The Dayton Flyers football team takes on the Robert Morris Colonials this Saturday at 1:00 p.m. at Welcome Stadium. Robert Morris comes into the game with a record of 1-1, while the Flyers stand tall at 2-0. UD is coming off a home victory last week against Fordham, a 23-20 victory, in which the Flyers were able to control the larger Fordham offensive and defensive lines throughout the game. Dayton held on for the victory despite being outgained offensively.

Senior quarterback and offensive captain Rob Florian completed 18 of 32 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown in the victory. Despite the team's failure to reach the 300-yard barrier of total offense, first-year head football Coach Rick Chamberlain remains optimistic about his offense.

"With the spread offense, timing is so important to moving the ball down the field," Chamberlin said. "We have a lot of new players on that side of the ball this year. Our offense is improving every week this season, and that is all that I can ask for as a coach."

For this week's game against Robert Morris, however, the team will look to improve on both sides of the football.

"We need to execute on both offense and defense," Chamberlin said. "We cannot afford to make mistakes."

Chamberlain also said that if the team can win the turnover battle and capitalize on the other team's mistakes like the Flyers did last week against Fordham, they will be in a good position to win the game.

Robert Morris comes off a 17-14 loss to Bucknell last week, but are a very familiar opponent of the Flyers. The Flyers won the matchup between the two schools last year on Sept. 1 by a score of 23-12, taking advantage of three Colonial turnovers. If the Colonials again fail to protect the ball this week, the Flyers will be tough to stop.

With an early 2-0 record this season, the Flyers are once again proving that they are one of the best teams in the Pioneer Football League. In 2007, the team finished 11-1 and won the Pioneer Football League Championship, as well as the FCS Mid-Major National Championship under legendary head coach Mike Kelly and record-setting quarterback Kevin Hoyng. With Chamberlin and Florian replacing these two cornerstones of past success, the 2008 version of the Flyers has completely new faces, but could have a very similar result.

While Florian might be one of the most important pieces to the puzzle for the football team this year, Dayton senior defensive end Scott Vossler has certainly had the hottest start of anyone on the team. The fifth-year senior, who came into the season already standing as one of the most productive UD defensive players in history, has won Pioneer Football League Player of the Week honors for his efforts in both of Dayton's two games this season.

His two-week total includes 14 hits, 3.5 sacks, a fumble recovery for a touchdown, as well as a blocked punt that he returned for a touchdown in last week's game. He was First Team All-PFL last season, and is verifying his accolades on the field this season.

For the Flyers this week against Robert Morris, the team hopes to display Chamberlain's improving offense and move past the 300-yard barrier. If the Flyers offense can do so, and Scott Vossler and the defense keeps up their pressure on opposition, the Flyers will be putting themselves in position to win the game.