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Bulldogs Close Out Season At Jacksonville
Nov. 7, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
ROAD CLOSING: Butler will wrap up the 2007 season with a trip to Florida on Saturday, Nov. 10. The Pioneer Football League game against Jacksonville at Milne Field will be Butler's second consecutive road contest and fifth road game in the last six outings. Kickoff is slated for 12 noon. The Bulldogs, who opened the season with four consecutive wins, are trying to end a six-game slide. Butler (4-6, 0-6 PFL) fell at No. 1-ranked Dayton, 61-0, last weekend. Jacksonville (2-7, 1-5 PFL) has dropped three straight games, including a 29-27 decision at home to Valparaiso last week. The Dolphins, under first-year head coach Kerwin Bell, own the only league victory over Morehead State this season, a 34-24 decision at home on Oct. 13. Butler is finishing the season on the road for the second consecutive year. Butler has played just two previous games in Florida - at Jacksonville in 2005 and at Florida International in 2002. HIGH POWERED: Quarterback Kevin Hoyng threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third, while leading top-ranked Dayton to a victory over the Bulldogs. The win was Dayton's fifth straight and ninth on the season. The Flyers jumped to a 20-0 lead in the first quarter and led 41-0 at halftime. Hoyng passed for 227 yards in the contest and rushed for an additional 39 yards. Dayton, ranked second in the PFL in total offense, gained 530 total yards on the afternoon. RETURN VISIT: A number of Butler players will be making their second visit to Jacksonville, Fla., including six players who were in the Bulldogs' starting lineup for the 2005 game at Milne Field. Seniors Derek North (tailback), Nate Miller (wide receiver), Alex Davis (safety), Mike Marzotto (linebacker) and Buck Ulery (linebacker) and junior Scott Conn (offensive line) all were starters for Butler's 2005 visit to Florida. North had one carry for five yards, while Miller had one reception for three yards. Marzotto had a team-high 12 tackles, Davis had seven stops and Ulery had three. Senior fullback Greg Pachacz scored his first collegiate touchdown on an 11-yard reception at Milne Field. FINISHING TOUCH: Redshirt freshman Jacob Fritz, who was given his first collegiate start two weeks ago against Davidson, turned in a second straight strong performance in Butler's game at Dayton. The first-year cornerback recorded 10 tackles against the Flyers, including a career-high eight solo tackles. A week earlier, Fritz led the Bulldogs against Davidson with a career-high 11 tackles, including seven solo stops. He also became the first player in Butler football history to score a defensive two-point conversion when he scooped up a blocked PAT attempt and returned it 90 yards for the score. Fritz added a 35-yard pass interception for a touchdown against the Wildcats, and he was named PFL Co-Defensive Player of the Week for his performance. Fritz, who had five tackles in Butler's first eight games this year, is the first Butler player this season to record double-figures in tackles in back-to-back games. CATCH STREAK: Senior wide receiver Nate Miller caught just one pass for five yards at Dayton, but it was enough to keep his streak of consecutive games with a pass reception alive. Miller has caught at least one pass in his last 31 Butler games (he missed two games at the end of last season because of injury). He stands third on Butler's all-time list for pass receptions with 126, 11 shy of Mike Chrobot (1975-78) in second place. Miller needs 124 receiving yards to catch John Barron (1985-88) in 10th place on Butler's all-time list for pass receiving yards. Nate Miller had eight pass receptions for 75 yards against Jacksonville last year. CAREER MATCH: Sophomore linebacker Derek Guggenberger matched his career-high for tackles with 11 stops at Dayton. He had three solo stops and eight assists against the Flyers, matching the total he compiled in Butler's win over Hanover on Sept. 8. The 11 tackles also matched the most by a Butler player this fall (Jacob Fritz had 11 tackles against Davidson). Derek Guggenberger has had 10 or more tackles in three games this season. TOP 10: Senior quarterback T. J. Brown did not play at Dayton because of injury, but he may be available at Jacksonville. Brown currently stands in ninth place on Butler's all-time passing list with 3,387 career yards. He's 140 passing yards shy of Mike Lee (1982-86) in eighth place on the all-time chart. Brown, who completed 19 of 41 passes for 136 yards and one touchdown against Jacksonville last year, has 333 career pass completions and 17 career touchdown passes. RETURN ADDRESS: Senior Zach Zimmer came up with the first pass interception of his career on the third play of the game at Dayton. Zimmer picked off a Kevin Hoyng pass 0:41 into the game and returned it three yards, but the Bulldogs were unable to capitalize on the turnover. Zimmer also had a pair of kickoff returns in the contest for 54 yards. He had Butler's longest return against Dayton with a 28-yard effort in the fourth quarter. BULLDOG BITS: •Senior safety Alex Davis had five tackles at Dayton, boosting his Butler career total to 157. Davis had a career-high 11 tackles and one pass interception against Jacksonville in last year's game at the Butler Bowl. •Junior tight end Eric Notestine missed the Dayton game because of injury, but he's expected back for the Jacksonville game. Notestine scored his first collegiate touchdown on a one-yard pass from T. J. Brown in last year's game against Jacksonville. •Senior tailback Derek North had 32 rushing yards at Dayton, giving him 777 yards for his Butler career. North ranks seventh in the PFL in rushing this season (55.3 ypg). •Senior defensive end Chris Marzotto, who suffered a neck sprain at Morehead State, was sidelined for the Davidson and Dayton games. He had started 30 consecutive games prior to the injury. Marzotto is doubtful for the season finale at Jacksonville. •Running back Scott Gray did not play at Dayton because of injury. He currently sits in seventh place on Butler's single season scoring list with 90 points. Only four players in Butler football history have scored 100 or more points in a season. Gray leads the PFL in scoring with 15 touchdowns (10.0 ppg). He's questionable for this weekend's game in Florida. •Butler freshman Tadd Dombart ranks second in the league in individual punt return avg. (11.7). He's also tied for seventh in the league in pass interceptions (0.30 pg), and he's tied for fifth in the circuit in fumbles forced (0.20). •Junior Jordan Quiroz stands third in the PFL in field goals with eight. He ranks fourth in the league in kick scoring (5.4 ppg). •Senior Mike Morgan averaged 37.9 yards on 10 punts at Dayton. He had a long kick of 46 yards. Morgan, who set a school-record with a 72-yard punt at Morehead State, ranks fifth in the PFL in punting (36.4). •Senior linebacker Mike Marzotto ranks second among active PFL players in career tackles with 240. Brian Kelly of Dayton has 248. Marzotto had five tackles against Jacksonville last year. •Junior cornerback Ryan Schmidtz, who missed Butler's last two games because of injury, is expected back for the Bulldogs' final game this weekend.
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