Jeske was driving Dayton to a third touchdown when he went down at the 5-yard line and stayed down. He walked off the field under his own power and went from crutches in the first half to a knee brace after halftime.
Jeske was nearly perfect before the injury, completing 6-of-7 passes as the Flyers rolled down the field on their first two possessions.
Tucker Yinger got the scoring started with a 44-yard sprint to the end zone on the fourth play of the game. It was the start of a big day for the senior running back, who rushed for 139 yards on 11 carries on the day.
The Colonials tied the game with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Walker to Matthew Gonzalez, but Jeske matched that with a 31-yard strike to Alex Trautman. The 6-foot-6 tight end caught a short pass, put a move on the Robert Morris safety, and cruised in for the go-ahead score.
Back-up quarterback Jack Cook didn’t miss a beat coming off the bench. The redshirt freshman threw a 64-yard TD pass to Ryan Skibinski as the Flyers bolted to a 28-14 lead at halftime. He also scored on a 3-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.
Richie Warfield had a career day. The redshirt freshman running back ran for two touchdowns and caught a 20-yard TD pass in the third quarter.
Next up for Dayton is the first of back-to-back road games. The Flyers are at Southeast Missouri next Saturday at 2 p.m.
About the Author