Sept. 1, 2004

2004 University of Dayton Football Notes

Game #1: September 2, 2004 Dayton Flyers vs. Tiffin Dragons 7:00 p.m. EDT Welcome Stadium

The University of Dayton football team opens the 2004 season Thursday, when the Tiffin Dragons visit Welcome Stadium. Game time is 7:00 p.m. EDT. While Thursday's game is the first of the season for the Flyers, Tiffin already has game under its belt. TU lost to a strong Findlay team 40-21 at home last Saturday.

UD was 9-2 overall last season, and finished 2003 ranked fifth in the final Sports Network NCAA I-AA Mid-Major poll and seventh in the final Football Gazette rankings. Two of the four teams ranked ahead of Dayton in the Sports Network poll-San Diego and eventual PFL champion Valparaiso-are also members of the PFL's North Division. A total of 23 letterwinners and seven starters (two offense, four defense and the placekicker) are back from last year's team, including senior co-captains and pre-season All-Americans Chris Dearth at defensive tackle, Doug Jones at safety and Brandon Staley at quarterback.

The Flyers have had 27 straight winning seasons (among D-I schools, only Florida State, who also has 27 in a row, has done as well). And UD also brings into the year its NCAA-leading streak of 311 games without being shutout. The Flyers have won outright or shared the Pioneer Football League Championship eight times in the 11-year history of the league.

UD is 119-24 over the last 13 years, and since moving to non-scholarship football in 1977, has the second-best winning percentage in all of college football (.836, behind Mt. Union's .851). UD's senior class has a 30-4 record (12-2 in PFL action) coming into the 2004 season, and are part of two league championships.

The Game At A Glance...

DAYTON (9-2, 2-2 PFL in 2003) TIFFIN (6-5 in 2003) Mike Kelly (24th Yr., 215-43-1) Nate Cole (3rd Yr., 8-14) Avg. Pts. O/D: 36.4/16.6 Avg. Pts. O/D: 28.4/25.8 Avg. Rush O/D: 264.9/96.2 Avg. Rush O/D: 180.0/200.1 Avg. Pass O/D: 168.1/191.2 Avg. Pass O/D: 203.5/160.5 Total Offense O/D: 433.0/287.4 Total Offense O/D: 383.5/360.6

Tale Of The Tape...Averages of the starting lineups: Dayton O-Line 6-3/267 Tiffin D-Line 6-1/292 Dayton D-Line 6-2/243 Tiffin O-Line 6-3/289

Series Stuff...Dayton leads the series 3-0. The two teams first met in the 2000 season opener at Welcome Stadium (UD's first Thursday night opener on August 31, 2000). UD won that game 37-12. The Flyers and Dragons have met the last two seasons. UD won 35-20 in Tiffin on October 26, 2002, coming back from a 14-0 deficit. Last year, Dayton edged Tiffin 27-23 in Dayton on October 18, 2003. It's worth noting that six of the eight players who handled the ball on offense return for the Dragons, while only Brandon Staley is back from the six Flyers who touched the ball on offense. In the four years the series between the two schools has existed, Tiffin has made the transition from NAIA to an NCAA Division II scholarship program. The only two non-scholarship teams TU will play this season are Dayton and Butler.

The Dragons Are... Loaded this season with 48 returning letterwinners and 15 returning starters. Tiffin was the 11th-most-improved team in the NCAA in 2003, improving from 2-8 to 6-5. Look for that momentum to continue this season. Quarterback Ryan Harpold is a three-year starter and is already Tiffin's all-time leading passer. Last season he was 154 for 306 (.503) for 2,062 yards, 20 TD's and 16 interceptions. His favorite target is All-American wideout Nate Washington, who caught 70 passes for 1,286 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. He was third in Division II in receiving yards per game (116.9) in 2003. Bolstering the receiving corps are three-year starter Brian Rutkowski and Michael Hamm, who missed all of last year with an injury. Two Dragon running backs--senior Earl Haynes and junior Garrion Corbin--have run for over 1,000 yards in a season for TU. Up front, three lineman--center Aaron Curtis, left guard Brandon Henniger and left tackle Pat Willis--are four-year starters. Both kicking specialists are three-year starters. Ben Sandrock was 26 of 32 in PAT's and 13 of 21 in field goals last year. Punter Brandon Koester averaged 36.4 yards a punt in 2003. Defensively, Tiffin boasts 650 pounds of tackle in 340-pound junior Charles Smith and 310-pound freshman Luke Seals. They make it hard for blockers to find senior linebacker Aaron Ciak, but one place to look is the ballcarrier. Ciak led the Dragons last season with 91 tackles. Another guage of how strong the TU defense looks to be is the fact that last season's sack leader, Mike Lane, is being moved back to offensive guard. Lane's 11 sacks were five more than anyone else on the team.

Coach Mike Kelly...Is in his 24th year as a head coach (all at Dayton), and has 215 wins. His win in 2002 at Valparaiso, in the 242nd game of his career, made him the second-fastest football coach to reach 200 wins in NCAA history. Only Florida A&M's Jake Gaither, who got to 200 wins in just 240 career games, did it faster (Since then, Larry Kehres of Mt. Union reached 200 wins in 220 games). When Kelly won his 200th, he replaced Penn State coaching legend Joe Paterno in the #2 slot. Paterno did it in 246 games. Other notable coaches to reach 200 relatively quickly are Nebraska's Tom Osborne (did it in 249 games), Michigan's Bo Schembechler (262), Ohio State's Woody Hayes (268), Ithaca's Jim Butterfield (268), Stanford's Pop Warner (276), Florida State's Bobby Bowden (279) and Alabama's Bear Bryant (282). Kelly's .832 winning percentage (215-43-1) ranks third all-time among college coaches with 20 years or more as a head coach (#1 among active coaches). He is behind Florida A&M legend Jake Gaither (.844) and Osborne (.836).

More Mike Kelly...In addition, only six other active coaches at the Division I level--Florida State's Bobby Bowden (342), Penn State's Joe Paterno (339), South Carolina's Lou Holtz (243), Florida A&M's Billy Joe (234), Sam Houston State's Ron Randleman (207) and Albany's Bob Ford (201)--have won more than 200 games going into 2004.

Even More Mike ...Mike Kelly was the Football Gazette NCAA Division I-AA Non-Scholarship and Pioneer Football League Coach of the Year in 1996, 1997 and 2001, the PFL Coach of the Year in 2000, and the Football Gazette's Coach of the Year in 2002. UD's win over Evansville in 1996 gave him 150 career wins, making him the third-fastest coach in NCAA history to reach 150 wins, and one of only four to reach 150 in his 16th season. The other three are certain College Football Hall of Famers--Barry Switzer (2001 inductee), Tom Osborne (1998) and Joe Paterno (not in yet, but do you want to bet against him?). Kelly is UD's winningest football coach, surpassing 1990 College Football Hall of Famer Harry Baujan in 1993.

Kelly Gets Lackner Award...Coach Kelly was awarded one the University of Dayton's top honors when he received the Lackner Award in 2001. The award is presented to the UD employee who best represents the spirit of Brother Elmer Lackner, S.M., who served the University for 45 years.

Coaching Experience...The Flyers are fortunate to have an experienced coaching staff with three of the coaches at UD for at least 20 seasons: Mike Kelly, Head Coach (Manchester '70), 24th season as head coach, 28th at UD Dave Whilding, Off. Coordinator/Quarterbacks (Earlham '71), 27th Rick Chamberlin, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers (Dayton '80), 25th

PFL Stands For Pick The Flyers To Lead...UD was named the preseason favorite to win the Pioneer Football League's North Division once again in the annual vote by the league's coaches. This is the fourth straight season UD has been picked to win the league, although there is more variety in pre-season prognostications than in the past--Dayton has been slotted anywhere from first to fourth in this year's football publications.

PFL Power...The Flyers' 43-6 PFL record is the best in the 11-year history of the league.

Tops In I-AA Non-Scholarship...In the eight years I-AA Non-Scholarship has been an option, UD has the best winning percentage (.808, 97-23) of the 27 schools playing at this level.

Welcome Mat...The UD Flyers moved to Welcome Stadium in 1974. The word "Welcome" implies hospitality, but Dayton has been anything but hospitable to its opponents at home. UD is 172-31-1 (.846) at home. The "Welcome" in Welcome Stadium is not a greeting, but honors the late Percival Welcome, longtime Director of Athletics for the Dayton Public Schools. UD has won 26 of its last 30 home games, and 12 of its last 13 road games. UD was 4-0 away in 2003, 5-0 away in 2002, and takes a nine-game road winning streak in 2004.

Ranking Run...Dayton has been ranked either first or second in the Sports Network I-AA Mid-Major poll for 37 of a possible 43 weeks the Sports Network poll has been in existence. The Flyers have been #1 almost half of the time (20 of 43 weeks).

Oh Captains, My Captains...Seniors Chris Dearth, Doug Jones and Brandon Staley have been named football captains for the 2004 season. Dearth was a first-team All-Pioneer Football League performer, tallying 51 total tackles, 22 solo tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks. He was selected a First Team Pre-Season All-American by the Football Gazette. Chris' brother Eric was a captain last season, making the Dearths only the third set of brothers to serve as Flyer football captains. Al (1914), John (1922) and Lou (1925) were the first, and more recently Mark (1998) and Brad (1999) Thobe were the second. Jones earned First Team Division I-AA Mid-Major All-America honors from the Sports Network, and was also named a First Team Academic All-America in his first year as a starter. He led UD in tackles (105), solo tackles (60) and tackles in the backfield (11). He was chosen a pre-season All-American by the Sports Network (first team) and Football Gazette (second team). Staley's 1,961 yards in total offense were the fourth-best single-season total in UD history. He completed 100 of 169 passes (.592) for 1,617 yards and eight touchdowns, with eight interceptions. He was also Dayton's third-leading rusher with 344 net yards and eight rushing TD's. The Football Gazette tabbed him a Second Team Pre-Season All-American.

Pre-Season All-Americans...The Sports Network and I-AA.org both picked senior safety Doug Jones as one of their Pre-Season First Team All-Americans. The Football Gazette awarded senior defensive tackle Chris Dearth the same honor. In addition, the Football Gazette named Jones to its second team, along with junior quarterback Brandon Staley and junior offensive tackle Ryan Winner. The Gazette also named kicker Jason Resch, punter Brian Gooding and tailback Marques Warner (as a kick returner) Honorable Mention All-Americans.

Shutout String Continues...The University of Dayton has not been shutout in a school-record 311 games, the longest active streak in college football. When you talk streaks, you should speak of Cal Ripken. Cal ended his streak in 1998, but the Flyers didn't. The last time the Flyers were shut out (versus Marshall in 1976), Cal Ripken Jr. was a 16-year-old high school student at Aberdeen High School in Aberdeen, Maryland. Putting it another way, Dayton has not been blanked in more than two decades. And while Ripken's Farewell Tour is over, the Flyer offense isn't going anywhere, having averaged 32.0 points a game during the streak.

Hitting The Books...The University of Dayton had three football CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in 2003, the most from one school for the third straight year. UD had eight players named to the 2003 CoSIDA Academic All-District Team, which was nearly double any other team in the district (Ohio State had five). UD has had 41 football Academic All-Americans. Among schools currently playing Division I football, only Nebraska (78)and Notre Dame (44) have had more. UD has had at least one football player named Academic All-American in 12 of the last 13 years. Twelve Flyers were nominated for Academic All-America last year.

Gotta Play Smart...The University of Dayton placed a league-best 11 players (tied with San Diego) on the 2003 Academic All-Pioneer Football League team. Since the league's origin in 1993, nearly a third (103 of 364) of the PFL All-Academic selections have been Dayton Flyers. UD also had a league-high 49 players on the PFL Academic Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or better). Drake was next with 38.

Best Of The Best...When Mark Kasmer was named one of just 13 National Football Foundation Hall of Fame Scholar-Athletes following the 2002 season, he became the fifth UD player to be so honored. Only 35 football playing schools have five or more National Football Foundation Scholar-Athletes. That list of schools with more includes Nebraska (19), Ohio State (18), Notre Dame (14), Penn State (14), Air Force (13), Army (13), USC (12), Georgia (10), Princeton (10), Stanford (10), Washington (9), Michigan (8), Missouri (8), Texas (8), UCLA (8), Yale (8), Harvard (7), Ole Miss (7), Navy (7), SMU (7), VMI (7), Dartmouth (6), Florida State (6), Furman (6), Illinois (6), MIT (6) and Oklahoma (6).

Super Stat...When Jon Gruden coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the Super Bowl championship last year, he became the second UD grad to coach a Super Bowl winner. Former UD co-captain and 1993 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Noll won four Super Bowls (IX, X, XII. & XIV) as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Noll started at center and linebacker for the Flyers and graduated from the University in 1953. Gruden played quarterback at Dayton and earned his degree in 1986. UD became only the third school to have two alumni coach Super Bowl winners. The others San Jose State, with grads Bill Walsh (XIV, XIX, XXIII) and Dick Vermeil (XXXIV), and Arkansas with grads Jimmy Johnson (XXVII, XXVIII) and Barry Switzer (XXX). Gruden is the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl, and Noll is the fourth-youngest. As a matter of fact, UD has ties to 18 Super Bowl rings. In addition to Noll's four and Gruden's one, five former members of Dayton coaching staff own a total of 13 Super Bowl rings between them. They are the late Len Fontes (New York Giants, Super Bowl XXI), Jon's father Jim Gruden (San Francisco 49ers, Super Bowls XXII & XXIV), John McVay (49ers, XVI, XIX, XXII, & XXIV), Tom Moore (Pittsburgh Steelers, XIII & XIV) and George Perles (Steelers, IX, X, XII & XIV). McVay was the Flyers' head coach from 1965-72. The other four were UD assistants.

2004 UD FOOTBALL OUTLOOK...A 9-2 season at most schools would be cause for celebration. At the University of Dayton, the Flyers' 9-2 mark in 2003 is cause for "buckling down" in 2004. Don't take that to mean the 2003 season was not a success. UD's nine wins last year were more than all but 16 seasons in the 100 years the University has had football (The first varsity season was 1905.). The Flyers extended their own games-without-being-shutout string to 311, the best active streak in college football. Dayton also had its 27th straight winning season. Among NCAA Division I schools, only Florida State, who also has had 27 consecutive winning seasons, has done as well.

Twenty-three of 49 letterwinners return from that team, but only seven starters. Three of the returning starters will serve as the 2004 captains--quarterback redshirt junior Brandon Staley, senior defensive tackle Chris Dearth and senior safety Doug Jones.

In addition to the captains, other returning starters are junior offensive tackle Ryan Winner, senior middle guard Jared McQuiston, senior cornerback Bill Groetsema and senior kicker Jason Resch. Winner was thrust into the starting lineup last year when senior Andy Hiser's career was abruptly ended due to injury, and he came through by starting all 11 games at left tackle. Winner helped open the holes for an offense that averaged 4.9 yards a carry and scored 40 rushing TD's. He was named UD's Most Improved Player in 2003. McQuiston took over middle guard for a two-time All-PFL player, and plugged the middle to the tune of 13 tackles, three in the backfield and one sack. Groetsema had 39 tackles (25 solo), with five passes broken up and an interception. Resch led the Flyers in scoring (73) points, was 43 of 47 PAT's and 10 of 18 in field goals. He was six-for-seven between 30 and 39 yards.

Luckily for UD, the Flyers' depth and style of play require most Dayton football players to pay their dues and wait until they are a junior, or maybe even a senior, before they get to the top of the depth chart. Many times, by the time a UD player has a chance to make a name for himself, he is also close to getting his name on a diploma. Twelve of the remaining sixteen starting spots are projected to go to returning letterwinners. Six of those projected starters have lettered two years.