Dayton and Illinois State meet again at 1 p.m. Saturday at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Ill., in the first game of the 2023 season. The Redbirds finished 9-4 the last time Dayton played them, and they are coming off a 6-5 finish in 2022. They were picked to finish seventh out of 12 teams in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
“In the first game of the year, you’ve got to take care of yourself,” said first-year Dayton coach Trevor Andrews on Wednesday. “They’ve got some talent. They’ve got some speed. They’ve got great size up front.”
Dayton has lost lopsided games to MVFC teams the last two seasons. It lost 49-16 to Youngstown State last season and 55-3 to Southern Illinois in 2021. It beat Indiana State 42-35 to open the 2019 season.
All the games Dayton plays against the MVFC match non-scholarship players versus scholarship players.
“We always come in with a chip on our shoulder,” wide receiver Sam Bubonics said, “and we always think that they are underestimating us. We have advantage. We’re just going to play as hard as we possibly can.”
The game Saturday will be the first as a head coach for Andrews, a 1998 UD graduate who got the job in December when Chamberlin retired after a 14-year run as head coach.
For Andrews, the emotions he showed nine months ago at his introductory press conference have been replaced by the excitement and buzz of a new season.
“You go through the process of training camp,” he said, “and there’s enthusiasm at the beginning and then you get into the work and then you get into game week. There’s just kind of something different about going out there for the first practice in game-week mode. There’s more electricity in the air and a little pep in the step and guys are flying around. So it’s been a fun week of practice, a competitive week. Guys have been really focused.”
UD released its first depth chart this week. It does not reveal who will start at quarterback. Andrews said earlier in August he would not publicly announce the starter before the game. Two returners, Dante Casciola and Cole Dow, and freshman Drew VanVleet are listed on the depth chart.
In addition to VanVleet, the depth chart includes four other freshmen from the 37-man 2023 recruiting class: Gavin Lochow, a third-team wide receiver; Brock Adams and Evan Fleetwood, backups at guard; and Zachary McDowell, a backup at offensive tackle.
There are 10 redshirt freshmen from the 30-man 2022 recruiting class on the depth chart: Ben Huefner, a starter at guard; Jayson Harris-Woodard and Chase Brown, backup defensive ends; Gideon Lampron, a backup at WILL linebacker; Josh Anderson, a starter at cornerback; Cam Cope, a third-string cornerback; Luke Mitchell, a backup at free safety; Logan Forcum, a backup punter; David Maurer, the starting kicker on kickoffs; and Robby Smart, the backup kicker on kickoffs.
Andrews said he didn’t pay attention to who started last season and opened all positions to take a fresh look at everyone.
“We’ve had some battles,” he said. “We’ve had some guys who have started games who won’t start for us this this year or this week, I should say, because it’s a week-to-week thing. But it’s been fun to watch the process of a guy like Michael Neel who has been a running back for us but hasn’t really got his time to shine due to who was ahead of him and now he’s going to get to carry the rock for us. I’m excited about that. We’ve had some offensive linemen step up and compete for us. I’m excited to see what those guys will play like as a unit against a different color jersey.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Dayton at Illinois State, 1 p.m., 1290, 95.7
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