VERMILLION, S.D. – Drake went on the road for its second trip to the Mount Rushmore State in as many weeks on Saturday. The Bulldogs visited Vermillion for a date with the No. 15 Coyotes of South Dakota. Despite showing positive flashes, the Yotes were too much for Drake, as USD earned a 42-21 result.

The host Coyotes forced a three-and-out by the Bulldogs on the opening possession of the game and promptly turned around for a 7-play, 69-yard drive for a touchdown to take the initial lead. South Dakota's defense owned the first period as Drake (1-2) struggled to find its footing. The first quarter closed with the Coyotes leading on the scoreboard, 7-0, and in total yardage, 151-28.
The second stanza started in similar fashion as standout South Dakota back L.J. Phillips, Jr., who cashed in on the first TD, barreled in for six more points to add to the USD lead.

Later in the second period, the Drake defense came through with its first stop of the afternoon, forcing a South Dakota (2-2) punt after three plays that totaled negative yardage. Freshman QB Logan Inagawa, who made his first career start after entering in injury relief at South Dakota State last weekend, led a 4-minute, 40-second Drake drive to the endzone. Inagawa capped off the 8-play march with an acrobatic rushing touchdown, his second in as many games.

Inagawa's score cut the Coyote lead in half, but the hosts proved their top 15 national ranking over the remainder of the second quarter with two more scoring drives thanks to the left arm of quarterback Aidan Bouman. An Iowa State transfer, Bouman bombed a 70-yard toss to receiver Larenzo Fenner before finding Fenner again from 31 yards out.

Halftime arrived with South Dakota leading 28-7.

The Coyotes came howling out of the halftime break and were able to produce two more scoring drives that were punctuated by a pair of Phillips rushes. The Bulldogs refused to give in, though, as Ronan Poynton forced a South Dakota fumble. Cornerback Kemani Wilson sprung on top of the loose ball to regain possession for the Dogs.

Drake leaned on the legs of Inagawa on the ensuing drive, which led to another score on the ground for the freshman quarterback, cutting the margin to 42-14.

The Bulldogs continued their grind through the fourth quarter with another defensive stop midway through the period. Inagawa and the offense took over and put together an impressive 11-play, 93-yard touchdown drive, this time ending it through the air with a 6-yard pitch-and-catch to Chase Schutty.

The offensive surge from Drake was just too late to chip away at South Dakota's substantial lead as the Coyotes earned the 42-21 victory.

"We didn't get off to a very good start…they go down and score pretty quickly, just kind of fast and furious in the first half," Drake head coach Joe Woodley said. "I thought we did some good things, but we need to do a better job of putting our guys in good positions. We just really couldn't get anything going offensively in the first half…then it seemed like our guys started to settle down, play a little bit better. Credit to [South Dakota], we played a really good football team, and things were clicking for them. Never saw any quit [out of the Bulldogs], that last drive of ours was encouraging, but definitely expected a little bit more out of us today."

Inagawa had another solid outing under center for the Bulldogs with 164 yards on 15-of-19 passing for a touchdown and two picks. He also led Drake on the ground with 76 yards on 19 carries for two more scores.

Jackson Voth led the Drake pass catchers with 85 yards on six receptions. Chase Schutty snared four passes for 15 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, J.R. Flood led the Bulldogs with 10 tackles, three of which were solo. Sean Allison and Garrison Codde both had seven stops; the latter was also joined by Kemani Wilson and Ronan Poynton in forcing Coyote fumbles.

The Bulldogs will be off next week for their second bye of the season before an 8-game trek through Pioneer Football League play. Drake is set to start conference action on Oct. 4 versus Valparaiso in Des Moines.