Dayton plays Indiana State for first time in five years in second game of season

During the tackle, Cope pulled the ball out of Skule’s hands. Cope fell to the ground with the ball as Skule’s momentum carried him forward. The official first ruled Skule was out of bounds when he fumbled, but the play was overturned on review. This is the first season Pioneer Football League games will have reviews.

“That was pretty interesting,” Cope said Wednesday. “It was weird getting up with the ball and showing the ref that I had the ball. He didn’t really notice. But I’m glad that we have reviews this year because that allowed us to have that takeaway, and it put our team in a better spot.”

Dayton recovered two other fumbles in the game. Cope, a redshirt sophomore from La Salle High School in Cincinnati, said the coaches have a name for the move they want defensive players to make during the tackle.

“We call it the peanut punch,” he said. “We try to punch the ball out. I wouldn’t say that’s what happened in my scenario, but obviously defensive takeaways are huge. They change the game.”

Dayton (1-0) will hope for more success in the turnover category when it returns to action after an off week at 6 p.m. Saturday. It plays Indiana State (2-0) at Memorial Stadium in Terre Haute, Ind.

The Flyers lead the series 2-1. The programs split the first two meetings in 1975 and 1976 and didn’t meet again until 2019 when Dayton beat No. 14 Indiana State 42-35 in Terre Haute.

The Sycamores finished 1-10 last season and 2-9 in 2022 after three straight 7-4 seasons. They were picked to finish 10th out of 11 teams in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

Indiana State opened the season with a 45-0 loss at Purdue and then lost 27-20 at Eastern Illinois last weekend. In the second game, Indiana State redshirt freshman quarterback Elijah Owens completed 30 of 37 passes for 260 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

“Sometimes you can get into a mismatch,” Dayton coach Trevor Andrews said. “Purdue is a great team, and Indiana State had their hands full there, but they were able to bounce back and play a very competitive game last weekend in a rivalry game for them right across the state line at Eastern Illinois. They definitely had their chances to win that thing. They’re a team that’s on the verge. They’re well coached. They’ve got some good pieces. The quarterback’s one of those guys who’s got some moxie. He runs around. He can make plays with his feet. He can make plays with his arms. You’ve got to keep him under wraps at all times.”

Dayton seeks its first 2-0 start since 2019 when it opened the season with victories against Indiana State and Robert Morris. Quarterback Drew VanVleet, who completed 15 of 22 passes for 129 yards with one touchdown in Week 1, knows his unit can improve in many areas.

“Only 18 points — that’s not our expectation,” he said. “We want to put the ball in the end zone a lot more. A lot of that is on me. I’ve got to play smarter. There’s a lot of little mistakes that I’ve got to clean up. And then also I’ve got to be a little bit more aggressive with the ball, pushing it down the field.”

SATURDAY’S GAME

Dayton at Indiana State, 6 p.m., 1290, 95.7