DELAND, Fla. – The Stetson Hatter football team returns to action after a thirteen-day break and facing its first road game with a trip to face the Dayton Flyers in Welcome Stadium at Dayton, Ohio.
 
DU (4-2, 2-1 PFL) has been in the thick of the Pioneer Football League play, with this being the fourth opponent in four weeks in conference to face the Flyers.
 
Stetson (3-2, 1-1 PFL) has played one game in the last three weeks with the impromptu bye week due to Hurricane Ian's intervention preventing travel to San Diego sandwiched with the planned bye week last week. This will also result in being the Hatters first road game.
 
The pair of teams have one common opponent, Marist, with the Flyers defeating the Red Foxes in Poughkeepsie, New York, by a score of 24-7. The Hatters lost to MC, 45-31, last time they took the field at Spec Martin Stadium on October 8 and have been focusing on improving since that time.
 
On the year, Dayton started with a tight win over Robert Morris at home, 22-20, followed by a loss at Youngstown State, 49-16 with a home blow-out win over Kentucky State, 46-3, wrapping up the non-conference schedule. The Flyers opened PFL play with a home win over Drake, 27-14, with a 31-0 loss in Indianapolis, Indiana to Butler. Last time out was the aforementioned win over Marist.
 
Series history leans in favor the home team Saturday with The Flyers taking four wins to Stetson's one, all contests in the modern era of SU football. The Hatters won 38-21 on October 19, 2019 at Spec Martin Stadium. Four of the series five games have been in DeLand, Florida with this representing the second trip to Dayton, Ohio. The previous trip, a 21-10 loss, was played on October 29, 2016.
 
The Flyers feature a balanced attack with nearly equal passing [150.5] and rushing [146.5] yards per game, but lean a little heavier on the run when removing lost yardage from sacks [173.2]. Jake Chisholm and Dante Casciola, the team's starting quarterback, share the rock on the ground with Chisholm taking the lead. The pair averages 108 yards per game with a bevy of attempts being filtered through various of players.  Casciola also has 72 completions for 757 yards with five touchdowns to keep the pass defense honest; however, the option quarterback has thrown four interceptions to ratio with five touchdowns. Four receivers have over 100 yards on the year with none of them higher than 200.
 
The Flyers have stuffed the run this season, only allowing 98.7 yards per game. Passing offenses have seen success though, with 1,254 yards given up through the air for an average of 209 per game. The Flyers have recorded 10 sacks on the year. On third down, teams are finding success on roughly 38 percent of the attempts. Linebacker Ben Schmiesing has been a ball-hawk with 48 tackles on the year, 22 solo, to go with an interception, three pass break ups, and assisting on a sack. Nathan Arthur paces the squad with six tackles-for-loss and is second for tackles behind Schmiesing. Joe Durham has 3.5 sacks. All five of the Flyers interceptions have come from different players.  
 
Dayton has been daunting for the intangibles. The Flyers have not lost a fumble this year, covering the ball all five times it has come loose. Inversely, Saturday's home team has taken away four fumbles. In the redzone, the DU has scored on 15-of-22 attempts with 10 being for a touchdown.
 
The Hatter offense will be looking to lean on Brady Meitz and the veteran wide receiver group with Nazeviah Burris, Quinton Lane and Michael Martinez looking to stretch the Flyer defense. Meitz has eight touchdowns through the air with 1490 yards in six contests. Jalen Leary achieved the 2,000-career rushing mark against Marist, and will be looking to add more against the stout Flyer rush defense. Kaderris Roberts and Devon Brewer both provided a spark to the Hatter offense against Marist with Brewer bruising the Red Foxes for three-consecutive plays before Roberts broke loose for a 40-yard touchdown scamper.
 
 
Linebacker Ethan Hull notched a career day against Marist with 17 tackles [career high], 2.0 tackles-for-loss [ties career high] a pass break-up and forcing a fumble. A disciplined defensive plan will be required to be executed to contain the Flyers to give the Hatters a chance Saturday.
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS. Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.