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Butler Faces Lone September Road Game
Sept. 5, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
TRAVEL INDIANA: Butler will leave Indianapolis for the only time in September when it visits Hanover for a non-league test on Saturday, Sept. 8. The Bulldogs will be looking for their second consecutive win when they square off with the Panthers at 1:30 p.m. (ET) at Hanover's L. S. Ayres Field. Butler opened the season last weekend with a convincing, 42-14, victory at home against Albion. It was Butler's first win in a season-opener since 2002, and the Bulldogs' first victory over Albion since 2001. Hanover dropped its season-opener at home to Thomas More, 40-24. Butler will be making its first visit to Hanover in more than eight decades (prior to 1920, there is no record of the game site for the Butler-Hanover series). The Bulldogs hosted Hanover a year ago in the first meeting between the two teams since 1935, and Butler captured a 30-20 decision at the Butler Bowl. Following the game at Hanover, the Bulldogs will return to Indianapolis to play three consecutive games at the Butler Bowl. The last time Butler was 2-0 in football was in 1992. STRONG START: Butler scored less than five minutes into the game against Albion to grab a 7-0 lead, and the Bulldogs added three more touchdowns in the second quarter to boost the halftime margin to 28-0. The 28 points were the most scored in one half by the Bulldogs under head coach Jeff Voris, and the 28-point margin was Butler's largest halftime lead in the past 72 games! The Bulldogs stretched their advantage over Albion to 35-0 in the third quarter, before the visiting Britons scored on a couple of long pass plays. Butler rolled up 427 yards in total offense against Albion, and the Bulldogs had a 36:07 to 23:53 advantage in possession time. The Bulldogs out-gained Albion on the ground, 242-116. SCORING SPECIALIST: It's doubtful that any Butler newcomer ever had a more spectacular football debut with the Bulldogs than sophomore Scott Gray. A transfer from Ball State (where he didn't play football), Gray scored a touchdown on his first Butler carry, a four-yard run less than five minutes into the game. He picked up a first down on his second carry and then added another TD on his third attempt. The Butler tailback added two more touchdowns in the first half, and finished his first 30 minutes in a Butler uniform with seven carries and four touchdowns! Gray added a fifth touchdown in the third quarter to give Butler a 35-0 advantage. His first-game final statistics were 13 carries for 54 yards and five touchdowns. The five TD's were one shy of the Butler single game record (6 by Steve Roberts against St. Ambrose in 1989), and the second most in one game by any player in Butler football history.
Scott Gray scored as many rushing touchdowns in his first game as the entire Butler team had a year ago. RUSH HOUR: Butler had three tailbacks combine for 228 rushing yards in the victory over Albion, and the Bulldogs finished with 242 net yards on the ground for the game. Sophomore Ricky Trujillo, a converted defensive back, led the way for the Bulldogs with 92 yards on 17 carries. Senior Derek North Butler's starting tailback, finished with 82 yards on 19 attempts, and sophomore Scott Gray added 54 yards on 13 rushes. Butler quarterback T. J. Brown contributed 14 additional rushing yards. The 242 rushing yards were the most by a Butler team since 2002, when the Bulldogs ran for 307 yards in a victory over Valparaiso. A year ago, the Bulldogs rushed for 512 yards for the entire 11-game season. Butler's last 200-yard rushing performance as a team prior to last weekend was against Valparaiso in 2004. BAND OF THIEVES: Butler's defensive unit came up with four pass interceptions in the season-opener against Albion, and two of the thefts contributed to 14 Butler points. Junior cornerback Ryan Schmidtz returned a pass interception 31 yards to the Albion 30-yard line in the second quarter, setting up a short scoring drive that results in the Bulldogs' third touchdown. Then in the fourth quarter, freshman Tadd Dombart picked off an Albion pass and returned it 42 yards for the Bulldogs' final touchdown. It was Butler's first interception return for a touchdown since 2003 (Dan Emmert vs. St. Francis, Ind.). Senior Alex Davis and sophomore Derek Bradford also had pass interceptions for the Bulldogs against Albion. JUST FOR KICKS: Questions surrounding Butler's kicking game were answered by senior Mike Morgan, who turned in a solid performance in his first contest as Butler's punter. Morgan launched a 51-yard kick to the Albion 14-yard line on his first Butler punt attempt. He finished the day with four punts for 129 yards, dropping three of the four punts inside the Albion 20-yard line. The visiting Britons didn't have a punt return in the contest. Junior Jordan Quiroz also had a solid afternoon handling Butler's kickoffs and placekicking chores. He was successful on all six of his PAT attempts. BULLDOG BITS: •Butler rolled up 427 yards in total offense in the season-opening victory over Albion. That was the most yards by the Bulldogs since 2005, when Butler compiled 446 yards against Missouri-Rolla. •Senior quarterback T. J. Brown completed 15 of 22 pass attempts with one interception in Butler's victory over Albion. The Butler signal caller threw for 185 yards, with a long pass of 35 yards to Nate Miller. Brown completed 22 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns against Hanover last year. It was the first 200-yard passing performance of his collegiate career. •Senior Buck Ulery led Butler with five tackles against Albion, including one tackle for loss. A total of 22 Butler players were credited with a solo tackle or an assist against Albion. •Freshman Tadd Dombart made the most of his first collegiate football play in Butler's victory over Albion. Dombart returned a punt 54 yards in the third quarter to set up Butler's fifth touchdown in the game. He later scored a touchdown on an interception return. •Wide receiver Nate Miller went over the 1,000-yard mark in career receiving yards during Butler's victory over Albion. Miller had four catches for 76 yards, boosting his career totals to 89 receptions for 1,038 yards. •Nate Miller became just the sixth player in Butler football history to record more than 10 pass receptions when he caught 11 passes in last year's game against Hanover. The 11 receptions were the most by a Butler player since 2000 and the fourth-highest single game total in Butler football history. •Junior Jordan Quiroz ran his string of successful PAT kicks to 22 in a row with a perfect afternoon against Albion. The last time Quiroz failed to convert a PAT kick was against Hanover last season when his first PAT attempt was blocked. •Junior Dan Bohrer caught his first collegiate touchdown pass on a 17-yard toss from quarterback T. J. Brown in last year's game with Hanover. Bohrer finished the contest with four catches for 40 yards. •Safety Alex Davis tied a school record with three pass interceptions in last year's Butler victory over Hanover. The three thefts matched the Butler record held by George Yearsich (1971), Dan Fuhs (1980), Weylin Stewart (1991) and Brandon Martin (2003). |
