INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler football team dominated the Dayton Flyers from start to finish on Saturday afternoon to win their PFL home opener 31-0. Dayton entered the day with the longest scoring streak in Division I football (501 games), but were kept out of the end zone at the Sellick Bowl to move Butler to 3-2 on the season and 1-1 in the Pioneer Football League.
Saturday's victory was the first win for Butler against Dayton since the 2013 season.
Bret Bushka was phenomenal in the game throwing for 338 yards and three touchdowns. He completed 25 of his 29 pass attempts and rushed the ball 10 times for 33 yards and a TD.
Bushka threw two touchdown passes to
Cameron Heald on Saturday and connected with
Tyler Adams on a 75-yard TD pass. Adams hauled in four passes for 149 yards against the Flyers to lead the Bulldogs.
Luke Wooten was another top target for Bushka. He ended the day with five catches for 56 yards.
The offense was great on Saturday, but the day belonged to the defense. The Bulldogs had three sacks and an impressive interception in the end zone to keep the Flyers off the scoreboard.
Kody Leach tipped a pass up in the air, stuck with it and was able to pull it down and stay in bounds to stop Dayton in the red zone. On the day, Butler went 4-for-4 on their red zone attempts with three TD's and a field goal. Dayton went 0-3 with the pick and two missed field goals (44, 34).
The shutout was called by BU defensive coordinator
Jeff Knowles. It was the first shutout of his collegiate coaching career.
The Bulldogs held All-PFL running back Jake Chisholm to just 47 rushing yards. Dante Casciola was also in the box score with 35 yards on the ground and 178 passing.
The game got started with
Luka Zurak hitting a 29-yard field goal on Butler's opening drive. Dayton countered with a nine-play drive, but came up empty with their first missed field goal of the game. The lone score of the second quarter was a one-yard pass from Bushka to Heald to give the Bulldogs a 10-0 lead going into halftime.
Heald and Bushka connected again in the third quarter for a 17-yard score and the final play of the third was a smash-mouth four-yard TD run by Bushka to give the Bulldogs a 24-0 lead.
Butler's last touchdown of the day was a quick strike over the top of the Dayton defense with Bushka hitting Adams in stride for a 75-yard pass. The one-play drive took the game to the final score of 31-0.
Butler will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 15 with a road game at Valparaiso. The battle for the Hoosier Helmet will start at 2 PM.
