The milestone Dayton football is expected to reach in its third game of the 2022 season – scoring points in a 500th straight game – reflects in other key numbers that have occurred during the Flyers’ record run in college football:
- A winning record in 42 of 44 seasons;
- 386 wins with a .780 winning percentage;
- 12 conference championships and two national titles;
While members of the program will say the second list of numbers is more meaningful, their determination shines through just as much in the fact they haven’t been shut out in 497 consecutive games since Oct. 23, 1976 – the longest streak in college football history across all NCAA divisions.
“We’ve played a lot of good teams over the years, and still being able to score points whether it’s by offense, defense, special teams, it just means that our kids are competitors. They fight to the very end and they’re going to find a way to score.”
Those are words head coach Rick Chamberlin told the Dayton Daily News in 2012 when the Flyers’ streak was one game shy of 400 straight games.
They still ring true today.
Dayton will open its schedule at Robert Morris on Sept. 3 and Youngstown State on Sept. 10 before hosting Division II Kentucky State in its third game on Sept. 17 at Welcome Stadium.
Chamberlin will begin his 14th season one win shy of 100. However, it will be his 47th season at Dayton as a player, assistant coach or head coach, missing only the 1979 campaign. He was a sophomore linebacker the last time the Flyers didn’t score in a game, a 9-0 loss to Marshall on Oct. 16, 1976.
Nobody could foresee the incredible streak considering the Flyers suffered a shutout loss in all but one of the 19 seasons from 1958-76. They’re 386-108-3 (.780) in their last 497 games, a streak that started in Division III, where as an independent program they captured the 1980 and ’89 national titles and were the runners-up in 1981, ’87 and ’91. They rose to Division I on the FCS level in 1993 and have since won 12 Pioneer Football League titles.
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley, former Super Bowl-winning NFL coach Jon Gruden and New Orleans Saints tight end Adam Trautman are former Dayton players who have been part of the amazing streak.
The breakdown of Dayton’s scoring streak is 303 FCS games and 194 D-III games. The next-four longest streaks in NCAA history also are active, including Montana with 421 in a row on the FCS level.