SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Drake football escaped the Golden State with a dramatic 19-16 victory over San Diego on Saturday. The Bulldogs battled back after falling behind early to earn a walk-off win thanks to a 55-yard field goal off the right foot of Harry Balke.

Drake avoided an early disaster after winning the coin toss and electing to receive. The Bulldogs' starter Chase Spellman dropped back to pass on the first play from scrimmage when USD's Cayden Gibson tore around the edge and forced a fumble. The Bulldogs jumped back on it to keep control, but eventually stalled near midfield, punting the pigskin over to the Toreros.

San Diego turned around on their first possession and put up the first points of the day. The Toreros leaned on their ground game for a 13-play, 59-yard drive resulting in a field goal.

After forcing another Bulldog punt, San Diego marched right back down into Drake territory. The Toreros' drive then slowed as Kemani Wilson and the Drake D made a couple key stops on second and third down, but USD managed another 3-pointer from 47 yards out. USD led 6-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The Drake defense made a stand as the Toreros opened the second frame with the ball. The Bulldogs forced USD to punt for the first time, but Emiliano Salazar delivered a beauty on a rugby-style kick that was downed on the Bulldogs' 3-yard line.

True freshman tailback Nick Herman took over as the visitors turned up their offensive tempo. Herman scampered on five straight rushes to get the Dogs all the way across midfield and out of the shadow of their own goal line. Chase Spellman and Taj Hughes looked to connect on a fourth down conversion to keep their drive alive, but the play was ruled in San Diego's favor prompting a turnover on downs.

The Bulldog defense then did its thing again, forcing another San Diego punt. Jackson Voth fair caught the kick but was hammered by a Torero gunner, drawing a penalty flag and adding 15 yards to the end of the play. Drake took over at its own 32-yard line with Inawaga entering under center and its sights set on a score.

Inagawa could not spark the Bulldogs as they kicked it back to USD on a well-executed punt by Ryan Schroeder that was down inside the San Diego 5-yard line.

San Diego failed to get any breathing room as Drake nearly forced a safety, eventually regaining possession for the Bulldogs with solid field position. After a strike to Voth to get into USD's side of the field, Luke Woodson sliced through the Torero defense for a 33-yard touchdown run, giving Drake its first lead at 7-6.

Drake did not hold onto momentum for long, however, as San Diego went deep into its bag of tricks to flip things back in their direction. Yosei Takahashi snared one on a swing route before firing downfield himself on a halfback pass. Cole Monach collected the offering before breaking a pair of Bulldog tackles and sprinting into the endzone for a score. The trickery gave USD the lead back at 13-7, a difference which the Toreros took into halftime.

The Toreros owned much of the third quarter clock and set up to extend their lead by three with just under six minutes left in the period. Salazar, who made two kicks early in the opening period, missed wide left from 43 yards out to keep the 13-7 margin intact.

Nick Herman's standout day continued on the ensuing Drake drive as he followed a 5-yard rush with a long catch-and-run out of the backfield to push into USD territory. A San Diego pass interference infraction then set the Bulldogs up in the redzone for the first time in the game. After flipping ends of the field when the third quarter clock expired, Drake cashed in for three more to cut USD's lead to 13-10 on a Harry Balke 43-yard kick.

The two teams traded punts as the ticker wound toward the midway point of the fourth quarter. Drake's offense stayed on the field for a pivotal fourth down play just into plus territory. Spellman handed to Woodson who caromed off a couple Torero defenders for a conversion.

Spellman followed that with a toss to California native Hank Foley to get on the doorstep of a score. Logan Inagawa re-entered and barreled through for the go-ahead TD, making it 16-13 in favor of the Bulldogs.

San Diego's offense did all it could to keep the Torero's hopes alive. USD maneuvered down the field in 3:29 over 10 plays to set up another opportunity for Salazar. The kicker stepped up and buried one from 41 yards out to knot the score at 16 apiece. Drake regained possession with just over one minute left on the clock.

The successive kickoff by USD went out of bounds, giving Drake the ball back on their own 35-yard line. Spellman, along with the play calling of offensive coordinator Kyle Kempt, orchestrated an efficient final drive, getting Drake into USD's property with 18 seconds on the timer.

A few moments later, with just three ticks left, Harry Balke trotted back out for a chance at the game-winner. Balke, a native of San Diego, lined up from 55 yards and hammered the kick home to give Drake a dramatic 19-16 victory.

"Our defense played pretty darn good throughout the day," Drake head coach Joe Woodley said. "We put ourselves in a tough position missing the extra point, but what a story for Harry Balke. Kid I coached against at the NAIA level, and what a moment for him in his hometown. An unbelievable finish, but I didn't watch it…had my hands on my knees waiting for the reaction. We found out a lot about our football team today. There's not that many more talented teams in our lead than San Diego…our kids just kept making play after play in a total team effort."

Nick Herman led Drake on the ground with 98 yards rushing followed by Luke Woodson with 55 yards and a score. Chase Spellman threw for 128 yards while reserve signal caller Logan Inagawa ran one in.

Defensively, Garrison Codde led the team with a career high 11 tackles while Sean Allison added 10. Nolan Korzeniowsku posted nine stops with 1.5 tackles for loss.

Drake's win was its third straight over San Diego with all three of those victories coming on the final play of the contest.

The Bulldogs will be back in action next weekend when they host Davidson in Drake Stadium. Kick-off is slated for noon on Oct. 18 in Des Moines.