AROUND THE PFL

TIGHT RACE DEVELOPING FOR PFL CROWN | Granted, the PFL race hits its midway point this week, but the 2013 race is developing into an exciting campaign. Butler and San Diego sit atop the PFL with matching 3-0 marks. Meanwhile, a group of five teams sit just one game back at 2-1. Five games remain for each of the league’s teams entering this weekend’s action, leaving plenty to be decided in the race for the league’s first automatic bid to the NCAA Football Championship.

DAVIDSON’S CARKHUFF JOINS PFL’S NEWEST, ELITE CLUB | When he passed the 10,000-yard mark against Drake, Oct. 12, Davidson’s Jonathan Carkhuff became the fourth PFL signal caller to reach the 10,000-yard milestone. All four members have reached the mark since the 2011 season. Jacksonville’s Josh McGregor (2008-11) inaugurated the club with what is still a PFL-record 11,230 yards. Last season, Drake’s Mike Piatkowski (10,200 yards) and Morehead State’s Zach Lewis (10,251 yards) joined the club. 

MERCER UNBLEMISHED AT HOME | Mercer improved to 5-0 at University Stadium with its Week 7 victory against Valparaiso. The Bears are one of 42 FCS teams with an unbeaten mark in their home facility this season. However, they are tied with only Delaware, James Madison and Sam Houston State with 5-0 marks at home in 2013. Mercer has three more home games this season, beginning with Saturday’s non-conference tilt against Carnegie Mellon.

TWO PFL FRESHMEN NAMED TO RICE AWARD WATCH LIST | Stetson safety Donald Payne and Mercer running back Payton Usher were two of 20 freshman named to the initial watch list for the 2013 Rice Award, presented by The Sports Network. Named for the legendary wide receiver, who played in the FCS (then Division I-AA) at Mississippi Valley State, the Rice Award will be voted on by a national panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries following the regular season.

ROOKIES DOMINATE PFL’S PUNTING FRATERNITY | Freshmen hold down the punting duties at half of the PFL’s programs this season and are representing themselves well through seven weeks. San Diego’s Ryan Belden leads the group and the league with a 44.0 yard per punt average that ranks ninth among FCS punters. Four other PFL freshman punters rank among the league’s top 10 in punting average.

NO SHUTTING OUT DAYTON | Dayton continues one of the more remarkable streaks in college football, entering this weekend with a NCAA record streak of 414 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 147 games.

DAYTON’S KASCOR JOINS 200-YARD CLUB | Dayton’s Connor Kascor became the second PFL rusher to record a 200-yard outing, one week after Butler’s Trae Heeter became the first to rush for 200 yards this season. Kascor joined the club with a 244-yard performance against Davidson, finishing with two touchdowns. He accomplished the feat in just 3½ quarters, as the final 7:30 was washed out by a weather delay.

SEVEN PFL STUDENT-ATHLETES NAMED NFF SCHOLAR-ATHLETES | A record seven Pioneer Football League student-athletes were named among a record 170 candidates for the 2013 National Football Foundation’s National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments. Butler quarterback Matt Lancaster, Campbell running back Kurt Odom, Dayton linebacker Colin Monnier, Drake defensive lineman Brandon Coleman, Marist safety Tyler Ramsey, San Diego defensive lineman Blake Oliaro and Valparaiso defensive back Alex Grask were each named as a semifinalist for the 2013 William V. Campbell Trophy, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best scholar-athlete in the nation.