Dayton keeps ‘amazing’ scoring streak alive and wins first game in 658 days

“I thought, ‘I have to secure this catch,’” Chisholm said. “Sometimes those are the hardest ones when you’re thinking about them.”

The Dayton Flyers’ first touchdown of the 2021 season and first touchdown in 658 days paved the way to a 17-10 victory against Eastern Illinois at Welcome Stadium on Saturday, and it came at the perfect time in the third quarter — just when the offense might have started getting nervous about ending the longest active scoring streak in all divisions of college football.

“I thought it was a great play call,” Dayton coach Rick Chamberlin said. “When coach (Jim) Collins saw them line up, he said, ‘This is a touchdown.’”

The 10-yard pass to the left front of the end zone came after Cook faked to the right. The entire Eastern Illinois defense bought the fake, and there wasn’t a defender within 15 yards of Chisholm as he scored with 7 minutes, 32 seconds left in the third quarter.

That touchdown gave Dayton a 7-3 lead in the program’s first game — other than a spring scrimmage against Ashland — since it beat Butler 51-38 on Nov. 23, 2019.

“It was an awesome feeling,” linebacker Grant Dyer said. “It was a great atmosphere with the band. All the fans loved it, I’m sure. It was a great time.”

The victory was the most important thing. Extending the scoring streak might have ranked No. 2.

Dayton has now scored in 488 straight games. That’s the all-time Football Championship Subdivision record. The last team to shut out the Flyers was Marshall on Oct. 16, 1976.

“It is amazing,” Chamberlin said. “It just shows you the quality of players we’ve had. That streak started when I was playing. I remember the game that we were shut out. We got beat 9-0 at Marshall. To keep that going with the different coaches and players, that’s something that not a lot of schools can claim.”

The thought of the streak ending didn’t cross Chamberlin’s mind at halftime. It did cross Cook’s.

“Honestly, I was a little nervous during halftime because we missed a field goal,” Cook said. “I thought if we can’t find the end zone here or at least make a field goal, it might be in jeopardy, but I knew we would score some points.”

For one half, Dayton’s scoring streak looked to be in jeopardy.

Dayton drove 63 yards in 14 plays on its first drive, but Sam Webster missed a 40-yard field-goal attempt on a windy day. Dayton punted on its next five possessions in the first half, gaining a total of 46 yards.

Eastern Illinois wasn’t much better on offense in the half. It punted four times and saw one drive end on an interception by Dayton cornerback Logan Tate. The Panthers had a 3-0 lead at halftime thanks to a 36-yard field goal by Stone Galloway with 12:12 remaining in the second quarter.

After Dayton took a 7-3 lead, it quickly found the end zone again. Dayton’s Brandon Easterling forced a fumble by Eastern Illinois on the ensuing kickoff, and Sam Schadek recovered the ball. The offense capitalized, scoring on a 1-yard run by Cook with 4:38 left in the third.

Dayton added to its lead with a 31-yard field goal by Webster with 31 seconds left in the third quarter. Eastern Illinois didn’t get into the end zone until the final minute of the game. It then attempted an onside kick with seconds to play, but the ball bounced out of bounds.

The Panthers fell to 0-3. Dayton will take a 1-0 record into its first road game at 7 p.m. Sept. 18 against Southern Illinois (1-0), which played Kansas State on Saturday night.

Dayton was happy to shake off the rust and win at the same time.

“I kind of had a feeling we would come out a little slow,” Cook said. “I mean we literally haven’t played in forever. This was the first full game. Lots of new starters on offense. A whole new offensive line. We battled. We made some plays and finished some drives here and there. We made some adjustments. I think a lot of people got comfortable.”