After the bye week, the Drake football team returned to the field in South Dakota on Sept. 13 against the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits, who are ranked second in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision.
The Bulldogs are 0-5 against the Jackrabbits historically, including this game, and the team looked to add to the record in a positive way.
The first quarter came with a Drake touchdown on the first possession, with a 31-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Hank Foley from senior quarterback Xavier Washington. SDSU scored as well with two touchdowns to fire back at the Bulldogs before the quarter came to an end. The score at the end of the first quarter sat at 14-7 Jackrabbits, and the competition would only amp up.
In the second quarter, senior kicker Harry Balke made a 24-yard field goal to move the Bulldogs closer to the leading Jackrabbits, but SDSU soon scored a touchdown to advance its lead even further before going into the half. The score of the game was 21-10 SDSU walking to the locker room, and this is when energy shifted. This wasn’t the way the Bulldogs wanted to go into the locker room, but the second half left opportunities open for Drake.
“There’s definitely some plays we’ll want back, but certainly not for a lack of effort,” Drake head coach Joe Woodley said to the Drake Athletic Department. “I don’t anticipate seeing many of those [low effort] plays on the film, and that’s all you can ask for.”
In the third quarter, the Jackrabbits scored another touchdown followed by a field goal, and although this meant the lead was heightened, the Bulldogs were ready for the challenge. Freshman quarterback Logan Inagawa threw a 3-yard pass to freshman running back Nick Herman to move the Bulldogs ahead by six points before going for the extra point. Instead of kicking for the extra point, Drake made an effort to get ahead by successfully pulling off a two-point conversion. This left the score at the end of the third 31-18 SDSU.
In the final few minutes of the game, Balke kicked ta 24-yard field goal for the Bulldogs to finish out the Bulldog scoring for the game. SDSU also put another touchdown on the board, but lost the extra point due to an unsuccessful kick. The Bulldogs ended up losing 37-21 with not much to say about it. All Bulldog athletes denied a response about this game, but Woodley had a statement.
“We just have to take out what we can, build on it, and come back up here for another challenge at South Dakota.”
Notable Bulldogs from the game include Inagawa, who completed 15-25 throwing attempts with 140 passing yards in the quarterback position and 75 rushing yards on 14 carries. Senior defensive back Benjamin Wilson had a career-high ten tackles, while senior linebacker Sean Allison had eight stops for the game as well.
The team will travel back to South Dakota to play the University of South Dakota on Sept. 20 at 1 p.m. The game will be the fifth matchup between the two teams from 2009 until 2025, with it being the fourth to be featured in Vermillion, South Dakota.
