DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University football team suffered a hard-fought 17-14 loss to visiting San Diego in game dominated by defense Saturday afternoon at Drake Stadium.
Drake (5-4, 4-2 PFL) held San Diego (7-1, 5-1 PFL) to just 271 total yards of offense, but a 13-play, 87-yard drive gave USD its first lead of the day with 1:21 left in the contest as the Toreros snapped the Bulldogs' 19-game home conference winning streak.
“Yards were really tough for both teams,” said Drake head coach Rick Fox. “They [San Diego] made some great adjustments and we struggled in the third quarter.”
Drake's defense, which has given up more than 300 yards just once in six Pioneer Football League conference games, was led by Taylor Coleman's (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) 11 tackles while John Hugunin (Oswego, Ill.) added eight. Bob Quilico, Jr. (Schaumburg, Ill.) successfully defended three passes and picked one off just before halftime in addition to his four tackles on the day.
Both of San Diego's touchdowns came from quarterback Keith Williams and he completed 16-of-27 passes for 202 yards and touchdowns of 35 and seven yards.
“We knew coming in he was a really good quarterback and had been steadily improving throughout the year,” Fox said of Williams. “He made some big throws in that last drive.”
Drake led from its opening drive until the final 81 seconds of the game following USD's game-winning drive. Facing a 14-10 deficit, USD began that drive on its own 13-yard line following a stellar special teams tackle from Grant Kreuger (St. Louis, Mo.). However, Williams would go on to complete all nine of his pass attempts on the drive to march the Toreros to the 7-yard line before finding Keith Williams in the endzone to go up 17-14 with 1:21 left.
Drake's offense could not muster a final charge and turned the ball over on downs to secure the road win for USD.
“For us offensively, we didn't execute against them,” Fox said. “It was a battle and our defense played really well, but we just needed to get a score in the second half. We had some great field position situation in the fourth quarter and didn't take advantage of it.”
However, Drake's offense started the game much differently as it scored on its first possession of the game with an exhaustive 17-play, 80-yard drive capped by Wilkins' 10th rushing touchdown on the season. The drive was kept alive by a pass interference penalty early in the drive and a 15-yard run by Rice to put Drake on the USD 1-yard line.
The Bulldogs added to their tally in the opening minutes of the second quarter with Rice dashing into the endzone from 23 yards out to cap an 8-play, 44-yard drive that followed a three-and-out by the Drake defense.
Two drives later, the Toreros answered with a score of their own set up by strong field position after forcing Drake to punt from its own endzone. Three plays later, facing a third-and-six, Keith Williams hooked up with Brandon White for a 35-yard score. That score held up going into halftime with Drake holding USD to just 118 yards of offense in the half.
San Diego added to its tally at the end of the third quarter with a 50-yard field goal from David Last that floated through the uprights with a tailwind. The kick completed a 10-play, 47 yard drive with 35 of the yards coming through the air as Drake's defense limited USD to just 69 rushing yards in the game.
Saturday's game was the final home game of the Bulldogs' 2014 season. The team will travel to Dayton next Saturday, followed by the program's first trip to Stetson on Nov. 22.
“We've got two tough games coming up and our guys will battle back, they always do,” Fox added.
