Nov. 2, 2008

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SAN DIEGO -- The University of Dayton Flyers took sole possession of first place in the Pioneer Football League Saturday night in San Diego with a 30-22 win over USD. Dayton is 8-1 and 5-0 in the PFL. Jacksonville snapped a Butler five-game winning streak to tie the Bulldogs for second at 4-1, and San Diego fell to 4-2 in the PFL and 6-2 overall.

UD also ended San Diego's 28-game home field winning streak, which was the longest in college football. Dayton now has the longest in NCAA FCS football (13), while Oklahoma has the longest in FBS football.

Dayton found itself down 22-6 in the second quarter after a 57-yard interception return for a touchdown by Torero freshman Al-Rilwan Adeyemi. But then the Flyers scored on their next four possessions, turning the 16-point deficit into the eventual eight-point margin. UD drove 75 yards to score in the final minute of the first half to make the halftime score San Diego 22, Dayton 13.

Nick Glavin kicked his third field goal of the game to make it 22-16, and then the Flyers used TD drives to 88 and 75 yards to take the lead and then make it an eight-point game.

Dayton quarterback Rob Florian tied the UD single-game record for completions with 34 (Kevin Hoyng completed 34 in last year's Gridiron Classic win over Albany. For the game, he was 34 of 43 for 353 yards with two interceptions. He threw a pair of TD passes to Bart Bergfeld.

More importantly, Florian was the poster boy for the Flyers' resiliency in the face of adversity. After throwing the interception that made the score 22-6, Florian completed 25 of 30 passes for 272 yards and the two touchdowns. All against the defense that came into the game leading the PFL and ranked third in FCS football in pass efficiency defense.

And while Florian was passing for 209 second-half yards and leading Dayton to 17 second-half points, the Dayton defense was holding the PFL's top-ranked offense scoreless and to just 59 yards in the second half. For the game, the Flyers held the Toreros to 226 total yards (including just 10 yards net rushing), 200 yards below their average. The Toreros came into the game averaging 39.4 points per game.

Flyer Steve McDonald led the way for UD, with nine tackles. Eight of his hits were solo tackles, and he had three of UD's six tackles in the backfield. Safety Corey Vossler had seven hits. Linebacker Joe Ries had six, including UD's only sack. Cornerback Joe Castaneda had five solo tackles and nickelback J.J. Vercammen added four solos. Defensive end Scott Vossler also had four hits, and added one in the backfield. He also had a fumble recovery, a pass batted down at the line and a QB hurry.

Slot receiver Justin Millio led the Dayton receiving corps with 12 catches for 101 yards. Nick Collins caught six balls for 77 yards, followed by Steve Valentino (5 for 32), Justin Watkins (3 for 47), Bart Bergfeld (3 for 46 with 2 TD's) and James Ward (2 for 42).

Nick Glavin kicked field goals of 30, 42 and 22 yards for the Flyers, but missed a 23-yarder with 3:11 left. The 42-yarder was a career-long. He was also was three-for-three in PAT's.

The win was UD's 11th straight league contest, which ties the Flyers with Albany for the longest conference streak in FCS football. UD has also not been shutout in 362 games, the longest such active streak in college football.

Dayton remains on the road, playing at Butler next Saturday. Game time at the Butler Bowl is 1:00 p.m. ET.