Game Notes (PDF)

The Bulldogs take their three-game winning streak on the road Saturday, traveling to rival Dayton for a 1 p.m. kick-off. Dayton will stream the game through its Facebook Live page.

For the second consecutive week, Butler's opponent left the Sellick Bowl with its first Pioneer Football League loss of the season. Saturday, the Bulldogs used 229 yards on the ground to power by Campbell, 37-23. The win capped Homecoming weekend in Indianapolis.

The Bulldogs, now 5-3 overall and 3-2 in PFL play, defeated Jacksonville the week prior. Both they and Campbell were undefeated in PFL play entering their match-up with Butler.

Dayton, which is 3-5 overall and 2-3 in PFL play this season, leads the all-time series 29-12-1 against Butler. The Flyers have won the three most recent meetings, including a 31-16 win in Indianapolis in 2016. Butler and Dayton are two of the original six charter members of the Pioneer Football League, which is in its 25th season. Current members Drake, San Diego and Valparaiso were also charter members, along with Evansville.

Saturday's win over Campbell was the third consecutive game with Butler going over 200 yards on the ground. The current three-game conference winning streak is the first for the Bulldogs since 2013 when the team had separate four- and three-game stints.

Sam Schrader had 94 yards rushing for Butler against Campbell, including two touchdowns. He threw for a third touchdown, which was an 11-yard connection with Cord Collier early in the second quarter to give the Bulldogs a 10-0 lead. He narrowly missed the third 100-yard game of his career and his first since 2014. Schrader went over 1,000 career rushing yards in the contest. It was the second consecutive game that Schrader had accounted for three total touchdowns. He had three rushing scores against Jacksonville.

Butler held the ball for nearly 42 minutes of game action against Campbell and now leads the PFL in time of possession with an average of 33:56 per game. That average is sixth in FCS. The 41:49 of possession Saturday was actually the second-best mark of the season as Butler held the ball for 44:21 against Franklin in the second game of the season.

Butler had 229 yards rushing against Jacksonville, and 253 yards on the ground in the 44-6 rout of Morehead State Oct. 7.

The Bulldogs have been moving the chains, especially of late. Butler converted 70 percent of their third downs (14-of-20) Saturday against Campbell. Butler's 45-percent success rate on third down this season is second in the PFL.

Pace Temple has accumulated 747 receiving yards through the team's eight games this season. He has eclipsed 100 yards three times in 2017 and has six 100-yard performances during his career. Temple's receiving yards are tenth in FCS.

Temple had seven grabs for 138 yards in the Sept. 30 loss to Drake. That followed his eight catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns Sept. 23 at San Diego. His career-high of 156 receiving yards came at Franklin Sept. 9. Temple now has 121 career receptions.  

His 93.4 yards per game and 17.8 yards per reception are first and second, respectively, in the conference. The preseason All-Pioneer Football League selection had 978 receiving yards in 2016, which was 24^th in FCS.  

Senior Duvante Lane has 503 yards rushing on the season and his 62.9 yards per game are fifth in the PFL. He has six rushing touchdowns on the season, which is third in the conference. Schrader leads the league with seven. Lane had 99 yards rushing at Morehead State and 98 yards against Jacksonville. Lane led the ground attack at Franklin Sept. 9, posting 117 yards on 26 carries. It was Lane's third career 100-yard rushing game. His career-high of 29 carries and 156 yards came against Valparaiso in 2016. Lane was a preseason All-PFL honoree after finding the end zone nine times last season.

Butler scored on all six of its trips to the red zone Saturday against Campbell, including three touchdowns. The Bulldogs lead the PFL in red zone offense, scoring on 93 percent of their trips inside the 20 this season. The Bulldogs have scored on 28 of 30 red zone possessions, including 20 touchdowns.
Quarterback Will Marty's 313 passing yards against Taylor in the final non-conference game of the season Sept. 21 were one short of his career-high 314 that he posted in the 2016 game against Marist.

Sophomore Drew Bevelhimer made all three of his field goal attempts against Campbell, his second 3-of-3 performance of the season. Bevelhimer has connected on 25 of his 31 career field goal attempts (81 percent).

Butler's defense limited Campbell to 34 rushing yards on 17 attempts and just three third-down conversions Saturday. 
Isaak Newhouse and Luke Sennett each had eight tackles for the Bulldogs against Campbell. Newhouse added an interception, fumble recovery and two pass break-ups. 

Mason Brunner led the Butler defense with a career-high 15 tackles against Jacksonville. Newhouse had 13 stops, including 10 solo tackles. 

Linebacker Xavier Colvin had two sacks, five tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery at Morehead State. 

Newhouse's averages of 9.8 tackles per game and 6.9 solo tackles per game are second and first, respectively, in the PFL. Newhouse has led the Bulldogs in tackles in five of the team's games. He had 11 tackles (eight solo) at San Diego Sept. 23. That performance followed a 14-tackle (12 solo) game against Illinois State in the 2017 opener.
Including the Bulldogs' five fumble recoveries in the win over Morehead State, Butler has 10 on the season. That mark is second nationally while leading the PFL. Butler's defense has caused 14 total turnovers this season, which is second in the PFL. Conversely, Butler has committed only four total turnovers, which is third nationally. The Bulldogs lost their first fumble of the season in Saturday's win over Campbell. That was the only turnover committed against the Camels, who lead FCS with 23 takeaways on the season.

Butler's coverage units have been among the best nationally once again this season. The Bulldogs lead the PFL with both an average of 3.8 yards per punt return and surrendering only 17.0 yards per kick-off return. Both numbers are ninth nationally.

Butler continues its road swing with a Saturday (Nov. 4) game at Stetson. The Bulldogs' final home game is Nov. 11 when Valparaiso visits the Sellick Bowl.