TICKETS | WATCH | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES
 
INDIANAPOLIS – The Butler football team returns to Indianapolis for a 1 PM kickoff against Davidson this weekend. The Bulldogs are 3-0 at home and will look to stay undefeated against the visiting Wildcats. Fans can stream the action on FloFootball.com. Jon Cupo and Jared Thomas will be on the call.
 
GameDay
Date: Saturday, October 14
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: Indianapolis, Ind. / Sellick Bowl
Live Stats: ButlerSports.com (Statbroadcast)
Watch: FloFootball.com
 
Bulldog Bits
- Davidson (45.2) and Butler (28.8) are the highest scoring teams in the PFL heading into Week 7.
- Davidson and Butler rank 1-2 in the league in total offense, rushing yards, rushing TDs, yards per rush, and completion percentage.
- Jyran Mitchell ranks sixth among all FCS running backs in rushing yards per game (114.8).
- Mitchell leads the PFL in all-purpose yards (127.0), touchdowns (9), rushing yards (689), yards per rush (6.4) and rushing attempts (107).
- Butler has scored a rushing touchdown and has recorded 10 or more rushing first downs in five-straight games.
- Butler had six more first downs than St. Thomas at O'Shaughnessy Stadium (18-12).
- Joey Audia had a 35-yard kickoff return in St. Paul, his longest of the season.
- The Bulldogs lead the PFL in scoring defense, allowing just 20.1 points per game this year.
- Nick Bafia led BU with 10 tackles at St. Thomas and forced a fumble that was recovered by Jack Burch.
- Tyson Garrett and Carson Gulgin shared a sack against the Tommies. Garrett led BU with 1.5 tackles for loss.
- Luka Zurak is 8-for-9 on field goal attempts this season and has not missed since Week 1.
 
PFL Standings
St. Thomas 3-0, 4-2
Davidson 2-0, 3-2
Drake 2-0, 2-3
Butler 2-1, 4-2
Marist 2-1, 2-3
San Diego 1-1, 1-4
Stetson 1-2, 3-3
Morehead State 1-2, 2-3
Presbyterian 0-2, 2-3
Valparaiso 0-2, 1-4
Dayton 0-3, 2-4
 
PFL Schedule – Week 7
San Diego at Marist 12:00 p.m.
Davidson at Butler 1:00 p.m.
Presbyterian at Dayton 1:00 p.m.
St. Thomas at Drake 1:00 p.m.
Morehead State at Valparaiso 2:00 p.m.
 
SCOUTING DAVIDSON: The Wildcats have won three-straight games and are 2-0 in the PFL after claiming victories over Marist and San Diego. They lost their first two games of the season (12-7 at VMI / 33-31 vs. Barton) and wrapped up their non-conference slate with a huge win over St. Andrews (84-6). The Wildcats are a run-first offense that are averaging 45.2 points per game. They have rushed the ball 238 times this season and have only passed 89 times. Mari Adams and Mason Sheron are tied for the team lead with six rushing touchdowns. QB Coulter Cleland is a dual threat that throws for 136 yards per game and rushes for 35. Davidson had two offensive linemen selected to the Preseason All-PFL team and the stout Wildcat defense is led by Daniel Carter and Jonathan Hammond.
 
Sophomore RB Mari Adams was tabbed PFL Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 1. Adams rushed for four touchdowns in a 55-33 win over San Diego. Adams led a Davison rushing attack that finished the game with 449 yards and seven touchdowns.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: Davidson leads the all-time series over Butler 9-6. Four-straight Wildcat wins gave Davidson the advantage in a rivalry that began in 2003.
 
Davidson won the first five meetings vs. Butler, but the Bulldogs rebounded by winning the next six. Butler's last win vs. Davidson came in 2016 (20-17).
 
TWO WEEK PREP: The Bulldogs are facing another opponent after that team's bye week.
 
Butler has played Wabash, Presbyterian and now Davidson after the team's bye week.
 
RUN IT BACK BURCH: Jack Burch set career-high totals at Davidson last year with five tackles against the Wildcats, including one tackle for loss and his first collegiate sack.
 
Will Mason also had a great day at Davidson last year, tying his career-high tackle total with eight stops vs. the Wildcats. Mason is coming off a season-high seven-tackle game at St. Thomas.
 
BIG DAY FOR BELSKIS: Jack Belskis came up with a season-high five tackles at St. Thomas.
 
Belskis has a tackle for loss in four-straight games.
 
HOME GROWN TALENT: Jeremiah Jackson ranks third on the team with 29 tackles and needs just three stops vs. Davidson to reach 50 career tackles. The BU linebacker is also second on the team in tackles for loss (5.5).
 
Jackson recorded a career-high seven tackles at St. Thomas last weekend.
 
FULL STRENGTH: Adam Sturtz was inactive for two weeks during the non-conference slate, but came back for PFL play and recently recorded a career-high nine tackles at St. Thomas.
 
Sturtz started in 10 games last year and ranked fifth on the team with 37 tackles. He's averaging nearly six tackles per game in 2023.
 
ZERO ISSUES WITH ZURAK: K/P Luka Zurak hit his eighth field goal of the season at St. Thomas to bring his career total to 20.
 
Zurak holds the best career punting average in program history (39.8 yards per punt).
 
MITCHELL KEEPS IT MOVING: Jyran Mitchell found the end zone again last Saturday, giving him a rushing TD in five-straight games.
 
Mitchell has a 10+ yard rush in five-straight games. He only carried the ball 13 times at St. Thomas after averaging 28 carries per game over Butler's first two PFL games.
 
BUSHKA IN BULLDOG HISTORY: Bushka topped 5,000 career passing yards at St. Thomas (5,093) and is now one of just six quarterbacks in program history to reach the milestone.
 
Bushka is one of 35 FCS players to make the Preseason Watch List for the Walter Payton Award. He needs 41 passing yards vs. Davidson to reach 1,000 for the season.
 
DUAL THREAT: Bret Bushka led Butler in rushing yards for the first time this season at St. Thomas (63). Bushka led the BU rushing attack eight times in 2022 (11 games).
 
Bushka ran for a career-high 102 yards at Davidson last year on just six carries. The longest rush of his career (36) also came on that day (10/1/22).
 
STRETCH THE FIELD: Seven different Bulldogs are averaging over 10 yards per catch this season.
 
Ryan Lezon leads this group with his 14.6 average. Lezon is also tied with Wooten with two receiving touchdowns.
 
UP NEXT: Butler will play at Dayton next weekend, facing the Flyers at 1 PM.
 
Butler snapped a seven-game losing streak vs. Dayton last year by shutting out the Flyers at the Sellick Bowl 31-0.