The Stetson football team will put its nine-game home win streak on the line again on Saturday when the Hatters host the Butler Bulldogs at Spec Martin Memorial Stadium.
 
It will be the Hatters' annual Breast Cancer Awareness game with the sisters from Zeta Tau Alpha on hand to distribute information about a disease that impacts one in every eight women in the United States at some point in their lives. Members of ZTA will be passing out pink ribbons and fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game in support of the national effort to diminish the disease.
 
Kickoff for the game is set for noon, with gates opening at 11 a.m. The game will be video streamed on ESPN+ with Evan Weston and Victor Anderson on the call. Kenny Schierlinger will also have the call of the game on the stations of WSBB radio.
 
While Stetson has put together a nine-game home win streak, Butler is one of three programs remaining in the Pioneer Football League that the Hatters have never beaten. The Bulldogs (1-3) prevented Stetson from sole possession of second place in the PFL last year with a 28-23 victory in Indianapolis on a day when the temperature never rose above freezing.
 
That won't be a problem this week as the weather forecast for DeLand calls for a high of 86 and a mixture of sun and clouds throughout the day.
 
The bigger concern for Stetson (3-1) will be in containing the Bulldogs' senior running back, Brad Sznajder, who also doubles as a dangerous kick returner. The Hatters have also focused their attention on getting off to a better start in the first quarter after spotting North Carolina Wesleyan a 14-0 lead in the first quarter last week before rolling to a 55-21 victory.
 
The Stetson coaches also reemphasized the importance of protecting the football after losing a pair of fumbles, one on special teams that led to one of those early touchdowns, last week. The positive is that the Hatters have turned the ball over just three times all season, with two of those coming on special teams.
 
Graduate quarterback Gaven DeFilippo, who was named the PFL Offensive Player of the Week last week for his performance against NC Wesleyan, has been incredibly accurate as a passer so far this year, completing 94-of-141 pass attempts for 956 yards and 11 scores in four games. He has also been effective with his feet when the need arises, having rushed for 119 yards and three scores on just 22 attempts.
 
Unlike last season, when tight end Donald Parham was the primary go-to receiver with wide outs Steven Burdette and Justin Jordan providing the deep threat, this year the passing game has been more spread out, with 14 different receivers having recorded receptions, with half of those scoring touchdowns.
 
With Burdette having missed the last two games, Jordan, a junior, and redshirt freshman Justin Curtis have done the bulk of the heavy lifting. Jordan has 22 receptions for 266 yards while Curtis has added 19 for 203. Jordan enters the game this week needing just six receptions for 100 in his career. He has already moved past 1,000 career receiving yards. Should Burdette return this week, which is possible, he is just 48 yards shy of 1,000 in his career, and would reach that milestone in just 12 games should he get there.
 
The work being done in the ground game has made the success of the passing game possible. Sophomore Jareem Westcott (308 yards), freshman Jalen Leary (241 yards) and junior Chase Blackmon (222 yards) have given the Hatters a three-headed ground attack that, including five scores from the quarterbacks, has produced 14 rushing touchdowns in just four games.
 
The Hatters will be challenged by a Butler defense that is led by redshirt senior safety Luke Sennett and senior linebacker Mason Brunner. Both were named to the preseason All-PFL team and they share the team lead with 32 tackles each through four games.
 
The Bulldogs will be playing their 2019 PFL opener following a bye week. Butler was defeated by Princeton 49-7 in its last game and opened the season with a 57-10 loss to No. 1 North Dakota State.
 
Series History

• Butler is one of three Pioneer Football League teams Stetson has never defeated, joining with Dayton and San Diego, both of which will also visit Spec Martin Stadium this year.
• The Hatters had their best chance to defeat the Bulldogs last year, dropping a 28-23 decision on a sub-freezng day in Indianapolis. Big plays cost the Hatters that day, primarily a pair of long TD passes, from 68 and 73 yards.
• Butler has won on both of its previous trips to DeLand, taking a 49-41 decision in 2014 and a 23-6 victory in 2017.

 
Stetson Notes

• Stetson has allowed its opponent to score first in each of the last three games and in 46 of 70 games since reviving the sport in 2013. The Hatters are just 14-32 in games in which their opponents score first.
• Going back to 2013, October has been the Hatters' most successful month. Stetson is 10-13 in October games since bringing the program back. Overall, Stetson has a 69-53-7 record in games played in October.
• The Hatters have been a quick strike team on their 25 offensive touchdowns this year. The average for the scoring drives - which includes 14 rush TDs and 11 pass TDs - has been 6.2 plays covering just shy of 61 yards. The Hatters have needed an average of 2:05 off the clock on those scoring drives.
• Only twice this year has Stetson had a TD drive last longer than 3:30, and both of those drives came against NC Wesleyan. Stetson had scoring drives of 4:31 and 5:53 in that game. The Hatters have 12 TD drives that have lasted less than two minutes so far this year.
• Sophomore Jareem Westcott enters play this week needing 100 yards to move past Ryan Tentler into second place on the career list.
• DeFilippo ran his streak of consecutive pass attempts without an interception to 149 by completing 21-of-24 attempts for 176 yards and 3 TDs. He also rushed for a pair of scores, gaining 51 yards on five attempts.
• Connor Wilson's 12-yard return of Davion Maxwell's blocked punt for a touchdown was the first Stetson special teams touchdown since JJ Henderson's 81-yard punt return against Davidson on October 14, 2017. Wilson also had two special teams tackles in the game and was named PFL Special Teams Player of the Week for his effort. The play was ranked as the No. 1 play of the week in FCS play by the NCAA.
• Redshirt senior linebacker Jamieson Craske was recognized this week by CoSIDA and the Mayo Clinic as a Comeback Player of the Year candidate. A total of 30 players from across all levels of college football will be selected for the award with the top nine earning donations in their names to their schools' general scholarship fund. The finalists will travel to the Fiesta Bowl in January and be recognized on the field.
• Junior Jonny Messina enters play this week 10 points shy of breaking the modern program record of 162 set by Cole Mazza (2013-16).

 
Ticket Information

• Tickets for Saturday's game, and all Stetson home football games this season, are available through the Stetson Athletics Ticket Office, which is open at the Edmunds Center from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. during the week. The ticket windows at Spec Martin Stadium open at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
• Single game tickets for Stetson football start at $20 for general admission seating.
• All Stetson University students receive free admission with a valid student ID card. For information on tickets, visit GoHatters.com/tix or call 386-738-4287.

 
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.