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INDIANAPOLIS – The 2021 Butler football home opener will be played this Saturday night at 6 PM when the Bulldogs host the DePauw Tigers. Those fans with a parking permit can enter the lot at noon with gates to the Sellick Bowl set to open at 4:30 PM. Masks are mandatory inside Hinkle Fieldhouse, but may be removed once outside the facility.
 
Butler Bits
- Butler ran 17 plays to cover 75 yards to score their first touchdown of the 2021 season.
- Bret Bushka threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Jared Suchevits to get BU on the scoreboard.
- Seven different Bulldogs rushed the football at Illinois State.
- Butler's biggest gain at Illinois State came on a 21-yard pass from Bret Bushka to Yogi Flager.
- Trey Mason leads the conference and ranks third in the FCS with three pass break-ups.
- Luka Zurak ranks third in the PFL averaging 43.2 yards per punt.
- Brody Reder made his Bulldog debut in the second half at Illinois State.
- Nate Walker caught a pass for the first time as a Bulldog against the Redbirds.
- Butler ran 24 more plays than Illinois State in the season opener.
- Butler has not allowed a 100-yard receiver since Nov. 23, 2019 (seven games).
- Nick Orlando rushed the ball seven times at Illinois State. He attempted one pass and caught one pass for a gain of 18 yards.
 
PFL Standings
Drake 1-0
Presbyterian 1-0
Stetson 1-0
Dayton 0-0
Marist 0-0
St. Thomas 0-0
Butler 0-1
Davidson 0-1
Morehead State 0-1
San Diego 0-1
Valparaiso 0-1
 
PFL Schedule – Week 2
Eastern Illinois at Dayton 1:00 p.m.
St. Thomas at Michigan Tech 1:00 p.m.
Union (Ky.) at Morehead State 2:00 p.m.
Valparaiso at North Dakota State 3:30 p.m.
Fort Lauderdale at Presbyterian 4:00 p.m.
UC Davis at San Diego 4:00 p.m.
DePauw at Butler 6:00 p.m.
Ave Maria at Stetson 6:00 p.m.
Shaw at Davidson 7:00 p.m.
Drake at Montana State 8:00 p.m.
 
SCOUTING DEPAUW: The Tigers only played two games during the spring 2021 season. They defeated Ohio Wesleyan 35-21 and Greenville 41-7. DePauw averaged 392 yards of total offense in the shortened season with 210 of those yards coming on the ground. Will Schmidt was the feature back for DePauw, running for 119 yards on 28 carries. Senior quarterback Chase Andries is a dual threat that was responsible for eight touchdowns for the Tigers in the spring. His top target was Josh Major, a 5-10 senior from Columbus, Ind.
 
DePauw's defense was led by linebacker Charlie Gruner. He had 13 tackles and two interceptions during the spring campaign.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: Butler leads the all-time series against DePauw 44-13-3. The first-ever meeting between the two programs was played in 1890. The two teams met in the season opener and would end the day tied at 0-0.
 
Butler hosted DePauw in the last meeting. The Bulldogs posted a 24-14 win over the Tigers in 1979.
 
HOME OPENERS: The Bulldogs are 12-3 in home openers under the direction of Head Coach Jeff Voris.
 
Butler won nine-straight home openers from 2009-2017.
 
HOMECOMING: Butler has not lost on homecoming weekend since 2016. They have rattled off recent wins against Jacksonville (2019), Morehead State (2018), and Campbell (2017).
 
The Bulldogs defeated Jacksonville 24-14 on homecoming weekend in 2019. The 'Dawgs trailed 14-6 after the first quarter, but scored 18 unanswered points to pull out the win.
 
WHAT A DRIVE: Butler's touchdown at Illinois State came on a 17-play 75-yard drive that took 10:00 off the game clock. It was the longest drive for the program since the 2019 game against Davidson. BU used 19 plays to cover 60 yards that day to get a field goal.
 
Butler's longest drive of the 2021 spring season came at Valparaiso. They ran 16 plays to gain 83 yards for a score.
 
BALANCED ATTACK: Butler came up with 18 first downs at Illinois State. Eight rushing, eight passing and two by ISU penalties.
 
On Butler's 17-play scoring drive, the Bulldogs ran the ball nine times and passed it eight times.
 
TOP TARGET: Johnny O'Shea and Kavon Samuels were each targeted five times in the passing game. Samuels hauled in five catches for 44 yards and O'Shea caught four balls for 46.
 
O'Shea has caught at least three passes in eight-straight games.
 
CONNOR CAN DO IT: Connor Reid transferred to Butler in the fall of 2020. Over his first three games at BU he recorded four tackles. Over his last three games, Reid has made 26 tackles.
 
Reid led BU with eight tackles in the season opener. His career-high tackle total stands at 11 (vs. Drake 4/10/21).
 
COACH VORIS: Head Coach Jeff Voris enters his 16th season at Butler. He has recorded 77 wins since taking over the program in 2006.
 
Voris was a four-year starting quarterback at DePauw (1986-89). He was inducted into their Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009. Defensive Coordinator Joe Cheshire was also a four-year letter-winner at DePauw. He led the Tigers in receiving yards his junior season.
 
TIDY UP: Butler had seven penalties, three interceptions and allowed eight big plays of 20+ yards in the season opener.
 
Thomas Rousseau intercepted a pass early in the second quarter at Illinois State, but the Redbirds kept possession due to a Butler offsides penalty.
 
UP NEXT: Butler will end the non-conference portion of the schedule at Taylor on Sept. 18. Kick-off is set for 7 PM.
 
BU has won eight of the nine meetings in the all-time series vs. Taylor. The Trojans won the last meeting in the 2019 season 17-14.