Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Luke Jones had one of Butler’s two defensive point attempts. Photo courtesy of Butler Athletics.
NHU-HAN BUI | ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR | hbui@butler.edu
In their first home game of the season, the Butler football team proved they were the better Bulldogs after defeating the Truman State Bulldogs 37-27.
After stopping Truman State on a critical fourth down, Butler opened the scoring with a five-yard rushing touchdown from redshirt junior quarterback Reagan Andrew. Andrew would rush for a score again, this time for eight yards, following a missed field goal from Truman State’s junior kicker Vinny Calvaruso.
The second half was when the game flipped for Butler. Andrew went down on the sidelines in the third quarter following a run for a loss of three yards. After a brief timeout, the Dawgs had a new quarterback entering the game: sophomore Jarrin Alley. Andrew would exit the game with 123 passing yards and four total touchdowns — two passing and two rushing.
During the third quarter, Alley looked unsteady, leading the Bulldogs to punt on three straight drives. The defense would also allow Truman State to score 20 unanswered points.
Senior defensive back Will Mason thinks Butler’s main area of focus should be making sure that the team sticks together throughout the game, no matter the situation.
“I think the biggest thing is football is all about momentum,” Mason said. “[Your quarterback] gets hurt, punts get blocked, stuff like that happens. It’s all about surviving the momentum flows and sticking together. I think what we need to do in the future is just work better on execution, but also work better on sticking together and surviving the ebbs and flows of the game.”
By the fourth quarter, Alley looked to have shaken off any remaining nerves. The quarterback would execute agri perfect trick play by passing the ball off to redshirt junior running back Griffin Caldwell, who then threw it 24 yards and into the end zone for redshirt junior tight end Ethan Malafa. The touchdown would seal the win for Butler, as the defense tightened up and ensured Truman State left the quarter without scoring any points.
Despite losing their quarterback, the Dawgs had players on both sides of the ball who stepped up and kept the team steady.
On the offense, head coach Kevin Lynch credits Alley for being able to step up and keep his composure in a high-pressure situation.
“[I’m] really, really proud of him. He was calm, composed [and] didn’t have any mental errors,” Lynch said. “Sometimes that’s a lot harder than you think, because in college football, you don’t get that much practice time, so a backup quarterback really doesn’t get many reps, and then they [have] to go out there and execute. So it’s hard for him because he was put in a tough spot [where] we’re ahead, but we’re also trying to play smart and play the clock. He did a great job.”
Redshirt junior defensive back Steven Stephany credits his fellow defensive backs, sophomore Andrew Lieske and junior Peyton Daniels, for stepping up on defense, especially when the unit started losing players to injury.
“I know Lieske and Daniels really stepped up in the back end,” Stephany said. “We had a couple guys get banged up, so guys [were getting] subbed in. So those two guys, they stepped up in the back end. They were able to help us out for sure in the second half.”
While the team is still gelling together in the early weeks of the season, winning their home opener gives the Bulldogs a boost of confidence before they head back on the road for their next two games.
Mason feels that the team is on the right track and will be a complete team by the time the Dawgs start the conference portion of their schedule.
“I’d say [the chemistry is] consistently improving,” Mason said. “[We have] new coaching staff, a lot of new guys [and] we lost a lot of seniors last year. Everyone’s still understanding their role, and we’re also figuring out how to work and communicate with everybody. Everyone has a different communication style, so just learning and understanding how we all operate throughout the game mentally [and] emotionally [is] important. So that’s kind of what these early games are about, getting [the chemistry] down before conference [play].”
