After the 2023-24 season, the Drake football team was ready to come back from their Pioneer League championship for a repeat title, and as of week five of the 2024-25 season, the Bulldog pack is starting to do just that. 

Although the team has had ups and downs, their record is solid for a non-scholarship team. powered by a genuine love of football and grit. No one is getting paid to be there, and that means every win counts when it’s against some of the best in the league. From taking down the Butler Bulldogs away in Indiana last year to beating Stetson University on their home turf, the Bulldogs never fail to prove how much they want the win, and the team especially showed off how they match up as a team of students just wanting to continue their football experience. 

“It’s a great feeling to knock off a scholarship school and get a hard fought win against a really good team in conference,” graduate quarterback Luke Bailey said.

Following the star season of 2023, the team had a lot to live up to. The plays had to be smoother, the communication had to be more direct and everyone had to have their heads in the game. This meant that to achieve this goal that the offseason held challenges on all fronts of the game and left the pack firing each other up in order to get through even the toughest practices.

“The work that we have put in throughout all of the offseason is definitely showing up right now. This team is special,” junior defensive lineman Duke Frye said. 

The season started off on a bit of a low note. After much anticipation for the season kick off against Quincy University on Aug. 29, at Drake Stadium, the game came to an abrupt end due to inclement weather delays that may have lasted until midnight. Both teams agreed to cancel the game after over three hours of suspension for the sake of safety and time. 

Although the Bulldogs were up 10-0 during the game time that was played, the cancellation counted the game as never completed, so it acted like a bye week opening on the schedule. Although this was not an ideal start to the season, the Bulldogs have continued to “Raise the Bar,” and prove their strength and communication is a force to be reckoned with.

“I think the team has been doing a great job,” Bailey said. “Our motto has been ‘Raise the Bar,’ and we are living that out every day.”

Following this game, though, the team was fired up. The Bulldogs would travel to Eastern Washington University to beat their powerhouse offense in an overtime battle, resulting in a 35-32 win. 

The team would then travel to the University of South Dakota for a 42-3 loss, but because South Dakota is not in the Pioneer League and Drake was playing up for this game. Therefore, the game just showed the Bulldogs where there was work to be done before their next game against the University of San Diego for Family Weekend. 

In terms of clutch moments, the Bulldogs had many against San Diego. The stadium was packed with families from all over the world visiting for Family Weekend.. The Bulldogs were up 27-9 for most of the game, but after a defensive wobble triggered by a bad on-side kick, the pack found itself scrambling to make a comeback. 

With nine seconds left on the clock, Drake had the ball and was working on coming back from being down 28-27. The team took advantage of one more attempt to pick up some yards before taking the last timeout of the game with only five seconds remaining. This timeout gave kicker Shane Dunning time to warm up before taking a 48-yard field goal attempt. Dunning successfully made the field goal just as the clock hit zero, crowning the Bulldogs victorious with a 30-28 final score. 

“Our offense was great,” Bailey said. “We were moving the ball and stringing together a lot of drives. Mitchell [January] had a great game along with Trey [Radocha]. Those are guys I can always count on to make plays with the ball. We were able to put up 30 points even with some errors, so to me that just shows the potential we have.”

Drake’s most recent game against Valparaiso University also ended in the Bulldogs’ favor. The Bulldogs took an early lead on the Beacons’ home turf with a 17-0 lead going into halftime. The team didn’t let the Beacons into the endzone and held Valpo to only three points the whole game. Drake’s final score was 27-3, moving the team to 3-1 overall and into second place in the Pioneer League standings right behind Davidson, which is also 2-0 in conference play.

The Bulldogs will return to Des Moines on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 1 p.m., to take on the undefeated Butler Bulldogs in their conference rivalry game.A win against the Bulldogs would dethrone their perfect 5-0 record, and would move Drake closer to a solo conference standings lead.