The Lead

Unbeaten Butler travels to defending PFL Champion Drake in Week 7’s marquee matchup. The Battle of the Bulldogs matches a Butler squad putting its unblemished 5-0 record on the line while Drake antes up its 13-game PFL win streak.

Another key Week 7 matchup opens Week 6 action when Davidson travels to meet Dayton with both teams at 1-0 in league play. Elsewhere, St. Thomas, the league’s other 1-0 squad, travels to Marist while Presbyterian is on the road for a third straight week, trekking across the Appalachians to face Morehead State. This week’s Valparaiso-Stetson contest was postponed due to Hurricane Milton.

This Week's Schedule

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12	Kickoff (ET)	Series History	Streak	Last Meeting
• Stetson at Davidson	1 PM	DAV, 9-6	DAV, W5	Davidson def. Stetson, 61-41 (11/4/23 in DeLand)
• Drake at Presbyterian	1 PM	Tied, 1-1	DRA, W1	Drake def. Presbyterian, 16-14 (11/11/23 in Des Moines)
• Dayton at Butler	1 PM	DAY, 33-14-1	BUT, W2	Butler def. Dayton, 37-10 (10/21/23 in Dayton)
• St. Thomas at Valparaiso	2 PM	STT, 2-0	STT, W2	St. Thomas def. Valparaiso, 34-7 (11/5/22 in Valparaiso)
• Marist at San Diego	5 PM	SAN, 15-1	MAR, W1	Marist def. San Diego, 30-16 (10/14/23 in Poughkeepsie)

PFL Notes

• The marquee matchup of Week 8 is in Indianapolis when Butler hosts Dayton. The Flyers are 2-0 on the young season after holding off Davidson in Week 7. Butler returns home and seeks to bounce back after seeing its unbeaten run to start the season ended by defending champion Drake in Des Moines last week.
• Drake, on top of the standings at 3-0, heads to South Carolina for only its third meeting all time against Presbyterian, which hosts its home PFL game this season. St. Thomas, the other unbeaten team, travels to Valparaiso seeking to stay at the top of the standings. Davidson looks to rebound from its first conference loss when it hosts Stetson. The week’s long trip belongs to Marist, who heads from New York to San Diego, for a meeting against the Toreros.
• Phil Steele Magazine released its 2024 FCS Mid-Season All-American Team on Friday. Butler junior offensive lineman Adam Doland and Drake junior defensive lineman Finn Claypool were fourth-team honorees at the halfway point.
• Drake brings a 14-game PFL win streak into Saturday’s tilt at Presbyterian after downing Butler last week to extend the streak. It is the third longest conference win streak in the FCS. The Bulldogs’ last conference loss was on Oct. 22, 2022, when they dropped a 48-14 decision to Davidson as part of a then-season-opening eight-game losing streak. Since snapping that streak, Drake is 15-5 overall.
• Three Pioneer Football League student-athletes were among a record 203 semifinalists for the 2024 William V. Campbell Trophy®, college football’s premier scholar-athlete award, presented by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame: Dayton redshirt senior center Dylan DeMaison, Marist graduate student and defensive lineman Gannon McCorkle, and Valparaiso senior defensive lineman Sam Hafner.
• Davidson defensive end Julian Rawlins was one of 22 student-athletes named to the 2024 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, announced Sept. 17.
• PFL teams claimed four wins against their scholarship FCS brethren. Butler (at Murray State), Dayton (vs. Saint Francis), Drake (at Eastern Washington), and San Diego (vs. Cal Poly) victories helped the league post its most wins against FCS nonconference teams since 2019.
• The PFL’s coaches picked Drake to win the 2024 PFL title after winning the 2023 title, their seventh PFL championship and first since 2012. The Bulldogs received eight of the 11 first-place votes from the league’s coaches. St. Thomas was second in the preseason poll, followed by Butler and San Diego.
• Drake defensive end Finn Claypool, the reigning PFL Defensive Player of the Year, was named to the Buck Buchanan Award Preseason Watch List presented by Stats Perform. He also was named to the Stats PerformPerform’sson All-America Team.
• Davidson running back Mari Adams and Drake quarterback Luke Bailey were named to the 35-player Walter Payton Watch Award Watch List, also presented by Stats Perform.
• Seven PFL alumni are currently on active NFL and CFL rosters. A complete list of PFL alumni in professional football is on page 11 of the PDF.