Football: Butkus shatters record in St. Francis loss

JOLIET – The University of St. Francis record for passing yardage in a game is 429 by E.J. White against Olivet Nazarene in 2013.

Make that, was.

Already by halftime in Saturday’s season opener against Morningside, the NAIA’s fourth-ranked team, Saints senior quarterback Don Butkus had completed 24-of-37 passes for 403 yards. He wound up destroying the former record, throwing for 520 in all.

Now, the kicker.

The Saints trailed at halftime, 27-24, despite Butkus’ gaudy numbers. Morningside tightened the screws defensively in the second half, and the explosive USF offense ran into a brick wall.

Butkus was a modest 10-of-28 for 117 yards in a second half, where the Saints were blanked as the Mustangs secured a 41-24 nonconference victory at Memorial Stadium. That left Butkus 34-of-65 (a school record for attempts) for 520 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

“Morningside adjusted well,” Butkus said. “They have a great defense. But saying that, we did not make plays that were there for us to make.

“Their defense put pressure on, really, the whole game, not just the second half. I started noticing it in the second quarter. But I think with our offense, we will have a lot of big-scoring games this year. Our running game was kind of missing today, and when we have that, it may make our passing game even better.”

Multiple USF receivers enjoyed a big day statistically. Ray Vallot caught nine passes for 119 yards. Brandon Ruffin and Zack Moreno also went over 100 yards, and Lexus Jackson and Jean Pietrzak caught six passes apiece. Ruffin grabbed 25- and 27-yard scoring passes, and Ruffin caught a 5-yarder. Still, it wasn’t enough.

“We say we have the best receiving corps in the nation,” Ruffin said. “We were out there on a couple of posts that just missed. One more second of time for Don [Butkus] and we would have had two more TDs right there.”

The Saints also could have had the scoreboard spinning more had they not committed four turnovers.

“We can’t afford four turnovers and we can’t afford to give away big plays on defense like we did today,” USF coach Joe Curry said.

Morningside quarterback Trent Solsma finished 24-of-35 for 411 yards and four touchdowns. Connor Niles caught eight for 263 yards, including an 82-yarder to get the Mustangs within 14-13 in the second quarter after the Saints had grabbed a 14-0 lead and a 69-yarder in the third quarter that made it a two-score game at 34-24. Morningside finished with 611 total yards to St. Francis’ 570.

“Both of those long touchdowns came on second-and-long plays,” Curry said. “That can’t happen. But they’re the No. 4 team in the nation and I felt we had them on the ropes for a while. If that’s the No. 4 team, I’m excited about what we have here.”