Dayton rebounds from back-to-back losses with victory against Butler

Rumpke, a redshirt junior who plays the Flyer position, recovered a fumble in the first quarter and sealed a 38-31 victory against Butler on an interception with 12 seconds remaining in the game.

“It feels amazing,” Rumpke said. “We’ve been through a little bit of a drought the past two weeks. It’s huge. The biggest thing is going out for our seniors and finishing the season strong and especially having the momentum swing into next next year for the other guys. Ending with a losing record is something that hurts you going into the offseason as you prepare for next season.”

Dayton (4-4, 3-3) ended a two-game losing streak and got back to .500 with two games remaining. It plays at eighth-place Stetson (2-4, 1-3) in Deland, Fla., at 1 p.m. Saturday and plays first-place Davidson (5-1, 4-0) at noon Nov. 13.

“(Losing) wears on players,” coach Rick Chamberlin said. “It wears on on coaches, but I tell you there’s been a very positive attitude. We talked on Sunday about there being three games left. That’s what we’ve got. We’ve got to play as best as we can to finish 3-0. We’ve got 1-0 right now. Now we go to Stetson to try to get 2-0.”

Dayton grabbed the early momentum with a 50-yard touchdown pass from Jack Cook to Jake Chisholm on its first drive. The Flyers didn’t get into the end zone again until 2:30 remained in the first half. Chisholm scored again, this time on a 4-yard run that stretched the lead to 17-7.

Dayton got the ball back a minute later and needed just three plays to score again. Cook threw an 18-yard pass to Sam Bubonics and then rushed for 12 yards before finding Joey Swanson for a 44-yard touchdown pass with 44 seconds remaining.

In the third quarter, Chisholm scored on runs of 6 and 49 yards as Dayton pushed its advantage to 31-14 and then 38-17.

Butler didn’t go away, scoring two touchdowns to close the gap to one score, and it got the ball back at its own 17-yard line with 1:01 remaining, needing a touchdown to tie the game. It drove as far as its own 39-yard line before Rumpke ended the threat with an interception.

Chisholm finished with 157 yards on 24 carries. Cook completed 12 of 21 passes for 269 yards. He spread the ball around as eight different players made catches.

“The offensive line really came to play play today,” Chisholm said. “They were working up to the second level., giving me some running lanes, which I hit, so all credit goes to them.”

Famous visitors: Eight months after Joe Burrow attended a Dayton Flyers men’s basketball game at UD Arena, there was double the quarterback star power Saturday at Welcome Stadium.

Cardale Jones and J.T. Barrett, two quarterbacks who led Ohio State to the national championship in the 2014 season and then battled for the starting job a year later, watched from the sideline as Dayton played Butler.

Jones said he’s friends with Dayton wide receivers coach Jordan Overton, whose dad Tony Overton was an assistant coach during Jones’ years at Cleveland Glenville High School. Jordan, who played at Buffalo and coached last season at Franklin College, is in his first season on head coach Rick Chamberlin’s staff.

“I got to meet them,” Chamberlin said. “I said I appreciate that they’re here and I’m hoping that some of their talent just kind of rubs off on our players. I really did appreciate them taking the time and coming over. That’s exciting for them to come to Dayton Flyer game and to cheer the Flyers on the sideline.”