Butler continues a two-game road swing to begin the 2017 campaign Saturday night, traveling just 30 miles south of campus for a contest with Franklin College. Franklin will stream the contest live. Kick-off is set for 6 p.m.  

One year ago, Butler topped Franklin, 59-14, under the lights in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs on the 2017 roster who had big games in last year's contest included Duvante Lane, who had 104 rushing yards on only 12 carries. He added three touchdowns. Pace Temple caught five passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns in one half of action. Defensively, Isaak Newhouse had an interception and returned it 68 yards.

Butler had a 254-55 advantage in rushing yards.

The Bulldogs own a 40-16-2 advantage in the all-time series, and have won five straight against the Grizzlies dating back to a Franklin 31-28 win in 2008.
Butler is coming off a 45-0 loss at the hands of Illinois State. The Redbirds were picked No. 18 in the FCS Preseason Coaches Poll and No. 20 in the STATS FCS Preseason Top 25. 

Franklin enters Saturday's match-up with an 0-1 record after dropping a 47-37 decision on the road to Thomas More in their opener. Chase Burton threw for 315 yards on 24 completions, tossing five touchdowns and one interception. 

Butler coach Jeff Voris, in his 12^th season on the Butler sidelines, enters Saturday's contest with a 64-61 mark at Butler. Franklin head coach Mike Leonard was the quarterbacks coach at Butler for the 1992 season.

Temple and Lane were named to the 2017 Preseason All-Pioneer Football League Team as selected by the league's head coaches.  

Temple, a junior wide receiver, was a second-team honoree a season ago after amassing 978 receiving yards in 2016 – 24th nationally. His performance was among the top ten in Butler single-season history for receiving yards.

Lane was a Second-Team All-PFL choice last season after finishing fourth among PFL runners with nine touchdown carries. The redshirt senior running back had 706 rushing yards during the 2016 campaign. He exploded for a career-best 156 rushing yards on 29 carries in the game against Valparaiso in the closing weeks of the season.  

The running backs and offensive line accounted for 171.1 rushing yards per contest for the 2016 season, while Butler's defense held opposing rushing attacks to 99.8 yards per contest.

Joe Cheshire reassumes the role of defensive coordinator for the 2017 season after spending the past few seasons in the role of Assistant Head Coach and playing a larger role with recruiting and the secondary. He has been part of the Butler staff throughout Voris's tenure. Cheshire previously served as the defensive coordinator during a stretch that included Butler winning the 2013 PFL title.

Newhouse had a career-best 14 tackles in the season-opener at Illinois State. That included 12 solo tackles. Linebacker Ethan Brunhofer had seven stops for the Bulldogs. Those two players were each honorable mention All-PFL choices last season.

Brunhofer is the team's leading returning tackler with 74 a season ago, including a career-high 12 in the game against Marist. Fellow linebackers David Starkey and Sean Horan had 77 and 75, respectively, before graduating.

Lane and Newhouse join quarterback Will Marty and defensive lineman Connor Andras as the team's four seniors for the 2017 campaign.

Dalton Rogers had two tackles for loss against Illinois State, joining Newhouse, Brunhofer, Chad Burdo, and Dan DelGrosso with stops behind the line of scrimmage. Curt Beckman and Mike Cerone also collaborated on a tackle for loss.

Sophomore Drew Bevelhimer made 12 of his 14 field goal attempts last season and returns to handle the kicking duties. Evan Giebel takes over the punting obligations after the graduation of Ian Dubek. Giebel had 11 punts with an average of 41.8 yards per kick in the season-opener at Illinois State.

Freshman Cam Cooper returned five kick-offs last weekend in his Butler debut, netting 91 total yards. He had a 34-yard return included in that total.

Butler was picked to finish seventh in the Pioneer Football League preseason poll. The conference's 11 head coaches voted in the poll and were not allowed to vote for their own team. The University of San Diego was picked as the preseason favorite.

The team's home opener is Sept. 16 against Taylor. There will be a pregame ceremony to officially dedicate the Sellick Bowl as the venue formerly known as the Butler Bowl has been renamed in honor of Bud and Jackie Sellick.