Monday, November 23, 2015
by Cody Bush, PFL Media Relations

AHEAD IN WEEK 13

Saturday, Nov. 28
NCAA Division I Football Championship
First Round
Western Illinois at Dayton, Noon
Location: Dayton, Ohio
Stadium: Welcome Stadium (11,000)
Series: First Meeting
Video: ESPN3

GAME STORYLINES

Pioneer Football League champion Dayton will host Missouri Valley Football Conference member Western Illinois in a noon (ET), Saturday, contest at Welcome Stadium.

Dayton (10-1, 7-1 PFL) claimed a share of its 12th Pioneer Football League title, winning the season’s first 10 games – accumulating a 12-game win streak dating back to last season – before dropping its season finale at Drake. The Flyers will make their first postseason appearance since moving to the Division I ranks in 1993.

The Flyers become the third different PFL team to receive the league’s automatic bid since the league received an automatic bid to the now 24-team tournament beginning with the 2013 championship. Dayton also becomes the second PFL team to host a first-round contest, joining Butler which hosted Tennessee State in the 2013 tournament.

Dayton won the PFL championship despite losing running back Connor Kacsor, the returning PFL offensive player of the year early in the season. In his place, the Flyers have relied on a freshman duo in the backfield – quarterback Alex Jeske and running back Tucker Yinger. Jeske finished the regular season ranked eighth among league passers in both passing yards per game and pass efficiency while Yinger finished fifth in rushing yards per game.

The Flyers defense was middle of the pack in yardage allowed and points allowed but its 27 turnovers forced (19 interceptions, 8 fumbles) helped Dayton lead the PFL in turnover margin (+14, 1.27 per game). In addition, Dayton’s defense bent but did not break, allowing opponents to convert just league-leading 68 percent of their red zone opportunities, including only 11 touchdowns in 22 red zone trips.  Senior linebacker Christopher Beaschler led that defensive unit with 9.8 tackles per game (fifth in PFL) while senior defensive back Cameron Stubbs finished the regular season with 16 passes defended (1.45 per game, third in PFL), including six interceptions.

Western Illinois (6-5, 5-3 MVFC) won an at-large bid from the tournament committee after finishing in a three-way tie for third place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Leathernecks played six teams in the tournament field, posting a 3-3 record against those teams. Western Illinois returns to the tournament for the first time since 2010.

The Leathernecks offense is led by senior running back Nikko Watson, a 1,000-yard rusher who is averaging 111.4 yards per game and has 13 touchdowns in 11 games. In the passing game, junior wide receiver Lance Lenoir has 994 receiving yards (90.4 per game) with five touchdown catches. Defensively, Western Illinois sophomore linebacker Brett Taylor has a team-best 123 tackles (11.2 per game).