On Saturday, Sept. 7, the Drake Bulldogs football team faced seemingly insurmountable odds in their matchup against the Eastern Washington University Eagles. Prior to kickoff, ESPN projected the Bulldogs to lose by 35 points. The reasons behind this projection are clear; statistically and historically, the Eagles are miles ahead of the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs have only qualified for a Football Championship Subdivision playoff game once, ever, and they lost that one FCS playoff game 55-7 to North Dakota State (2023). In comparison, the Eagles have made the FCS playoffs 15 times, winning one FCS championship in 2010.
Beyond that, the Bulldogs are a non-scholarship program. Because Drake can’t offer potential recruits any scholarship incentives, pulling in top high school prospects is near-impossible. A scholarship program like EWU’s, by contrast, allows the school to build stronger rosters with more sought-after high school prospects.
In short, the projections were near sureties – at least on paper.
A masterclass of preparation
Prior to the game, the Bulldogs didn’t see winning as an impossible task. Instead, they were confident in their abilities. Projections can predict statistical trends, but they struggle to account for hidden weaknesses. And in this case, the Bulldogs had discovered weaknesses on EWU’s defense that their offense was built to exploit.
“As an offense, we were confident in our game plan going into the game,” running back Dorian Boyland said. “We saw a couple holes in the pass game that we knew we could capitalize on. We also knew that our shifts and motions would give their defense trouble adjusting.”
After the game, quarterback Luke Bailey also attributed the team’s preparation to their performance against EWU’s defense.
“We watched a lot of film together and knew there was room to attack them in the passing game,” Bailey said. “The safeties played low so we felt like we could take advantage of that. They were also discombobulated when there was a faster tempo, so we tried that a couple times and it worked very well.”
On game day, the Bulldogs’ plan was ready to move into full-swing. They had prepared relentlessly and were eager to log a first win after inclement weather ended their home-opener a week earlier.
The upset
Right out of the gate, the Eagles played as well as expected. Like a well-oiled machine, EWU marched 75-yards down the field on their 13-play opening drive to score the opening touchdown of the game and gain a 7-0 lead.
In contrast, the Bulldogs suffered a quick three and out, sending the ball right back to the Eagles on an early punt. However, when Bulldogs’ linebacker Sebastian Adamski secured a sack on an EWU fourth down, momentum began to shift.
After the two teams traded three and outs, Drake finally found offensive success, piecing together a flashy pass-heavy drive that ended with a 23-yard touchdown completion by receiver Luke Woodson, tying EWU at 7-7 early in the second quarter.
After the Bulldogs made good use of favorable field position with a field goal and the Eagles scored yet another touchdown, Drake was once again trailing 10-14.
On the final drive of the half, Bulldogs’ quarterback Luke Bailey pushed the team into field goal range, allowing Drake kicker Shane Dunning to secure a 44-yard field goal and bring Drake to a 13-14 deficit as the first half came to a close.
The Bulldogs wasted no time in the second half. On the second play of their opening drive, Bailey found receiver Trey Radocha on a 63-yard dart that pushed the team all the way to the EWU three-yard line. On the next play, Bailey completed a short touchdown pass, giving the Bulldogs a quick 20-14 lead.
Both teams continued to find offensive success throughout the second half, and by the five-minute mark, the game was tied at 29-29.
Nerves were high heading into that final stretch, and EWU once again began driving downfield. The Eagles quickly reached the Drake 31-yard line and were on track to take a lead with less than two minutes to go. Suddenly, a short run by Eagles’ quarterback Michael Wortham went awry when Adamowski forced a fumble, ending the drive with a Drake recovery.
Neither team would manage to score in the final two minutes, forcing overtime.
In college football, overtime rules are unique. Each team gets one offensive drive that starts at the opposing team’s 25-yard line. If both are tied after the two drives, overtime periods continue into an eventual sudden death. However, if one team gets ahead after the first two drives, they win.
On the Eagles’ first drive, the Drake defense was stout. They held EWU to a quick three and out, forcing them to kick a 36-yard field goal and take a 32-29 lead.
On the first play of the Bulldogs’ drive, Bailey found running back Taj Hughes for an 11-yard completion and a first down. Two plays later, with the crowd on their feet and nerves at an all-time high, Bailey finally completed the upset charge and found Radocha for a 14-yard catch and run touchdown.
The aftermath
After the win, the team was electrified, dancing and cheering their way around the locker room. They had just beaten a scholarship FCS program as 35-point underdogs, one of the largest upsets in Bulldog football history.
“The energy was off the charts,” Bailey said. “A lot of guys dancing and celebrating, even the coaches. It was a feeling you can’t get anywhere else. Such a priceless moment that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
The team had executed their game plan extremely well offensively, and Bailey had led that charge with 380 passing yards and two touchdown passes. Bailey attributed a lot of that success to the chemistry he has with the team’s receivers.
“I’ve probably thrown millions of balls to each of them and just getting the timing on each route is crucial,” Bailey said. “Figuring out how they run routes versus different coverage is another thing we started to look at.”
Beyond Bailey’s individual success, the offense played brilliantly as a unit. Hughes hauled in 11-receptions on the day, Radocha and wide receiver Mitchell January recorded over 100 receiving yards each and the offensive line was near flawless in pass protection.
“All 11 players did their job on the field,” Boyland said. “Every single position group did their part, whether that was blocking, running, catching or throwing.”
Looking forward, the team plans to carry this success into Pioneer Football League play as they look to repeat as PFL champions.
“The team has seen what we can do when we play to our potential,” Boyland said. “This past win is the new standard, and we look to continue it into PFL play.”
