Tuesday, August 28, 2012

AHEAD IN WEEK 1
Thursday, August 30
Butler at Western Illinois [RV/—], 7 p.m.
    Location: Macomb, Ill. (Hanson Field)
    Series: First Meeting

Shorter at Campbell, 7 p.m.
    Location: Buies Creek, N.C. (Barker-Lane Stadium)
    Series: First Meeting

Southern Virginia at Morehead State, 7 p.m.
    Location: Morehead, Ky. (Jayne Stadium)
    Series: First Meeting

St. Joesph’s (Ind.) at Valparaiso, 8 p.m.
    Location: Valparaiso, Ind. (Brown Stadium)
    Series: SJC leads 28-33-2    Streak: SJC, five wins

Saturday, Sept. 1
Dayton at Illinois State [19/20], 2 p.m.
    Location: Normal, Ill. (Hancock Stadium)
    Series: First Meeting

Grand View at Drake [RV/–], 2 p.m.
    Location: Des Moines, Iowa (Drake Stadium)
    Series: DRA leads, 2-0    Streak: DRA, two wins

Marist at Bryant [RV/–], 3 p.m.
    Location: Smithfield, R.I. (Bulldog Stadium)
    Series: MAR leads, 1-0    Streak: MAR, one win

Jacksonville [RV/–] at Georgia Southern [3/3], 6 p.m.
    Location: Statesboro, Ga. (Paulson Stadium)
    Series: First Meeting

Georgetown [RV/–] at Davidson, 6 p.m.
    Location: Davidson, N.C. (Richardson Stadium)
    Series: GU leads, 6-3    Streak: GU, two wins

San Diego [RV/RV] at Cal Poly [RV/RV], 7 p.m.
    Location: San Luis Obispo, Calif. (Spanos Stadium)
    Series: CP leads, 1-0    Streak: CP, one win
 
All times Eastern.
FCS rankings in brackets prior to school’s name:
[Sports Network Fathead.com Poll/FCS Coaches Poll]

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WEEK 1 PREVIEW
Four teams open the 2012 season, Thursday, followed by six contests – including two against nationally-ranked opposition, Saturday • BUTLER will be the lone PFL team on the road for Thursday’s opening-night action when it travels to Western Illinois. The young Bulldogs – only seven seniors dot their roster – will be looking to extend a five-game win streak in home openers under head coach Jeff Voris • When CAMPBELL hosts Shorter Thursday night it will mark a pair of firsts for the fifth-year program. It will be the Fighting Camels first Thursday game and its first home night game after lights were installed as part of stadium renovations this summer. Campbell boasted the league’s top rushing attack last season but lost its two top running backs to graduation • MOREHEAD STATE senior quarterback Zach Lewis, the league’s top passer in 2011, returns to head the league’s top passing attack in its season opener against Southern Virginia. The Eagles own two previous wins against the Knights, including a 49-6 victory – coincidentally – on August 30, 2008 • VALPARAISO begins the 2012 campaign at home when it hosts St. Joseph’s (Ind.). The Crusaders will look for their first win in the series since 2001 under the lights for just the third time in Brown Stadium history • DAYTON will face a stern opening week test when it travels to Illinois State, a team that just missed the FCS Championships last season. Flyers quarterback Will Bardo gained on-the-job training last season, playing all 11 games as a freshman. His sophomore campaign will begin against a Redbirds defense that held opponents below 200 passing yards per game. • DRAKE will put the league’s longest win streak at risk when it hosts Grand View, Saturday. Senior quarterback Mike Piatkowski returns to lead the Bulldogs after garnering PFL Offensive Player of the Year honors last season. Drake will meet a Grand View team ranked No. 15 in the  NAIA and that opened the season with a victory last weekend • MARIST begins its campaign with a trip to the east where it will meet Bryant in the second-ever meeting between the two teams. The Red Foxes defense returns six starters from last season, including senior defensive lineman Terrence Fede who led the team with 16 tackles for loss • JACKSONVILLE will face the toughest task of the league’s 10 teams when it travels northward to meet FCS No. 3 Georgia Southern. The Dolphins offense will have a new look in 2012 with nine offensive starters lost to graduation but the defense, which ranked second among PFL pass defenses, returns eight starters • DAVIDSON’s revamped offense showed promise in 2011, finishing the season ranked second in total passing yards. However, it did not translate into wins and losses – something they hope to change in 2012, starting with a home opener against Georgetown. Junior quarterback Jonathan Carkhuff returns after launching a PFL record 556 pass attempts last season, connecting on a PFL record 348 completions • SAN DIEGO wraps up the PFL’s opening weekend with a trip up the coast to Cal Poly. The Toreros, the PFL preseason favorite, will meet a Mustang team picked fifth in a now 13-team Big West Conference race. The Toreros story last season was defined by sacks – the defense recorded 39 sacks (2nd most in the PFL) while the offensive line surrendered a league-low 13 sacks.

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NEWS & NOTES
PFL BEGINS 20th CAMPAIGN | The Pioneer Football League begins its 20th season of play when the league’s members open the 2012 campaign this weekend. The opening weekend features four teams beginning play with a Thursday contest following by the league’s remaining six teams which will open action Saturday. Dayton and Jacksonville will have the toughest tasks in Week 1, each opening on the road against FCS Top 25 competition.
Starting the Season with a streak | Drake (4 games), San Diego (3 games) and Davidson (2 games) will open 2012 carrying over win streaks from the 2011 campaign. San Diego is the lone team of the trio to put its streak at risk on the road, beginning 2012 at Cal Poly. Opening at home, Drake will host Grand View while Davidson greets Georgetown in Saturday affairs.
TWO PFL ATHLETES NOMINATED FOR 2011 ALLSTATE AFCA GOOD WORKS TEAM | Campbell’s Braden Smith and Drake’s Zach Bosch were among 117 nominees for the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®, which recognizes the selfless contributions to volunteerism and community service made by college football student-athletes across the nation. Of the two 11-member teams, one includes players competing in the NCAA® Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) and the other is a combined team representing the NCAA® Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA), Divisions II, III, and the NAIA.
BUCHANAN WATCH LIST INCLUDES SAN DIEGO’S OLIARO | San Diego junior defensive end Blake Oliaro, the returning PFL Defensive Player of the Year, has been named to the 2012 Buck Buchanan Award Watch list, presented by The Sports Network. Oliaro finished the season ranked fourth among FCS athletes with 1.36 sacks per game (15 sacks in 11 games) and was ranked 10th nationally with 1.77 tackles for loss per game (19.5 total).  The Buchanan Award annual recognized the FCS “Defensive Player of the Year” and is presented the night prior to the Division I Football Championship.
2011 PFL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR RETURN | All four PFL Players of the Year return for the 2012 campaign. Drake quarterback Mike Piatkowski returns after earning PFL Offensive Player of the Year honors and leading the league in pass efficiency (151.4). San Diego defensive lineman Blake Oliaro, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, led the league in sacks (15.0) last season as a sophomore. San Diego wide receiver Brandon White was the PFL’s Freshman Offensive Player of the Year after posting 561 receiving yards last season. Drake linebacker Travis Merritt also returns after earning PFL Freshman Defensive Player of the Year honors following a 66-tackle campaign last season.
PRESEASON ALL-PFL TEAM | The Pioneer Football League’s coaches preseason All-PFL team selected 29 student-athletes for 30 positions. San Diego had six selections, including junior Kenny James who earned the nod at both running back and return specialist. Drake saw five players receive preseason recognition.
ALL-PFL HONOREES RETURN | Nineteen members of the 2011 All-PFL squads return to their teams in 2012, including 12 first-team selections and seven second-team honorees. San Diego and Drake, the 2011 PFL co-champions, each return four All-PFL selections from last season.  All 10 PFL teams had at least one player selected to the preseason squad.
SAN DIEGO PICKED TO WIN PFL | San Diego and Drake, the defending Pioneer Football League co-champions, were picked to finish first and second, respectively, in the league’s preseason coaches’ poll. San Diego (79 points) received eight of a possible nine first-place votes. Drake received 71 points and one first-place vote.  Jacksonville was picked to finish third with 65 points. Dayton picked up the remaining first-place vote and 56 total points to finish fourth in the preseason poll. Campbell rounded out the poll’s top half with 45 points for fifth place. Marist (6th, 42 points), Butler (7th, 34), Morehead State (8th, 27), Davidson (9th, 20) and Valparaiso (10th, 11) rounded out the PFL Preseason Poll.