Two of the hottest teams in the Pioneer Football League will go head-to-head this Saturday when #23 Butler travels to Presbyterian to close out the 2024 regular season. The Bulldogs have won four in-a-row and are trying to become just the second team in program history to reach double figures in the win column. Presbyterian is in search of their fourth-straight win to end their year on a high note. The 1 p.m. kick-off will stream on ESPN+.
 
Game Day
Date: Saturday, November 23
Time: 1:00 PM ET
Location: Clinton, S.C. / Bailey Memorial Stadium
Live Stats: GoBlueHose.com (Statbroadcast)
Watch: ESPN+
 
Bulldog Bits
- Butler is ranked #23 in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
- BU has reached their highest win total (9) in a single-season since 2013.
- Only seven teams in program history have reached nine wins in a single-season.
- No Bulldog team has ever ended the season with 10 wins; the school record is 11 (2009).
- There is a three-way tie (5-2) for second place in the PFL standings heading into Week 13.
- Nick Howard accounted for four touchdowns in Butler's win over St. Thomas on Senior Day.
- The win over the Tommies was Butler's first in program history.
- Howard had TD runs of two, five and 28 yards.
- Butler ran the ball 49 times against St. Thomas to post 168 rushing yards.
- Butler has rushed for 15 touchdowns over their last four games.
- Howard threw a 20-yard TD pass to Trevon Brown.
- Luke Wooten had five receptions for a team-high 111 yards and a score vs. the Tommies.
- Butler's defense came up with four interceptions last Saturday!
- Steven Stephany had two picks and six tackles.
- Devaon Holman intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it 51 yards.
- Jeremiah Jackson dropped back in coverage for a BU interception in the second quarter.
- Jackson set career-high totals vs. PC last year with 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss.
- Justin Anagonye had a strip sack that set BU up for a touchdown.
- Jack Burch blocked a St. Thomas field goal and added a sack last Saturday.
- Burch has a team-high 7.5 sacks this season.
- Ashton Nawrocki came off the edge to get a sack.
- Butler and Presbyterian have lost since Oct. 19. 
 
PFL Schedule -Week 13
Drake at Stetson 1:00 P.M.
Butler at Presbyterian 1:00 P.M.
San Diego at Morehead State 1:00 P.M.
Davidson at Valparaiso 2:00 P.M.
Dayton at St. Thomas 2:00 P.M.
 
PFL Standings
Drake 6-1, 7-2
Butler 5-2, 9-2
Morehead State 5-2, 7-4
San Diego 5-2, 7-3
Davidson 4-3, 6-4
Dayton 4-3, 6-4
St. Thomas 4-3, 5-6
Presbyterian 3-4, 5-6
Valparaiso 1-5, 3-7
Marist 1-7, 1-10
Stetson 0-6, 2-8
 
SCOUTING PRESBYTERIAN: The Blue Hose are 5-6 overall after defeating Marist 42-23 last weekend. Winners of three-straight, PC is playing their best football of the season at the end of the 2024 campaign. They notched wins over Stetson, Dayton and Marist in recent weeks and went toe-to-toe with Drake and San Diego earlier in the year, moving each contest into overtime. QB Collin Hurst is the reigning PFL Offensive Player of the Week. Hurst had four total touchdowns, three passing and one rushing. He completed his first 11 pass attempts vs. Marist and ended the game 21-for-27 with 269 passing yards.
 
Presbyterian is in the midst of their first three-game win streak since 2021. Hurst hasn't thrown an interception in four games and the Blue Hose defense leads the league in rushing defense, limiting the opposition to just 113 yards on the ground per contest.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES: Butler is 1-0 in the all-time series vs. Presbyterian.
 
Presbyterian played in the Big South Conference before joining the PFL in 2021.
 
LAST MEETING: Butler topped Presbyterian 27-17 in 2023, by outscoring the Blue Hose 13-0 in the second half. The Bulldogs rushed for 299 yards in the victory, but PC moved the ball through the air with 323 passing yards.
 
Jeremiah Jackson and Tyson Garrett led the defensive effort for BU. Each player had six sacks and a tackle for loss. Jackson added 1.5 sacks.
 
NATONALLY-RANKED: Butler is ranked #23 in the latest AFCA Coaches Poll. They moved up two spots after defeating St. Thomas.
 
The AFCA FCS Coaches Poll was created in 2018. Last week was the first time that Butler has ever appeared in the poll.
 
NO PFL LOSSES IN NOVEMBER: Butler is trying to go undefeated in the month of November for the first time since 2013. That year the 'Dawgs defeated Dayton (33-30), Valpo (72-12) and Morehead State (58-27). Two of the three games were on the road.
 
While Butler ended PFL play with a perfect record in November, they did suffer a setback to Tennessee State on Nov. 30 in the FCS Playoffs.
 
GET OFF THE FIELD: Butler's defense was nearly perfect on third down against St. Thomas, causing the Tommies to go just 1-for-12 on third down.
 
St. Thomas was 2-for-5 against Butler on red zone scoring chances. Butler however was 4-for-4.
 
MOVE THE CHAINS: Butler leads the PFL and ranks fourth in the nation in third down conversion percentage.
 
Butler converts on third down 53.4 percent of the time. They went 8-for-16 on third down vs. St. Thomas and were 1-for-1 on fourth.
 
'DAWGS PLAYIN' D: Butler leads the PFL in scoring defense (15.1) and are second in total defense (277.7).
 
Butler's defense bottled up one of the best rushers in the PFL last weekend. Hope Adebayo averages 101 yards per game and the Bulldogs limited him to just 61 at the Sellick Bowl. 40 of those 61 yards came on one rush.
 
LOSS LANDS ON 1,000: Ethan Loss caught three passes against St. Thomas to end the game with 26 receiving yards. That performance pushed his career total to 1,000 yards.
 
Loss is in year two as a starter at Butler. He had 515 receiving yards in 2023 and has 485 this year heading into the regular season finale. Loss is averaging 18.3 yards per catch and 44.1 yards per game.
 
HISTORIC SEASON: Butler will take aim at a 10-win season on Saturday. This year's team is one of seven in program history to reach nine wins. BU went undefeated in 1959 and 1961. They went 9-1 in 1975 and 9-1-1 n 1983. The 1991 team posted a 9-2 record and the 2013 Bulldogs were 9-4.
 
Butler's best record came in 2009. Andrew Huck and Nick Caldicott were team MVP's on an 11-1 team. BU averaged 27.7 points per game that year, averaging 387 yards of total offense per contest.
 
LEAGUE LEADERS: Butler leads the PFL in first downs, completion percentage, fewest sacks allowed, fewest tackles for loss allowed, red zone offense, red zone defense, interceptions, fewest penalties, and punt returns.
 
Butler's 14 interceptions this season is the most since 2015 when BU came up with 15.