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Dayton Daily News, Ohio
Dayton football: ‘Great leadership’ leads to perfect record in non-conference play
- Story byDayton Daily News, Ohio
- Dayton football: ‘Great leadership’ leads to perfect record in non-conference play
Dayton Flyers football coach Trevor Andrews worried he was sounding like someone known for coach-speak when he talked about the team's 3-0 start, its best start since 2015.
"It's three games," Andrews said at his weekly press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 23. "We've got eight more to play. It's a good, solid group with great leadership. We just keep grinding. Stay with the process. Only worry about the next game. I'm starting to sound like Bill Belichick a little bit, but sometimes it's true. You just can't get ahead of yourself. Can't put the cart before the horse. Is that what the old guys say? I wouldn't know."
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In its last game on Sept. 19, Dayton won 17-14 at Eastern Kentucky . Eastern Kentucky missed a 22-yard field goal as time expired.
This was a non-scholarship program winning on the road against a scholarship program. This was a school with almost 16,000 students losing to a school with just under 9,800. This was the United Athletic Conference, the third-ranked conference in the FCS, against the Pioneer Football League, ranked 13th and last
"It was a great experience going down there playing them, especially coming out of there with the win," defensive end Collin Ansel said. "We knew it was going to be a tough opponent. They're a big school. They've got a lot of great players, but our guys handled it very well and just like coach Andrews always tells us, we enjoyed it that night and then we watched the film. We're getting ready for Drake ."
After its second bye week, Dayton plays the first of eight PFL games at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, against Drake in Des Moines, Iowa. Drake lost its first three games but beat Davidson 51-32 on the road on Saturday, Sept. 26, in its first PFL game.
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Through three games, Dayton's second-year starting quarterback Bryce Schondelmyer has completed 52 of 82 passes, averaging 179.3 yards per game. He has thrown four touchdown passes and two interceptions. He completed 18 of 30 passes for 146 yards with one touchdown against Eastern Kentucky.
"I definitely felt great," Schondelmyer said. "I got comfortable early on. Those guys were pretty big and fast, and we kind of settled in early and just felt in control of the game. We took care of the football, and I did my part to help the offense succeed. As a group, we're trending in the right direction, and we continue to get better every week."
