Monday, October 15, 2012

AHEAD IN WEEK 8
Saturday, Oct. 20
 Valparaiso at Dayton, 1 p.m.
    Location: Dayton, Ohio (Welcome Stadium)
    Series: DAY leads, 19-2    Streak: DAY, eight wins
    Last Season: Dayton def. Valparaiso, 49-10

Marist at Drake [RV/–], 2 p.m.
    Location: Des Moines, Iowa (Drake Stadium)
    Series: DRA leads, 3-0    Streak: DRA, three wins
    Last Season: Drake def. Marist, 23-13

San Diego at Jacksonville [RV/–], 2 p.m.
    Location: Jacksonville, Fla. (Milne Field)
    Series: SAN leads, 4-3    Streak: SAN, one win
    Last Season: San Diego def. Jacksonville, 23-14

Davidson at Campbell, 6 p.m.
    Location: Buies Creek, N.C. (Barker-Lane Stadium)
    Series: DAV leads, 3-1    Streak: CAM, one win
    Last Season: Campbell def. Davidson, 26-20 (3OT)

Morehead State at Butler, 6 p.m.
    Location: Indianapolis, Ind. (Butler Bowl)
    Series: MOR leads, 12-3    Streak: MOR, two wins
    Last Season: Morehead State def. Butler, 55-35
 
All times Eastern.
FCS rankings in brackets prior to school’s name:
[Sports Network Poll/FCS Coaches Poll]

WEEK 8 PREVIEW
HIGHLIGHTS: After surviving road scares in Week 7, the PFL’s co-leaders – Butler, Drake and Jacksonville – each start the second half of league play by returning home and seeking to improve 5-0. Dayton seeks its 3rd straight win while Davidson and Campbell meet with both teams seeking their first PFL win • VALPARAISO travels to DAYTON in a matchup of teams coming off their best performance in PFL play this season. The Crusaders scored 21 points against league-leading Drake. Meanwhile, the Flyers scored a season-best 44 points against Morehead State. Eric Slenk had five receptions and two touchdown catches to lead Valparaiso’s receiving corps. Dayton boasted a balanced attack in the win against the Eagles with 269 rushing yards, including Connor Kacsor’s 106-yard rushing performance, and 263 passing yards • MARIST finishes a four-week span where it will face each of the league’s three co-leaders when it travels to DRAKE. The Red Foxes suffered a three-point loss to Butler last week, their third loss by three points or less this season. The Bulldogs escaped with a win at Valparaiso last week, but posted at least 30 points for the third consecutive week. Marist’s Chuckie Looney leads the league with a 152.5 pass efficiency rating and ranks fourth in passing yardage (249.8 ypg). On the other side, Drake’s Mike Piatkowski leads the league in yardage (287.7 ypg) and ranks fifth in efficiency (133.1) • SAN DIEGO makes the cross-country trek to JACKSONVILLE looking to play spoiler. The Dolphins bring a share of the league lead into the game and boast an FCS-best 16-game home win streak. The Toreros posted a 23-14 in last season’s meeting, preventing the Dolphins from claiming a share of last season’s title. San Diego’s defense flexed its collective muscle in Week 7, holding Campbell to 79 yards.  However, it is Jacksonville that brings the league’s top-ranked defense (324.7 ypg) into the meeting • DAVIDSON and CAMPBELL meet for the fourth time in a battle of North Carolina squads. Both teams enter the outing seeking their first PFL win in 2012. The Wildcats “Air Assault” offense is ranked third in passing yards per game (280.0) and will square off against a Campbell pass defense ranked ninth. The Fighting Camels will look to bounce back from a sub-par outing at San Diego that saw them suffer their first shutout loss since 2008 (38 games) • MOREHEAD STATE also will look to play spoiler when it travels to BUTLER. The Eagles have won the last two meetings in the series, including a 55-35 victory last season. Yet Morehead State has yet to post a 2012 PFL win despite ranking fourth among PFL teams in scoring (27.3 ppg). Eagles quarterback Zach Lewis is one of three quarterbacks with 12 touchdown throws this season. Butler is the lone PFL team with both its offense (1st, 448.6 ypg) and defense (3rd, 343.7 ypg) ranked among the league’s top three in the yardage categories. Bulldogs quarterback Matt Lancaster has thrown only one interception in 197 pass attempts this season.

NEWS & NOTES
WEEK 7 NATIONAL HONORS | Drake’s Mike Ratelle was tabbed the College Football Performance Awards National Kick Returner of the Week after returning three kickoffs for 113 yards, including a game-opening 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at Valparaiso, Saturday. In addition, two PFL players received honorable mention recognition from the CFPA.
DAVDISON’S FUNSTEN CAPTURES PFL RECORD | Davidson’s Lanny Funsten caught a PFL record 17 passes against Jacksonville, Oct. 13, topping the record of 14 catches that stood for several years and was tied last season by Butler’s Zach Watkins. Funsten also recorded 240 receiving yards, moving into second on the all-time receiving yards list behind Valparaiso’s Rob Giancola who recorded 275 receiving yards in 2003. It was the second 200-plus performance by a receiver this season, just passing Marist’s Mike Rios who notched 244 receiving yards against Davidson earlier this season.
PFL = PASSING FOOTBALL LEAGUE? | The PFL’s passers have enjoyed near record-breaking seasons through four weeks. The league’s teams are averaging an 243.0 yards per team game, now behind the Ohio Valley Conference which is averaging 251.7 yards per team game. Drake’s Mike Piatkowski (287.71 ypg) and Davidson’s Jonathan Carkhuff (280.00 ypg) are ranked eighth and ninth among the FCS’ quarterbacks in passing yards per game. They are two of five PFL signal callers ranked among the top 26 nationally.
HOME SWEET HOME, EAST COAST | The FCS’ top home winning streak resides at D.B. Milne Field, home of the Jacksonville Dolphins. Jacksonville successfully extended the FCS’ longest home win streak (16 games) with a Week 5 win against Marist. The Dolphins win streak dates back to the 2009 season when they defeated Davidson, Oct. 3. Jacksonville’s streak is the fourth longest in Division I circles behind LSU (22), Wisconsin (20) and Northern Illinois (19). However, it falls to seventh when all divisions are included with three Division III teams owning win streaks longer than 15 games.
HOME SWEET HOME, WEST COAST | San Diego extended its home win streak to 10 games (fifth best in the FCS) with a Week 7 win against Campbell. The Toreros will put that streak on the line when they host Dayton, Nov. 27.
streaky once again | After a couple of weeks where the PFL went without a team owning a multi-game win streak, Jacksonville has taken the vanguard position with a six-game win streak that is fifth-best among FCS teams. Drake and Butler also own four game win streaks that are tied for eighth best.
SPOILER ALERT | The casual observer seeking a team-on-team resolution to the PFL’s three-way tie atop the league standings will have to wait until the season’s final three weeks.  Butler, Drake and Jacksonville will have to avoid the upset bug for the next two weeks before they will have a chance to settle the debate on the field. Butler opens what would amount to a round-robin tournament when it meets Jacksonville, Nov. 3 (Week 10). Butler then meets Drake the following week before Jacksonville and Drake face off in the final regular-season week.
LEWIS KNOCKS OFF PFL CAREER MARK | Morehead State’s Zach Lewis completed 21 passes against Jacksonville, Oct. 6, and became the PFL’s career passing completions record holder. The mark stood for less than one year after Jacksonville’s Josh McGregor finished his career with 784 pass completions – eclipsing the mark set by Davidson’s Ryan Alexander in 2008 (775 completions). Lewis (1,310 career pass attempts) also is nearing the PFL pass attempts record, which is still held by Alexander (1,354).
FOUR PFL STUDENT-ATHLETES AMONG CAMPBELL TROPHY HONOREES | Butler senior linebacker Jordan Ridley, Campbell senior kicker Sam Eberwein, Dayton senior offensive lineman Bill Petraiuolo and Drake senior linebacker Tyler Moorehead were among 147 semifinalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best football scholar-athlete in the nation. The award, presented by The Nationall Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame will be presented at the 2012 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards, presented by Fidelity Investments.
WEEK 5 NATIONAL HONORS | For the second consecutive week, Jacksonville’s Colby Walden picked up a  national honor following his game-winning 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at Marist, Sept. 29. He was tabbed the College Football Performance Awards National Kick Returner of the Week. In addition, three PFL players received honorable mention recognition from the CFPA.