BY JD PELEGRINO
The Bulldogs barked up the right tree in week two against the Southwestern Moundbuilders on Saturday. Drake came away with a 55-14 home win, in which they scored at least one touchdown in each quarter.
Grant Kraemer, the starting quarterback for the Bulldogs, improved significantly from last week through the air. After a disappointing week one, Kraemer completed 20/27 passes for 313 yards and six touchdowns, more than doubling his yardage and touchdowns from last week.
The game turned out to be an exact flip of last week’s game. This week, it was the Bulldogs’ offense that could not be stopped.
Every part of the offense was running with great efficiency: good blocking, sharp routes, hard cuts.
Zack Clark, a member of the offensive line, expressed his excitement following the win on Saturday.
“We went into the game with something to prove following last week’s loss,” Clark said.
The Bulldogs expected Southwestern to be “almost as good as [the University of] South Dakota,” Clark said.
However, this was not the case. The Bulldogs had a strong showing against a team that looked heavily under-skilled. Hopefully Drake can carry this momentum and continue playing at a higher level of football.
It looks like the big loss in the home opener motivated the team to prepare better for their next game. As long as they don’t forget about that motivation, the Bulldogs should continue to get better with work during the next few weeks.
The offense was rolling and the defense was making stops – two things that did not happen in week one but very much did happen in week two.
The whole of the season still remains to be seen. Drake will look to build consistency and depth throughout the year as they chase the PFL championship.
However, if the name of the game is improvement, the Bulldogs are doing great. Going from a 77-7 loss to a 55-14 win is a dramatic degree of improvement.
If they can keep this trend up, we’ll see the Bulldogs win 200-0 before the end of the season.
After coming off of a week two win with the exceptional gameplay by Kraemer and wide receiver Mitch McFarlane (seven receptions, 152 yards, and three touchdowns), the Bulldogs will look to ensure that week one does not repeat itself.
Next week, the Bulldogs are on the road at South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits are 2-0 this season beating Duquesne and Montana St. The game will begin at 7 p.m. Drake will look to move to 2-1 on the year and win two consecutive wins after starting the season with a loss.
