One team comes into this weekend's showdown between Stetson and Butler riding a four-game win streak while the other enters play having lost five straight.
 
The recent past would indicate that host Butler would be in the hunt for a piece of the Pioneer Football League title with two weeks left in the season. The Bulldogs are, after all, historically one of the top teams each year in the PFL.
 
Butler also opened the 2018 season with a road victory over a Youngstown State team that has won four FCS national titles, all under Jim Tressel, who now serves as that university's president. While the Penguins are down this year, they gave North Dakota State, which has won six of the last seven FCS titles, all they wanted last weekend in a 17-7 loss.
 
But in this game between Stetson and Butler, the roles are reversed. It is the Hatters (7-1, 5-1) who are just behind league-leading San Diego in the PFL standings while the Bulldogs (3-5, 1-5) are playing for the future in their final two games.
 
Kickoff between the two teams is scheduled for noon from Butler's Sellick Bowl in Indianapolis, Ind. The game will be video streamed on Facebook Live.
 
The Hatters will have to deal with hostile conditions in addition to a talented opponent when they get to Indiana. Saturday's high temperature is expected to only reach the mid 30s and early morning snow showers are a possibility.
 
While the weather is probably more of an inconvenience for fans and sideline personnel, if Stetson is to win a fifth straight game overall, and eighth on the year, the Hatters will have to continue to protect the football and force turnovers.
 
Stetson coach Roger Hughes said it is no coincidence that his team has won seven games this year because the Hatters enter the weekend with a plus seven in turnovers on the year.
 
But it will take more than just protecting the ball and turning over the Bulldogs for the Hatters to post a fifth consecutive win for the first time since 1938. It will also take a solid outing from a defensive unit that has, at times this year, struggled.
 
Offensively, Butler is led by senior receiver Pace Temple, who became the Bulldogs' all-time leader in receiving yardage last week with a 12 catch, 196-yard performance against Jacksonville. Temple has 209 career receptions for 3,123 yards.
 
Fifth-year senior quarterback Will Marty has been responsible for getting the ball to Temple for most of his career. He comes into Saturday's game needing just 23 yards away from 5,000 in his career, which is fifth best in program history. He had career-highs for both completions (29) and passing yards (425) last week against the Dolphins.
 
The third offensive weapon for the Bulldogs is redshirt junior running back Brad Sznajder, who has run the ball for 772 yards this year.
 
The Hatters have their own offensive weapons who are looking toward milestones this weekend. Senior tight end Donald Parham, who was added to the Walter Payton Award watch list earlier this week, already owns the Stetson career records for receptions (161), receiving yards (2,224) and TD receptions (16). He will be looking to add the mark for career-all-purpose yards to his resume this weekend, needing just 40 yards to surpass Kegan Moore (2013-16).
 
Parham, who leads the FCS in both receptions (9.14) and receiving yards (135.9) per game this year, needs just 49 yards this weekend to post the first 1,000-yard season in program history.
 
Senior quarterback Colin McGovern, who set the Stetson single-game record for passing yards with 398 against Morehead State last week, comes into the weekend needing 206 passing yards to become the second player in Stetson history with 5,000 career passing yards. He is 425 yards away from surpassing Ryan Tentler (2013-15) to becoming the all-time leading passer in school history.
 
The Hatters will also look to the duo of senior Matt Taft and freshman Jareem Westcott to carry the load on the ground. Together the duo is averaging 133.4 yards on the ground per game and Westcott, who was added to the Jerry Rice Award watch list last week, is among the top scorers in the nation with 12 rushing touchdowns on the year.
 
Butler is led on defense by junior safety Luke Sennett with 93 tackles in the year. The Bulldogs have recorded a total of 44 tackles for loss on the season, but have just 10 sacks and two interceptions on the year. Butler comes into the weekend ranked 93^rd in the nation, eighth in the PFL, in total defense and 118^th in pass efficiency defense.
 
The thing the Bulldogs won't do is beat themselves with penalties. Butler has been flagged just 38 times all year, which ranks fifth in the nation in penalties per game.
 
Stetson Notes

• The game against Butler is the first of two consecutive games against teams from the Hoosier state, the only two programs Stetson has ever played against from Indiana. The Hatters are 1-5 all-time against Butler and Valparaiso.
• Stetson does not have a player on its roster from Indiana. The Hatters do have ties to the state in the weight room. Director of Strength & Conditioning Mark Wateska oversaw the strength program at Indiana University from 2002-14 and Assistant Director of Strenth & Conditioning Spencer Phillips was a student at Indiana during that period, graduating in 2013.
• Butler has no players from Florida on its roster.
• Stetson's 7-1 record this year marks the best record through eight games in a season in program history.
• Stetson has improved by five wins over the 2-9 season in 2017.
• The Hatters have clinched their first winning season since 1950 and the 2018 squad is just the fourth in program history to win as many as seven games in a season.
• The Hatters are one victory away from tying the mark for most wins in a season. The 1950 and 1951 teams both won eight games.
• After having lost three games in 2017 season in the final minute or on the final play of a game, the Hatters have earned three victories in those situations in 2018.
• A Stetson win at Butler on Saturday would give the Hatters their first five-game win streak since 1938.
• Stetson has four victories this year over programs the Hatters had never beaten before.
• The 24-point margin of victory over Morehead State was the largest for a Stetson team against an FCS opponent. The previous mark for margin of victory was 23 against Valparaiso in 2015.
• The win over MSU was Stetson's fourth straight. It is the first time a Stetson team has won four consecutive games since the 1950 team opened with four straight victories.
• The last time a Stetson team won as many as five consecutive games was 1938. Stetson's all-time longest win streaks are 8 games (1935-7, 1936-1); 7 games (1932-3, 1934-4) and 6 games (1924).

 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program has a vision of developing a culture of champions athletically, academically and within the community. This vision is accomplished through a mission of recruiting and developing student-athletes, coaches and staff, creating a culture of champions, within and outside of competition. The department operates with five core values: Championship Culture, Integrity, Excellence, Pride/Tradition and Leadership. To learn more about the Vision, Mission and Core Values for Stetson Athletics, visit GoHatters.com and click on Mission Statement under the Inside Athletics tab.