The Basics
The league-leading Bulldogs return to historic Drake Stadium for their penultimate home contest of the 2024 regular season. Drake is set for a 1 p.m. clash versus a struggling Marist team on Saturday, Nov. 2.
 
Bulldog Bites
Drake is 5-1 on the year and coming off another overtime victory over Presbyterian two weeks ago. The Bulldogs snuck past the Blue Hose with the help of some Presbyterian special teams miscues, a steadfast Drake defensive performance, and a clutch blocked field goal by reigning PFL Special Teams Player of the Week Tyler Radocha. The Bulldogs beat Presbyterian despite losing the turnover battle, 4-0.
 
As a team, Drake ranks second in the in the Pioneer Football League in Passing Offense (265.3 yards per game), Net Punting Average (39.2 yards per punt), and Opponent Fourth Down Conversion (3-for-9, 33.3%).
 
Dating back to 2018, Drake is 5-2 after a bye week. The Bulldogs are 0-1 after a bye this season.
 
Drake is 4-0 when possessing the ball for at least 30 minutes in a single game. The Bulldogs got their first victory with a time of possession less than 30 minutes in their last effort at Presbyterian.
 
The Bulldogs will look to continue its current 15-game Pioneer Football League winning streak. Drake's current run is the longest active winning streak in FCS. From Oct. 9, 2021-Oct. 22, 2022, Drake football lost 10 consecutive PFL games before immediately going on its current roll that started on Oct. 29, 2022 with a 24-17 win at Stetson.

Bulldog Leaders
Rushing
Davion Cherwin | 27 rush, 170 yds, 3 TD
Blake Ellingson | 23 rush, 128 yds, 2 TD
Luke Woodson | 38 rush, 107 yds, TD

Passing
Luke Bailey | 136-218, 1562 yds, 5 TD, 4 INT
Blake Ellingson | 7-10, 30 yds, TD, INT

Receiving
Trey Radocha | 37 rec, 440 yds, 2 TD
Mitchell January | 27 rec, 361 yds, 2 TD
Taj Hughes | 32 rec, 311 yds, TD

Tackles
Sean Allison  | 57 tck, 30 solo, 2.5 TFL
Sebastian Adamski | 56 tck, 23 solo, 2.0 TFL
Tyler Radocha | 48 tck, 28 solo, 2.0 TFL

Sacks
Finn Claypool | 5.5 sck
Jacob Auen | 3.0 sck
Nolan Korzeniowski | 2.0 sck
 

Scouting Marist
The Red Foxes of Marist enter this weekend sitting at 0-8 overall and 0-5 in Pioneer Football League play. Marist opened the year with losses to three-straight Patriot League opponents (Georgetown, Lafayette, Bucknell) before starting PFL play. The Red Foxes dropped their first four PFL contests before nearly taking down Valparaiso on Homecoming with a 17-14 loss.
 
Marist's offense is spurred by quarterback Sonny Mannino's 1,240 passing yards with 13 touchdowns. Three of those throwing scores were caught by Mohamed Diawara, the Red Foxes' leading receiver with 354 yards. Defensive stars Miles Kauderer and Gannon McCorkle have each tallied 3+ sacks and 5.5+ tackles for loss.
 
Drake is 9-2 all-time against Marist. The Bulldogs won last year's meeting in a 10-3 defensive battle in Poughkeepsie. Marist's only two wins came in back-to-back years (2021-22).
 
Marist head coach Mike Willis is in his first season at the helm of the Red Foxes' football program. He went to Poughkeepsie after a 13-year playing and coaching career at Princeton.
 
Red Fox Leaders
Rushing
Tristan Shannon | 36 rush, 200 yds, TD
Carter James | 58 rush, 186 yds, TD
Sonny Mannino | 47 rush, 158 yds, TD

Passing
Sonny Mannino | 118-219, 1240 yds, 13 TD, 4 INT
Enzo Arjona | 46-77, 320 yds, 2 TD, 3 INT

Receiving
Jackson Conners-McCarthy | 37 rec, 296 yds, 2 TD
Mohamed Diawara | 18 rec, 285 yds, 4 TD
Will Downes | 16 rec, 224 yds, 3 TD

Tackles
Kade Werner | 43 tck, 14 solo
James Kratochvil | 41 tck, 13 solo, 0.5 TFL
Ronan Casanova | 39 tck, 13 solo, 0.5 TFL

Sacks
Miles Kauderer | 4.0 sck
Gannon McCorkle | 3.0 sck
Braylen Ricks | 2.0 sck
 
Up Next
The Bulldogs will travel to the Twin Cities for a skirmish against St. Thomas on Saturday, Nov. 9 with kick slated for 1 p.m.