Wednesday, October 5, 2022
AHEAD IN WEEK 5
Saturday, October 8
Marist at Stetson, 1 p.m.
Broadcast: ESPN+
Location: DeLand, Florida Stadium: Spec Martin Stadium
Series: Marist leads, 6-2 Streak: Marist, 2 wins
Last Meeting: Marist 34, Stetson 3 (2021)
Dayton at Butler, 1 p.m.
Broadcast: FloFootball.com
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Stadium: Sellick Bowl
Series: Dayton leads, 33-12-1 Streak: Dayton, 7 wins
Last Meeting: Dayton 38, Butler 31 (2021)
Valparaiso at Presbyterian, 1 p.m.
Broadcast: ESPN+
Location: Clinton, South Carolina Stadium: Bailey Memorial Stadium
Series: Valparaiso leads, 1-0 Streak: Valparaiso, 1 win
Last Meeting: Valparaiso 65, Presbyterian 55 (2021)
Davidson at St. Thomas, 2 p.m.
Broadcast: TommieSports.com
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota Stadium: O’Shaughnessy Stadium
Series: Davidson leads, 1-0 Streak: Davidson, 1 win
Last Meeting: Davidson 42, St. Thomas 15 (2021)
San Diego at Drake, 2 p.m.
Broadcast: ESPN+
Location: Des Moines, Iowa Stadium: Drake Stadium
Series: San Diego leads, 19-11 Streak: San Diego, 8 wins
Last Meeting: San Diego 13, Drake 10 (2021)
Off Week: Morehead State
NOTES FROM AROUND THE PFL
WEEK 5 IN REVIEW
Davidson posted its first shutout since the 2019 season, Dayton and St. Thomas opened PFL play with victories, and Morehead State leveled its PFL record with a home win… Davidson’s shutout of Butler was its first in 31 games dating back to a blanking of West Virginia Wesleyan during the 2019 season… Morehead State freshman Jihad McCall blocked his fourth punt of 2022 against Presbyterian and is one shy of the FCS single-season record. Morehead State leads the FCS with five blocked kicks this season… Marist hosted St. Thomas in front of 4,632 fans – the second largest crowd in the history of Tenney Stadium… There were only five 100-yard rushing performances in the season’s first four weeks, but Week 5 saw six rushers surpass 100 yards… Davidson’s Dylan Sparks posted a PFL season-high 180 yards in the shutout victory of Butler… St. Thomas’ Hope Adebayo rolled up 132 yards at Marist… PFL Offensive Player of the Week Jake Chisholm went for 131 yards and two touchdowns in a win against Drake… Davidson’s Coy Williams also broke through for 109 yards against Butler… Morehead State’s Chance Harris added 103 rushing yards against Presbyterian… Butler quarterback Bret Bushka rushed for 102 yards at Davidson… The PFL still has not had a rusher post multiple 100-yard performances in 2022.
WILDCATS DO RUN RUN
Davidson rushed for a FCS single-game best 498 yards against Butler, Oct. 1, it’s third 400-yard rushing day of 2022. The Wildcats topped their previous season best of 417 yards set against St. Andrews, Sept. 17. Davidson also amassed 403 yards against Barton, Sept. 10, and nearly hit the 400-yard mark with 396 yards against Presbyterian, Sept. 24. Those four games rank first, second, fourth, and fifth, respectively in the FCS this season. Only Gardner-Webb’s 412 yards against Limestone break up Davidson’s hold on the top five spots. Davidson is averaging an FCS best 389.4 rushing yards per game – 91.7 yards per game more than second-ranked Dartmouth.
HATTERS THROUGH THE AIR
Meanwhile, Stetson enters Week 6 ranked No. 5 among FCS teams with 351.2 passing yards per game. The Hatters 444-yard performance against Louisiana Christian is the seventh-best passing performance in 2022 while its 384 yards against Concordia ranks 19th.
NO FLAG ZONE
PFL teams rank among the FCS’ least-penalized teams in 2022. Drake ranks third among the subdivision with just 3.6 penalties per game with Dayton and Morehead State both tied for fifth with 4.0 flags per game. Meanwhile, Morehead State is second in the FCS with just 28.4 penalty yards per game. Dayton is seventh (30.75 yards per game) and Drake is 11th (34.60 yards per game).
MOREHEAD STATE’S HAZLETT, DAYTON’S WEBSTER EARN MONTHLY AWARD
The Fred Mitchell Award recognized Morehead State’s Nathan Hazlett and Dayton’s Sam Webster on its September list of 29 placekickers. Hazlett was 4-of-4 on field goals, with his longest kick going for 41 yards, and 11-of-11 on PATs during the month. Webster went 5-for-5 on field goals, with a longest kick of 42 yards, and was 7-of-7 on PATs in September.
STETSON’S ENSLEY, VALPARAISO’s KAPLAN EARN FEDEX WEEK FOUR HONORS
Stetson’s Ja’Veon Ensley was named the FedEx Ground FCS National Defensive Player of the Week and Valparaiso’s Mason Kaplan earned FedEx Ground FCS National Freshman of the Week honors, presented by Stats Perform, Sept. 26, following Week 4 action. Ensley had a breakout day, punctuated by a pick-six, in Stetson’s 38-26 PFL victory against Morehead State. He led Stetson with eight tackles (four solo), 1.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions, a pass breakup, and a blocked punt. Kaplan was responsible for three touchdowns in Valparaiso’s 28-21 PFL victory against San Diego. He completed 4-of-6 passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns and ran 12 times for 44 yards and a touchdown.
FIVE PFL ATHLETES NAMED CAMPBELL TROPHY SEMIFINALISTS
The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) announced Wednesday the 156 semifinalists for the 2022 William V. Campbell Trophy®, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award. The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on Oct. 26, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2022 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class Presented by Fidelity Investments. Five PFL student-athletes were among the 37 FCS semifinalists: Davidson’s Bradyn Oakley, Dayton’s Jake Chisholm, Marist’s Mike Arrington, St. Thomas’ Seth Bickett, Stetson’s Ethan Hull.
PFL’S 30TH CAMPAIGN
The 2022 season marks the 30th year for the Pioneer Football League – the nation’s only non-scholarship, football-only NCAA Football Championship Subdivision conference. The league will feature 11 teams – tied for most in league history – each playing an eight-game schedule to determine the league champion and recipient of the automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA FCS Championship.
MARIST’S PARADY SEEKS 150TH FCS VICTORY
Entering the 2022 season, Marist head coach James Parady needs six wins to record 150 career FCS victories. Since the FCS was created in 1978, only 14 head coaches have won 150 or more FCS games, including five active head coaches (see list, page 7). FCS wins are only counted for head coaches when their program is listed as a Division I FCS program by the NCAA.
DAYTON’S CHAMBERLIN NOTCHES 100TH CAREER WIN
Dayton head coach Rick Chamberlin picked up his 100th career victory – all at Dayton – with the Flyers’ 22-20 victory at Robert Morris. In his 15th season at Dayton, he is the third Flyers football coach to reach 100 career wins, joining College Football Hall of Fame members Harry Baujan and Mike Kelley.
BUTLER, PRESBYTERIAN HELMED BY NEW HEAD COACHES
Butler and Presbyterian made coaching changes during the offseason. Butler named Mike Uremovich as its head coach to take over for Jeff Voris who helmed the Bulldogs for 16 seasons. Presbyterian turned to Steve Englehart as its head coach to follow Kevin Kelley who led the program during the 2021 season. Uremovich was the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator at Temple prior to his move to Indianapolis. Englehart was a head coach at both Florida Tech and Rose-Hulman for a combined 13 years prior to joining the Blue Hose’s staff.
TOREROS STREAKING AMONG OPPONENTS
San Diego enters the 2022 campaign with two of the FCS’ longest active win streaks between FCS programs. The Toreros have won 15 consecutive games against Marist, which is ranked the third active longest streak. San Diego also own a 14-game win streak against Morehead State.
DAVIDSON’S HAMMOND NAMED TO BUCHANAN AWARD WATCH LIST
In August, Davidson junior defensive lineman Jonathan Hammond was one of 35 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision named to the Stats Perform 2022 Buck Buchanan Watch List. Hammond led the PFL and in sacks (9.5) while amassing a team-high 64 total tackles, including 13.0 tackles for loss.
DAYTON’S CHISHOLM NAMED TO PAYTON AWARD WATCH LIST
Dayton redshirt senior running back Jake Chisholm was one of 35 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) players named to the Stats Perform Walter Payton Award Watch List. The two-time Flyer co-captain was a Second Team Stats Perform FCS All-American last year as an all-purpose runner after finishing second in FCS football in all-purpose yardage (163.9 ypg). He also led FCS in rushing attempts per game (23.5) and touchdowns per game (1.8).
THE PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
Three PFL student-athletes were recognized on the three Preseason All-America Teams released in August. Dayton’s Jake Chisholm was a second-team honoree as selected by Stats Perform and HERO Sports. Davidson’s Jonathan Hammond picked up a third-team honor from Stats Perform and a fourth team nod from Phil Steele Magazine. He was joined on the preseason list by teammate Coy Williams, who was a third-team pick by HERO Sports.
DAVIDSON PICKED TO WIN PFL
Davidson, which won its first PFL title in Spring 2021 followed that by winning a share of the Fall 2021 title. The Wildcats received eight of the 11 first-place votes and received a second-place vote from two other coaches. San Diego, which shared the Fall 2021 title with Davidson, was picked to finish second and received the three remaining first-place votes, and was picked second on five other ballots.
Davidson received 98 of the maximum 100 points possible, with coaches unable to vote for their own team. San Diego followed with 91 points – making those two teams the clear frontrunners. St. Thomas and Dayton round out the top four with 78 and 72 points, respectively.
RECORD-BREAKING 663 NAMED TO 2021 PFL ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL
For the third time in Pioneer Football League history, it named more than 600 student-athletes to its annual academic honor roll. The league recognized a record-breaking 663 student-athletes to the Fall 2021 PFL Academic Honor Roll. The 663 student-athletes recognized broke the previous record of 634 set during the Spring 2021 season. Three PFL members set individual records for student-athletes recognized: Davidson (68), Marist (68), and Valparaiso (60). In addition, the University of Dayton led all league members with 70 student-athletes recognized, one of eight programs to have 60-plus individuals named to the PFL Academic Honor Roll.
FORTY-EIGHT PFL ATHLETES PLAYING WITH A DEGREE IN HAND
In August, the National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame released a list of 3,113 student-athletes who have already earned their undergraduate degrees and will be playing college football this fall while pursuing additional diplomas. This season marks the fifth year the NFF has compiled the list of graduated players. Click the link above for the full list of graduates. Forty-eight PFL student-athletes from seven member institutions were included on the list this season: Stetson (13), Valparaiso (9), Morehead State (8), Butler (7), Marist (6), St. Thomas (3), and Dayton (2).
SIXTY-FOUR PFL STUDENT-ATHLETES NAMED TO HAMPSHIRE SOCIETY
Sixty-four student-athletes from eight PFL member institutions were recognized in the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame’s 2021 Hampshire Honor Society. The Hampshire Honor Society is comprised of college football players from all divisions of the NCAA, NAIA, and sprint football who each maintained a cumulative 3.2 GPA or better throughout their college careers. An elite group of 1,574 players from 315 schools qualified for membership in the Society’s 16th year. With this year’s class included, Dayton has seen 166 student-athletes recognized in the Hampshire Honor Society all time, second only to Brown’s 180 student-athletes.