GAME NOTES | LIVE STATS | WATCH
 
INDIANAPOLIS – The 2021 Butler football season will come to a close this Saturday when the Marist Red Foxes host the Bulldogs for a 12 PM kick.
 
Bulldog Bits
- Connor Reid leads the team with 68 tackles. He has 21 more tackles than anyone else on the roster.
- Butler ranks second in the PFL in passing yards allowed (198.5).
- Bret Bushka is completing 60 percent of his passes this season, ranking fourth in the PFL.
- Bushka hit Johnny O'Shea for a gain of 48 yards vs. Valpo to set up a JJ Wadas field goal.
- Yogi Flager is responsible for more than half of Butler's receiving TD's this year (6).
- Flager ranks third in the PFL with 714 receiving yards. (34th in FCS)
- The Bulldogs have the second-best rushing offense in the PFL averaging 178 yards per game.
- BU leads the PFL and ranks sixth in the FCS in tackles for loss allowed.
- BU is the least penalized team in the PFL. They rank third in the FCS with just 39 penalties and second in the FCS in fewest penalties per game.
- JJ Wadas is now 3-for-3 on field goals this year. He hit a 27-yarder vs. Valpo.
- Luka Zurak ranks third in the PFL with a 39.9 punting average.
 
SCOUTING MARIST: The Red Foxes are 5-4 this year with all five wins coming against PFL opponents. They started league play with three-straight wins over Valparaiso, Stetson and Dayton, but would then lose two-straight to Morehead State and St. Thomas. Marist avoided San Diego and Davidson this year on the 2021 schedule and will now end the regular season with a 12 PM kick vs. BU. They are riding a two-game win streak, taking care of Drake and Presbyterian over the last two weekends. Marist ranks second in the PFL in scoring defense. Defensive lineman Aaron Acosta and defensive back Kyle Fleitman were both selected to the preseason All-PFL team.
 
Fleitman ranks fourth on the team with 59 tackles and Acosta ranks seventh with 42.
 
LAST GAME VS. MARIST: The Red Foxes outscored Butler 17-7 in the fourth quarter to post a 37-27 win. Hunter Cobb ran for 146 yards and three touchdowns to lift Marist to victory.
 
Butler had more first downs and total yards of offense than Marist in the last meeting, but the Red Foxes running game would be the difference in the outcome.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: The first game between Marist and Butler was played during the 2011 season with the Red Foxes coming out on top 28-10. The following season, Butler would travel to New York and claim a 17-14 win. Marist has won the last three meetings, giving them a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series.
 
Marist joined the PFL in 2009.
 
YOGI YARDS: WR Yogi Flager has caught 67 passes at Butler for 1,101 yards in his BU career (16 games).
 
Flager needs 162 yards at Marist to crack the BU single-season top-ten list in receiving yards. Offensive Coordinator Kyle Conner ranks 10th currently. He recorded 876 yards for the 'Dawgs in 2000. Flager's season-high is 136 yards a total he reached twice (at Taylor, at Dayton).
 
O'SHEA HIGHLIGHTS THE OFFENSE: WR Johnny O'Shea caught 13 passes at Dayton to lead the team with 164 receiving yards. He was just two grabs shy of tying the all-time BU record held by Tom Redmond (1972).
 
O'Shea needs 17 more yards to reach 1,000 in his BU career. The redshirt junior has caught 75 passes over 24 games.
 
BUSHKA MOVES THE BALL: QB Bret Bushka has completed 60 percent of his passes in six of his nine starts this season. He threw for 403 yards at Dayton, completed 84 percent of his attempts vs. DePauw and tossed three TD's at Taylor.
 
Bushka has passed for 1,582 yards as a Bulldog with 10 passing touchdowns to go along with three rushing.
 
DEINHART DELIVERS: AJ Deinhart has seen an expanded role this and has responded by averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Over his career, Deinhart has rushed the ball 124 times for 579 yards and three touchdowns.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: Marist leads the PFL in fumbles lost, kickoff returns, passes intercepted, punt returns, turnover margin and turnovers lost.
 
DOING IT ALL ON DEFENSE: Connor Reid came up with a sack against Valparaiso. He joins Thomas Rousseau as the only Bulldogs to have 20+ tackles, at least one tackle for loss, one sack and one interception.
 
Butler has six total sacks in 2021, but no one player has more than 1.5.
 
PUT POINTS ON THE BOARD: Yogi Flager, JJ Wadas and Nick Orlando lead Butler in scoring. Flager has six touchdowns for 36 points, Orlando is close behind with five for 30 and between them sits JJ Wadas with three field goals and 25 made extra points for 34 points.
 
COUNT ON CATCHES: Bulldog fans can count on catches from Yogi Flager and Johnny O'Shea this weekend. This duo combines for 74 receptions in 2021. The rest of the team is responsible for 71.
 
BULLDOG BACKFIELD: The Bulldogs have ran the ball well with multiple looks in the backfield this season. Five different players average 4.0 yards per carry or more. Joey Suchy leads the category with 5.5 yards per rush and AJ Deinhart is close behind at 5.1.