DES MOINES, Iowa – The Drake University football team will face a tough 11-game slate in 2016 that includes six dates at Drake Stadium, third-year head coach
Rick Fox announced Thursday, Feb. 18.
"It's always nice to play at home and we are excited about having the sixth home game this year," Fox said. "We have two Great Lake Valley Conference teams, Quincy and McKendree, coming in. We are excited about playing those guys coming from a tough Division II conference."
The Bulldogs open the 2016 campaign at home versus NCAA Division II Quincy on Sept. 3 at 6 p.m. in Drake Stadium for the first meeting since 2002.
The Bulldogs then travel to South Dakota State on Sept. 10 in the first of a three-game series and the first game in SDSU's new stadium. Drake returns to SDSU the in 2017 for the second game of the series before the Jackrabbits return the favor in 2019 at Drake Stadium.
"It will be a fun event because I'm sure the stadium will be packed and will be going crazy. Those are fun environments to play in. We are excited to play an opponent like South Dakota State," Fox said.
The Jackrabbits finished last year ranked 15
th and fell in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs to Montana.
The Bulldogs return to Drake Stadium for the next two weeks as they host McKendree on Sept. 17 for their final non-conference game and Morehead State on Sept. 29 to open Pioneer Football League action.
"One of the fun things about our conference is there is such parity from top to bottom. Every year you see it, the team that ends up winning the conference championship may have a loss to somebody from the lower half off the conference or had a game come down to the wire," Fox said about playing in the PFL.
"We have two away games in back-to-back weeks following the Morehead State game, going to Dayton and Valpo. You have to be able to win on the road to be successful in this league. That was our problem last year and we are going to have to figure how to be successful in that way," Fox said.
Drake travels to rivals and defending PFL co-champions Dayton on Oct. 1 before heading to Valparaiso on Oct. 8, where the Bulldogs have won the last 12 meetings with the Crusaders.
The Bulldogs wrap up the second month of the season by hosting defending co-champions San Diego (Oct. 15) and Campbell (Oct. 29).
Drake begins the final month of the season with first of two trips to Florida as the Bulldogs head to Jacksonville on Nov. 5. The team wraps up its home portion of the schedule on Nov. 12 against Butler, before closing out the regular season for the second time in three seasons at Stetson on Nov. 19.
The Bulldogs are coming off a 5-6 season in 2015 and are aiming for their 12
th winning season in the last 13 years.
2016 DRAKE FOOTBALL SCHEDULE| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION | TIME |
| Sept. 3 | Quincy | Des Moines, Iowa | 6 p.m. |
| Sept. 10 | South Dakota State | Brookings, S.D. | TBA |
| Sept. 17 | McKendree | Des Moines, Iowa | 1 p.m. |
| Sept. 24 | Morehead State | Des Moines, Iowa | 1 p.m. |
| Oct. 1 | Dayton | Dayton, Ohio | TBA |
| Oct. 8 | Valparaiso | Valparaiso, Ind. | TBA |
| Oct. 15 | San Diego | Des Moines, Iowa | 1 p.m. |
| Oct. 29 | Campbell | Des Moines, Iowa | 1 p.m. |
| Nov. 5 | Jacksonville | Jacksonville, Fla. | TBA |
| Nov. 12 | Butler | Des Moines, Iowa | 1 p.m. |
| Nov. 19 | Stetson | DeLand, Fla. | TBA |
