Watch | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
INDIANAPOLIS – The first-ever meeting between Butler (2-1) and St. Thomas (1-1) will take place this weekend at O'Shaughnessy Stadium. The 2021 PFL opener will take place in St. Paul, Minn. with a 1 PM kick-off (12 Central).
 
Bulldog Bits
- Austin Schwantz's first reception of the season was a 43-yard touchdown pass from Nick Orlando
- Over his last two games, Yogi Flager has nine receptions for 231 yards and three touchdowns
- Nick Orlando rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries at Taylor
- Brody Reder took his only carry over the goal line for a seven-yard TD run at Taylor
- Butler scored 35 points off Taylor turnovers
- Jordan Caselberry recorded his first sack of the season at Taylor
- Butler only allowed 42 passing yards in their win last weekend (four completions)
- Butler has not attempted a field goal this season, but they are perfect on extra points (19-19)
- Devin Aguilar returned four kickoffs for 100 yards at Taylor. His longest return covered 33 yards
- Luka Zurak hit a season-long 54-yard punt at Taylor to increase his season average to 45.0 yards per punt
- Butler has not allowed a 100-yard receiver since Nov. 23, 2019 (9 games)
 
PFL Standings
Stetson 2-0
Butler 2-1
Presbyterian 2-1
Davidson 1-1
Dayton 1-1
St. Thomas 1-1
Drake 1-2
Morehead State 1-2
Marist 0-1
San Diego 0-3
Valparaiso 0-3
 
PFL Schedule – Week 4
Butler at St. Thomas 12:00 p.m.
San Diego at Davidson 1:00 p.m.
Presbyterian at Dayton 1:00 p.m.
Valparaiso at Drake 1:00 p.m.
Stetson at Princeton 1:00 p.m.
Bryant at Marist 6:00 p.m.
 
SCOUTING ST. THOMAS: The Tommies are 1-1 at the start of the PFL season. They won 12-9 at Michigan Tech opening weekend and recently lost 44-3 at #15 Northern Iowa. Tommy Dolan is a dual threat quarterback for St. Thomas. He has thrown for 210 yards this season on 31 pass attempts. On the ground, he has 16 yards on 19 attempts. The defensive unit is led by the secondary. Luke Glenna and Joe Hird are tied for the team lead with 17 tackles each. BU will keep an eye on LB Trent Meyer as well. Meyer has two sacks and three tackles for loss over the first two games.
 
The only St. Thomas touchdown scored this season came on a wild play. Dolan kept the ball for the Tommies heading in from the one yard line, but would fumble. Carlson jumped on the ball to score and help St. Thomas defeat Michigan Tech.
 
ORLANDO NAMED PFL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: In only eight plays of action, Orlando was responsible for three touchdowns in Butler's 77-24 victory at Taylor. He had 105 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and added 44 yards and a touchdown through the air. He connected with Austin Schwantz for a 43-yard touchdown that was Butler's first of the game. After a four-yard second quarter touchdown run, Orlando broke off a 57-yard touchdown dash with five minutes remaining in the third. Five of his eight plays in the game resulted in a first down or touchdown.
 
Orlando leads BU with six touchdowns this season; five rushing and one passing. He has scored 26 touchdowns in his BU career; 22 rushing and four passing.
 
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION: Butler broke the program's modern scoring record with 77 points in the win at Taylor. 77 points ranks fourth all-time in program history for most points scored in a single-game.
 
122 Pts vs. Hanover - 1921 Season
101 Pts vs. State Normal - 1905 Season
83 Pts vs. Meron - 1916 Season
77 Pts at Taylor - 2021 Season
74 Pts vs Wilmington - 1920 Season
 
TOUCHDOWN BULLDOGS: Butler has scored 18 touchdowns over their last 26 possessions.
 
The Bulldogs scored a TD on five-straight drives at Taylor in the second quarter.
 
BALANCED ATTACK: Butler scored five rushing touchdowns at Taylor and added four through the air. They rushed for 13 first downs and passed for 12.
 
Bret Bushka passed for a season-best 230 yards and three touchdowns for Butler. Kavon Samuels added two scored on the ground for BU on just 12 carries.
 
TURNOVER TAYLOR: Butler forced a turnover on four-straight Taylor drives on Saturday. The Trojans opened the second quarter with a fumble. A second fumble would follow on the next drive. Connor Reid intercepted a pass with 9:16 to play in the half and a third fumble would hit the ground nearly three minutes later.
 
BU fumble recoveries went to Michael Dunn, Jordan Caselberry, Daniel Obwaya and Kellen Madison.
 
SCOOP AND SCORE: Freshmen Daniel Obwaya and Kellen Madison each scored defensive touchdowns for Butler at Taylor. Obwaya recovered a fumble in the second quarter and returned it 10 yards for a score. Madison did the same in the fourth quarter from 11 yards out.
 
The last time a Bulldog returned a fumble for a touchdown prior to Saturday was back during the 2019 season when Dan DelGrosso scored in the season opener vs. #1 North Dakota State at Target Field. DelGrosso returned the fumble 29 yards to find pay dirt.
 
BEHIND THE LINE: Butler made six tackles behind the line of scrimmage at Taylor. Each tackle for loss was made by a different student-athlete.
 
Jack Belskis, Eloi Bigirimana, Nick Bafia, and Jordan Caselberry each had a solo stop in the backfield. Isaac Kolosik, Carson Gulgin, Michael Butler and Sam Urbanski were all credited with an assist.
 
FIRST MEETING: St. Thomas is new to the Pioneer Football League. This marks the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
 
UP NEXT: The PFL home opener will be played next weekend at the Sellick Bowl. Butler will host Drake at 12 PM for the "Battle of the Bulldogs".
 
Drake leads the all-time series against Butler 21-8-1. They won the last meeting 33-7.