GAME NOTES
 
INDIANAPOLIS – The Hoosier Helmet trophy will be handed out to the winner of Saturday's contest as Butler travels to Valparaiso on Saturday to take on the Crusaders. Kick-off at Brown Field will be at 2 PM Eastern.
 
Bulldog Bits
- Carter Raleigh recorded his first sack of the season at Drake. He led BU in tackles with nine.
- Matt Hawkins recovered a fumble at Drake. It was the second fumble recovery of his career.
- Luke Sennett leads the team and ranks second in the PFL with 42 tackles this season. His four tackles at Drake moved his career total to 101.
- Mickey Kane is tied for the PFL lead in sacks with three.
- Stephen Dennis has scored a TD in back-to-back games. His 21-yard catch from Marty in the fourth quarter at Drake was the lone BU TD of the game.
- The 21-yard TD from Marty to Dennis was the longest scoring play of the season for BU.
- Butler recorded seven more first downs than Drake last week.
- The BU offense was balanced at Drake with eight rushing first downs and eight passing.
- BU dominated time of possession at Drake 41:31 to 18:29.
- Butler only allowed 44 rushing yards at Drake.
- Evan Giebel had three of his seven punts land inside the 20-yard line at Drake.
- Brad Sznajder and Anthony Scaccia are both top ten rushers in the PFL. Sznajder ranks sixth (86.8) and Scaccia is 10th (48.2).
- Anthony Scaccia rushed for 41 yards on just nine carries at Drake to surpass 1,000 career rushing yards. The senior now has 1,027 rushing yards on 228 carries (4.5 per carry)
- Kavon Samuels logged 125 all-purpose yards last week with 97 kickoff return yards mixed with 28 rushing yards.
- Butler has scored first in all three of their wins this season.
- Butler is the least penalized team in the PFL. Just 19 flags for 182 yards over five games.
- BU leads the PFL in time of possession. 169:00 total possession / 33:48 average
 
2018 PFL Standings
Drake 2-0, 3-1
San Diego 2-0, 3-2
Davidson 2-1, 5-1
Dayton 2-1, 3-3
Butler 1-1, 3-2
Marist 1-1, 1-4
Stetson 1-1, 3-1
Jacksonville 0-2, 1-3
Morehead State 0-2, 1-4
Valparaiso 0-2, 0-5
 
PFL Schedule - Week 7
Morehead State at Davidson 1:00 p.m.
Marist at Jacksonville  1:00 p.m.
Stetson at Drake  2:00 p.m.
Butler at Valparaiso 2:00 p.m.
Dayton at San Diego 5:00 p.m.
 
SCOUTING VALPO: Valpo has yet to win a game this year as they prepare to host Butler with a 0-5 record. The Crusaders have two quarterbacks in the mix this year in Jimmy Seewald and Chris Duncan. Duncan leads the team in passing yards and attempts, but Seewald served as the starter last year and has two scores through the air in 2018. One name that will surely appear in the box score this Saturday is Griffin Norberg. The 6-3 senior wide receiver is the team leader in receptions (25), yards (449), and touchdowns (4). He averages 18 yards per catch and 89.8 yards per contest. On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs will need to block inside linebacker Drew Snouffer. The senior has a team-high 60 tackles on the season, nearly 20 more than any other player on the roster. The non-conference schedule for Valpo featured setbacks to Duquesne (23-21), Youngstown State (42-7), and Truman State (34-20). Their PFL breakdown features losses to Davidson (40-35) and most recently at Dayton (53-20).
 
Seewald threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns last year at Butler. He found Norberg three times for 62 yards.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: Butler leads the all-time series vs. Valparaiso 50-26. The Crusaders won the last meeting 36-28.
 
The first-ever meeting between Butler and Valparaiso was played in 1927. The Bulldogs won 58-0
 
LAST MEETING: Valpo outscored Butler 17-3 in the first quarter last year to help record a 36-28 win at the Butler Bowl. BU recorded 10 more first downs than Valpo in the matchup, but nine Crusader points off Butler turnovers would help seal the win for the visiting team.
 
Valpo LB Drew Snouffer recorded 10 tackles vs. Butler last year.
 
QUARTERBACK TRIO: Valpo Head Coach Dave Cecchini stated that three quarterbacks could be in the mix this weekend vs. Butler. Ryan Markoff joins Duncan and Seewald as options under center.
 
Trey Bilinski is yet another Valpo QB with playing time this season. Bilinski is 18-27 this year with two passing TD's.
 
HOOSIER HELMET BATTLE: The Bulldogs are 3-0 this season when scoring 20 or more points while the Crusaders are 0-4 when scoring 20 or more points.
 
BU is currently last in the PFL in scoring offense, averaging 18.2 points per game. Valpo is allowing 38.4 points per game.
 
WR BATTLE: Pace Temple and Griffin Norberg are two of the top wide receivers in the PFL. Norberg currently ranks fifth in the league in receiving yards per game (89.8), Temple is right behind him in sixth (82.8).
 
Temple sees more targets than Norberg. He ranks third in the PFL in receptions per game (6.6). Norberg ranks fifth (5.0).
 
TIGHT END TIME? Butler got nine receptions, 125 yards, and a touchdown out of their tight ends over the first two games of the season. Over the last three games, Butler tight ends have recorded one catch for six yards.
 
Sam Yeaton has the best numbers of any tight end on the roster. He has seven catches this year for 95 yards and one TD.
 
VORIS VS. VALPO: Head Coach Jeff Voris is 9-3 all-time vs. Valparaiso. He led the Bulldogs to six-straight victories over the Crusaders from 2008-2013.
 
TOP PERFORMERS VS VALPO: Pace Temple hauled in 10 catches for 124 yards last year against the Crusaders. The defense was led by Luke Sennett who had five tackles and an interception.
 
Luke Sennett, Mason Brunner and Matt Hawkins are the only three returning defensive starters from last year's matchup. BU only lost three starters from last year's offense.
 
BRUNNER EYES 100 TACKLES: Mason Brunner is six tackles shy of 100 for his career.
 
MARTY MAKES HIS MARK: QB Will Marty continues to climb the all-time passing yards top-ten list at Butler. Marty heads to Valpo with 3,771 career passing yards, the ninth-highest total in school history. He is just 20 yards shy of eighth place and 301 yards shy of seventh.
 
Marty has thrown for exactly 134 yards in each of Butler's last two games.
 
ALL-TIME GREAT: Pace Temple heads into the weekend with 177 career receptions to total 2,681 yards. He ranks second all-time at Butler in career receiving yards and is up to third all-time in receptions. Temple needs 314 yards to pass Zach Watkins (08-11) for the top spot in receiving yards and 15 catches to move into second place in receptions.
 
Temple will attempt to become just the seventh PFL player to reach 3,000 career receiving yards.
 
UP NEXT: Butler will return to action next Saturday by hosting San Diego. Kick-off at the Sellick Bowl is slated for 12 PM.
 
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