OCT. 4, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- The Drake football team couldn't take advantage of red-zone opportunities en route to dropping a 21-15 Pioneer Football League verdict at Butler Saturday.

Butler, playing its PFL opener, snapped a five-game losing streak to Drake while earning its first victory over the Bulldogs since 2002.

Drake won the statistics battle with 412 yards total offense, while limiting Butler to a season-low 209.

Drake marched inside Butler's 20-yard line five times in the game but had to settle on a career-best three field goals by senior kicker Logan Rees (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley).

"It's not fun to lose," said Drake football coach Chris Creighton, whose team fell to 2-3. "There are some hurting pups. We were in a literal dog fight and came up short."

Drake suffered its fifth straight road loss entering a Saturday (Oct. 11) game against defending co-league champion Dayton.

"Greatness is always birthed out of adversity and I believe it will happen here. This has been a rough stretch, but it hasn't been for lack of effort. "

Senior quarterback Ben Ostermann, making his third straight start, enjoyed the best outing of his career accumulating 302 yards total offense, including 232 passing.

A nine-yard touchdown run by Ostermann with 10:21 left in the third quarter pulled Drake within 14-12. Drake then had a two-point conversion pass by Ostermann fall incomplete.

A swarming Drake defense forced Butler to go three and out on six of its nine possessions.

Drake's defense contained Butler quarterback Matt Kobli, who entering the game ranked sixth nationally in total offense averaging 299.3 yards per game. Kobli was held to 167 yards total offense.

Drake had two time consuming drives in the second quarter, but had to settle for field goals from 25 and 23 yards by Rees.

After Kobli threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Dan Bohrer to give Butler a 7-0 lead with 6:47 left in the first quarter, Drake had a 16-play, 62-yard drive that consumed 7 minutes 3 seconds, ending on the first field goal by Rees.

Rees' second field goal pulled Drake within 7-6 before Rob Blevins returned an Ostermann interception 39 yards for a touchdown with 5:24 to go in the second quarter, pushing Butler's advantage to 14-6.

Drake senior Spencer Cady (Fort Dodge, Iowa) caught a team-high five passes for a career-high 129 yards.

Senior linebacker Cole Douglas (Lawrence,Kan.) led Drake with seven tackles.

Junior defensive back Lucas Mosier (Lewis, Iowa), junior linebacker Ben Morrison (Long Grove Ill.) and senior defensive back Jeremy Gehl (Naperville, Ill.) added five tackles apiece.

Senior Brandon Wubs (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) continued his torrid punting on the season with four punts for a 43.0 yard average, including a 58-yarder.