Butler opens the home portion of its 2017 schedule Saturday night, hosting Taylor at 6:30 p.m. The game features several promotions and will also be streamed through Facebook Live on the Butler Bulldogs page through a partnership with Butler's College of Communication.

Saturday's contest is the lone night game of the home schedule and is a White Out. The first 1,000 fans will receive a free Butler t-shirt. The game is also Youth Football Night with children 12 and under in a football jersey admitted free. There will be an official pregame dedication as Butler's home venue has been renamed the Bud and Jackie Sellick Bowl in honor of two of Butler's most ardent supporters of the university.

The Bulldogs are 1-1 on the season, coming off a 43-24 victory at Franklin Saturday night. Butler posted 501 total yards of offense, converting 9-of-17 third-down conversions and all three of its fourth down attempts.

Taylor is 1-0 on the young season, and had a bye last weekend.

Quarterback Will Marty orchestrated the aerial attack, completing 21 of his 30 attempts. His 313 passing yards were one short of his career-high 314 that he posted in the 2016 game against Marist. He had three touchdowns – connecting with Pace Temple, Cord Collier and Brad Sznajder.

Temple, a preseason All-Pioneer Football League selection, had eight catches for a career-best 156 yards. It was his fourth career 100-yard game. Temple had 978 receiving yards in 2016, which was 24^th in FCS.

Marty's 21 completions were spread among eight receivers. Freshman Cam Cooper, who has also seen time returning kicks for the Bulldogs, had the first reception of his Butler career, a 15-yard connection with back-up quarterback Cameron Towns late in the contest. Cooper is averaging 19.8 yards per kick-off return this season.

Redshirt senior Duvante Lane led the ground attack at Franklin, posting 117 yards on 26 carries. He had two touchdowns in addition to a single reception of 16 yards. It was Lane's third career 100-yard rushing game of his career. His career-high of 29 carries and 156 yards came against Valparaiso in 2016. Lane joined Temple as a preseason All-PFL honoree after finding the end zone nine times last season.

Butler's offense had the ball for 44:21 minutes Saturday at Franklin. The Grizzlies had possession of the ball for only 4:22 of the second half's 30 minutes.

Butler holds a 6-0 advantage in the all-time series against Taylor. Five of those wins have come under coach Jeff Voris. The first meeting took place in 1965 with Tony Hinkle manning the Butler sidelines.

The Bulldogs posted a 27-14 win at Taylor a year ago. The Bulldogs held Taylor without a point over the final 27 minutes of the contest. Malcolm Weaver had 214 yards passing and another 119 yards on the ground to lead the Butler attack. Seventy of his rushing yards came on a second-quarter rushing touchdown that gave the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead.

Over the final 27 minutes of the contest, Butler's defense forced five consecutive punts and then a turnover on downs on Taylor's final drive of the game that began with 2:36 to play. Taylor had just 75 yards rushing in the contest (on 30 carries) compared to Butler's 240 yards on the ground.

Nick Weaver caught five balls for 87 yards to lead Butler's receiving corps. Temple had 83 receiving yards. The Bulldogs got the win without converting a third down, going 0-for-11. Taylor's offense was limited almost as much as Butler forced Taylor into only 3-of-13 conversions.
 
For the second consecutive game, senior Isaak Newhouse led the Bulldogs with nine tackles at Franklin. That performance followed a 14-tackle (12 solo) game against Illinois State in the 2017 opener.

Luke Sennett grabbed the first interception of his Butler career in the win over Franklin. Josh Willis had 1.5 sacks, including combining efforts with Chad Burdo on a nine-yard sack that resulted in a safety on Franklin's first possession of the game.

Linebacker Ethan Brunhofer joined Newhouse as 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.

Mary, Lane and Newhouse join defensive lineman Connor Andras as the team's four seniors for the 2017 campaign.

Voris, in his 12^th season on the Butler sidelines, enters Saturday's contest with a 65-61 mark at Butler. 

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.

Butler opens PFL play next weekend, traveling to San Diego (Saturday, Sept. 23).