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INDIANAPOLIS – A battle of two unbeaten PFL teams will take place on Saturday afternoon when St. Thomas plays host to Butler for a 1 PM kick-off at O'Shaughnessy Stadium. The first game of October for BU will stream live on Midco Sports Plus.
 
GameDay
Date: Saturday, October 7
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: St. Paul, Minn. / O'Shaughnessy Stadium
Live Stats: TommieSports.com (Sidearm Stats)
Watch: Midco Sports Plus
 
Bulldog Bits
- The Bulldogs are the only team in the PFL with four wins heading into the month of October.
- Jyran Mitchell ranks second among all FCS running backs in rushing yards per game (128.2).
- Mitchell is leading the PFL in yards per carry (6.8) and rushing touchdowns (7).
- Jeremiah Jackson set career-high totals vs. PC with six tackles including 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.
- Devaon Holman leads the PFL with three interceptions.
- Butler has held their last three opponents under 100 rushing yards (62, 91, 33).
- PC only managed two rushing first downs vs. Butler. The 'Dawgs bottled up the Blue Hose allowing just 33 rushing yards (1.9 avg. per rush).
- Nick Bafia ranks 10th in the PFL in tackles (34).
- Bret Bushka leads the PFL in completion percentage (63.3).
- Bushka completed passes to eight different Bulldogs last week to throw for 148 yards.
- BU did not allow a sack vs. Presbyterian.
- Luka Zurak made two field goals vs. Presbyterian. He is now 7-for-8 on the year and has not missed since Week 1.
 
PFL Standings
Butler 2-0, 4-1
Davidson 2-0, 3-2
St. Thomas 2-0, 3-2
Drake 1-0, 1-3
Marist 2-1, 2-2
San Diego 1-1, 1-4
Presbyterian 0-1, 2-2
Valparaiso 0-1, 1-3
Dayton 0-2, 2-3
Morehead State 0-2, 1-3
Stetson 0-2, 2-3
 
PFL Schedule – Week 6
Marist at Columbia 12:30 p.m.
Butler at St. Thomas 1:00 p.m.
Dayton at Morehead State 1:00 p.m.
Stetson at Presbyterian 1:00 p.m.
Valparaiso at Drake 2:00 p.m.
 
SCOUTING ST. THOMAS: The Tommies are 3-2 this year with a 2-0 mark against PFL competition. The 2023 PFL preseason favorites just beat Dayton 20-14 in Ohio and were able to hold off Morehead State the week prior to grab a 35-28 victory. St. Thomas found themselves on the ropes vs. Morehead State, but a 73-yard drive in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter helped the home team pull out the win. Shipman ended the game with 204 rushing yards and two touchdowns and Tak Tateoka passed for two scores. Shipman was slowed down against the Flyers last week with just 38 rushing yards on 16 carries. Tak Tateoka tossed two more TD's and the Tommies would use their 20-0 first half lead to hang on for the six-point win.
 
St. Thomas ranks second in the PFL in rush defense (111.2) and the Bulldogs rank second the league in yards per rush (5.7). The leader of the Tommie defense is senior linebacker Luke Herzog. He was named PFL Defensive Player of the Week on Sunday.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: St. Thomas is 2-0 all-time against Butler with a 36-0 win in the first meeting at O'Shaughnessy Stadium and a 14-point win a year ago at the Sellick Bowl.
 
St. Thomas raced out to a 14-0 first quarter lead at Butler last year and would hold on for a 27-13 victory. Shawn Shipman led the Tommie ground attack with 99 rushing yards.

ST. PAUL SHOWDOWN: St. Thomas has not lost a game at O'Shaughnessy Stadium since moving to the Division I ranks in 2021 and last lost a home game to end their 2016 season, winning 28 straight home games since that loss.
 
Butler brings a four-game win streak into the matchup, tied for the second-longest win streak at the FCS level, behind only defending national champion South Dakota State's 18-game win streak.
 
FAST START: The Bulldogs came up with four wins in the month of September for the first time since 2009!
 
BU scored 40+ points in three of their first four games in 2009 and moved forward to win their second PFL title with an 11-1 record.
 
GROUND GAME: Butler set new season-high totals vs. Presbyterian rushing the ball 57 times against the Blue Hose helping them account for 464 yards of total offense. They recorded 30 first downs, with 17 coming on the ground.
 
Over their first two PFL games, Butler has ran the ball 105 times to gain 621 yards. They have averaged nearly six yards per rush and have recorded 29 first downs. The Bulldogs have twice as many rushing yards this season (1160) than their opponents (567).
 
MITCHELL ON THE MOVE: Jyran Mitchell only rushed the ball one time in the fourth quarter over Butler's first three games, but over two PFL contests, he has 19 carries over the final frame.
 
Mitchell has scored a rushing touchdown in four-straight games. He averages at least four carries per quarter for Butler and has topped 100 yards in three of their five games.
 
HOW'S IT LOOKIN': Jyran Mitchell has 641 rushing yards over Butler's first five games. He is on pace to rush for 1,400 yards which would be the seventh-best single-season effort in BU history.
 
Mitchell ran for a career-high 209 yards at Stetson. He is the first Bulldog to top 200 yards in a single game since Trae Heeter (227 at Jacksonville in 2013).
 
HALFTIME ADJUSTMENTS: Butler has outscored their opponent 58-14 in the third quarter this year.
 
Butler's defense gave up two big plays in the first half vs. Presbyterian, but shutout the Blue Hose in the second half to erase a 3-point halftime deficit.
 
MOVE THE CHAINS: Butler went 7-for-14 on third down last Saturday and 3-for-3 on fourth down. Extending drives allowed BU to run a season-high 84 plays against Presbyterian.
 
Butler's longest drive of the season opened up the second half vs. Presbyterian. The 'Dawgs used 16 plays to march 85 yards down the field for a TD. The drive took 8:48 off the game clock.
 
BUSHKA IN BULLDOG HISTORY: Bushka accounted for 247 yards of offense vs. Presbyterian with 148 passing yards to go with 99 rushing yards. The BU QB now has 1,142 career rushing yards to go along with 12 TD's. Through the air, Bushka has passed for 4,982 yards at Butler to rank sixth all-time.
 
Bushka is one of 35 FCS players to make the Preseason Watch List for the Walter Payton Award. He needs 152 passing yards at St. Thomas to reach 1,000 for the season.
 
HE'S BACK: Butler running back Brody Reder returned to action against the Blue Hose. He carried the ball two times to gain 22 yards.
 
Reder rushed for seven touchdowns over his first two seasons as a Bulldog.
 
UP NEXT: Butler will host Davidson on Oct. 14. The 1 PM kick-off will come after the Wildcats bye week and stream on FloFootball.com.
 
The Wildcats have won four-straight over Butler to take a 9-6 lead over the Bulldogs in the all-time series. Butler's last win came in 2016 (20-17), and their last win over Davidson in Indianapolis came the year prior (38-7).