1818 Chouteau Avenue St. Louis, Missouri 63103 (314) 444-4364 FAX (314) 444-4365 A NCAA Division I FCS Conference 2012 Weekly Report Contact: Cody Bush Preseason: August 28, 2012 Phone: (931) 221-7561 FINAL STANDINGS PFL OVERALL Team W-L PCT PF PA H A STR W-L PCT PF PA H A STR Drake 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 W4 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 W4 San Diego 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 W3 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 W3 Jacksonville 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L1 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L1 Campbell 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L1 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L2 Dayton 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L2 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L2 Butler 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L2 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L2 Marist 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L1 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L1 Davidson 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 W2 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 W2 Morehead State 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 W1 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 W1 Valparaiso 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L1 0-0 — 0 0 0-0 0-0 L1 AHEAD IN WEEK 1 - PFL CONTEST WEEK 1 PREVIEW Thursday, August 30 Four teams open the 2012 season, Thursday, followed by six contests – including two against nationally-ranked opposition, Saturday • BUTLER will be the lone PFL team Butler at Western Illinois [RV/—], 7 p.m. Location: Macomb, Ill. (Hanson Field) on the road for Thursday’s opening-night action when it travels to Western Illinois. The Series: First Meeting young Bulldogs – only seven seniors dot their roster – will be looking to extend a five- game win streak in home openers under head coach Jeff Voris • When CAMPBELL Shorter at Campbell, 7 p.m. hosts Shorter Thursday night it will mark a pair of firsts for the fifth-year program. It Location: Buies Creek, N.C. (Barker-Lane Stadium) will be the Fighting Camels first Thursday game and its first home night game after Series: First Meeting lights were installed as part of stadium renovations this summer. Campbell boasted Southern Virginia at Morehead State, 7 p.m. the league’s top rushing attack last season but lost its two top running backs to gradu- Location: Morehead, Ky. (Jayne Stadium) ation • MOREHEAD STATE senior quarterback Zach Lewis, the league’s top passer Series: First Meeting in 2011, returns to head the league’s top passing attack in its season opener against St. Joesph’s (Ind.) at Valparaiso, 8 p.m. Southern Virginia. The Eagles own two previous wins against the Knights, including a Location: Valparaiso, Ind. (Brown Stadium) 49-6 victory – coincidentally – on August 30, 2008 • VALPARAISO begins the 2012 Series: SJC leads 28-33-2 Streak: SJC, five wins campaign at home when it hosts St. Joseph’s (Ind.). The Crusaders will look for their first Saturday, Sept. 1 win in the series since 2001 under the lights for just the third time in Brown Stadium history • DAYTON will face a stern opening week test when it travels to Illinois State, Dayton at Illinois State [19/20], 2 p.m. a team that just missed the FCS Championships last season. Flyers quarterback Will Location: Normal, Ill. (Hancock Stadium) Bardo gained on-the-job training last season, playing all 11 games as a freshman. His Series: First Meeting sophomore campaign will begin against a Redbirds defense that held opponents below Grand View at Drake [RV/–], 2 p.m. 200 passing yards per game. • DRAKE will put the league’s longest win streak at risk Location: Des Moines, Iowa (Drake Stadium) when it hosts Grand View, Saturday. Senior quarterback Mike Piatkowski returns to Series: DRA leads, 2-0 Streak: DRA, two wins lead the Bulldogs after garnering PFL Offensive Player of the Year honors last season. Marist at Bryant [RV/–], 3 p.m. Drake will meet a Grand View team ranked No. 15 in the NAIA and that opened the Location: Smithfield, R.I. (Bulldog Stadium) season with a victory last weekend • MARIST begins its campaign with a trip to the Series: MAR leads, 1-0 Streak: MAR, one win east where it will meet Bryant in the second-ever meeting between the two teams. The Jacksonville [RV/–] at Georgia Southern [3/3], 6 p.m. Red Foxes defense returns six starters from last season, including senior defensive Location: Statesboro, Ga. (Paulson Stadium) lineman Terrence Fede who led the team with 16 tackles for loss • JACKSONVILLE Series: First Meeting will face the toughest task of the league’s 10 teams when it travels northward to meet FCS No. 3 Georgia Southern. The Dolphins offense will have a new look in 2012 with Georgetown [RV/–] at Davidson, 6 p.m. nine offensive starters lost to graduation but the defense, which ranked second among Location: Davidson, N.C. (Richardson Stadium) Series: GU leads, 6-3 Streak: GU, two wins PFL pass defenses, returns eight starters • DAVIDSON’s revamped offense showed promise in 2011, finishing the season ranked second in total passing yards. However, San Diego [RV/RV] at Cal Poly [RV/RV], 7 p.m. it did not translate into wins and losses – something they hope to change in 2012, Location: San Luis Obispo, Calif. (Spanos Stadium) starting with a home opener against Georgetown. Junior quarterback Jonathan Carkhuff Series: CP leads, 1-0 Streak: CP, one win returns after launching a PFL record 556 pass attempts last season, connecting on All times Eastern. a PFL record 348 completions • SAN DIEGO wraps up the PFL’s opening weekend FCS rankings in brackets prior to school’s name: with a trip up the coast to Cal Poly. The Toreros, the PFL preseason favorite, will meet [Sports Network Fathead.com Poll/FCS Coaches Poll] a Mustang team picked fifth in a now 13-team Big West Conference race. The Toreros story last season was defined by sacks – the defense recorded 39 sacks (2nd most in the PFL) while the offensive line surrendered a league-low 13 sacks. www.pioneer-football.org 2012 PIONEER FOOTBALL LEAGUE WEEKLY REPORT PFL BEGINS 20TH CAMPAIGN | The Pioneer Football League begins its 20th season of play when the league’s members open the 2012 campaign this weekend. The opening weekend features four teams beginning play with a Thursday contest following by the league’s remaining six teams which will open action Saturday. Dayton and Jacksonville will have the toughest tasks in Week 1, each opening on the road against FCS Top 25 competition. MEDIA SERVICES STARTING THE SEASON WITH A STREAK | Drake (4 games), San Diego (3 games) and Davidson (2 games) will open 2012 carrying over win streaks from the 2011 campaign. PREFERRED NOMENCLATURE San Diego is the lone team of the trio to put its streak at risk on the road, beginning 2012 at The league’s full name is the Pioneer Football Cal Poly. Opening at home, Drake will host Grand View while Davidson greets Georgetown in League. Please use the league’s full name when possible or use PFL as an abbreviation. Please, do Saturday affairs. not use Pioneer League in any case. TWO PFL ATHLETES NOMINATED FOR 2011 ALLSTATE AFCA GOOD WORKS PIONEER-FOOTBALL.ORG TEAM | Campbell’s Braden Smith and Drake’s Zach Bosch were among 117 nominees for the The Pioneer Football League’s web site features 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®, which recognizes the selfless contributions to volun- the latest news and stories around the league. teerism and community service made by college football student-athletes across the nation. Of Standings along with team-by-team and composite the two 11-member teams, one includes players competing in the NCAA® Football Bowl Subdi- results are updated following the conclusion of vision (I-A) and the other is a combined team representing the NCAA® Football Championship each day’s action. Subdivision (I-AA), Divisions II, III, and the NAIA. PFL ON TWITTER @PFLNews The Pioneer Football League also maintains an BUCHANAN WATCH LIST INCLUDES SAN DIEGO’S OLIARO | San Diego junior official twitter feed @PFLNews which will provide defensive end Blake Oliaro, the returning PFL Defensive Player of the Year, has been named release and award notifications and score updates to the 2012 Buck Buchanan Award Watch list, presented by The Sports Network. Oliaro fin- throughout the season. ished the season ranked fourth among FCS athletes with 1.36 sacks per game (15 sacks in 11 WEEKLY RELEASE AND STATISTICS games) and was ranked 10th nationally with 1.77 tackles for loss per game (19.5 total). The Each week the PFL produces a weekly release in Buchanan Award annual recognized the FCS “Defensive Player of the Year” and is presented two versions, an initial Sunday Release and a final the night prior to the Division I Football Championship. Weekly Release sent each Monday: • The league’s Sunday Release contains updated 2011 PFL PLAYERS OF THE YEAR RETURN | All four PFL Players of the Year return standings, a preview of the upcoming week and for the 2012 campaign. Drake quarterback Mike Piatkowski returns after earning PFL Of- the league’s players of the week. fensive Player of the Year honors and leading the league in pass efficiency (151.4). San Diego • The PFL Weekly Release is released each Mon- defensive lineman Blake Oliaro, the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, led the league in day and contains all the information from the sacks (15.0) last season as a sophomore.