DES MOINES, Iowa – Drake University football got its 2026 season started with a back-and-forth affair against South Dakota Mines on Thursday night. After falling behind early, a ravenous Bulldog comeback was not enough as the Hardrockers escaped Drake Stadium boasting a 38-35 upset win.
New Drake head coach Matt Walker and his touted offense were put on display right away as the Bulldogs won the coin toss and chose to receive the opening kick-off. Drake was able to march the ball down the field, eventually crossing the Hardrockers' 10-yard line after a pair of Aiden Werlinger personal fouls. However, a couple misfires and a Bulldog infraction pushed them back into a third-and-long situation, which resulted in a sack.
Griffin Kollhoff entered and drilled a 36-yard try to notch the first points of the 2026 season.
Drake promptly forced a punt before settling into a comfortable offensive rhythm and earned its first touchdown of the year. The Bulldogs capped an 8-play, 82-yard drive with a 30-yard connection between
Riley Warzynski, who followed Walker from UW-River Falls to Des Moines, and
Lincoln DeLaere, a sophomore seeing the first playing time of his career.
The Bulldogs took their 10-0 lead into the first quarter break.
The second quarter got off to a more sluggish start on both sides. The Hardrockers were able to inject some juice from the visiting sideline as quarterback Gage Baker lobbed a pass to Dawson Dunbar on a swing route out of the backfield. Dunbar had a step on Drake's nearest defender and sprinted down the sideline for six.
South Dakota Mines stifled the ensuing Drake possession and picked up right where it left off. Dunbar struck again on another long score, this time in the rushing game as he spliced his way through the Bulldog trenches and cruised to a 49-yard TD, giving the Hardrockers a 14-10 cushion.
Mines was able to add a bit more leverage between itself and the Bulldogs as Sam Eccles connected from 13 yards out to make it 17-13 at the half.
The Hardrockers owned much of the third quarter as well with two impressive scoring drives. The visitors took just three plays to travel 75 yards and cashed in on a 44-yard pitch-and-catch from Baker to Joshua Morales before reserve tight end Blake Borchers slipped through the Drake defense for a 36-yard touchdown of his own.
Trailing 31-13 with just over five minutes left in the third period, Drake ripped off a lightning-fast drive of nine plays covering 71 yards. The Dogs' push stalled as they approached the goal line, eventually turning the ball over on downs. The Bulldogs had a steep climb ahead of them as the action turned to the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs got back on track with just over a dozen minutes left in the game. Warzynski floated in the pocket and found a streaking
Willis Nofsinger over the middle. Nofsinger pulled away from a pair of pursuing Hardrockers and finished off the 80-yard score, cutting Mines' lead to 11.
Drake's comeback charge continued as the fourth quarter clock shrank. The Bulldogs were pinned down deep in their own territory and facing a short fourth down opportunity.
Hank Foley, the Bulldogs' returning receiving leader, beat a Hardrocker defensive back in single coverage to the inside and broke a tackle after hauling the rock in. Foley scampered the remaining 73 yards to get the difference back within a score.
The South Dakota Mines offense could not do much on their next trip. The Hardrockers went three-and-out and lined up to punt, but an errant snap proved costly. Eccles leapt to snare the high offering, but
Karson Kindred flew around the edge and blocked the punt. Kindred tracked down the loose ball and carried it into the endzone to give the Bulldogs the lead back at 35-31.
Momentum was clearly favoring Drake as the fourth quarter passed its midway mark, but South Dakota Mines refused to surrender. The Hardrockers put together an impressive 16-play, 79-yard drive ending in a Dawson Dunbar 3-yard TD rush. Dunbar's third touchdown of the night gave South Dakota Mines a 38-35 advantage with just under two minutes to play.
Drake got the ball back with around 60 seconds left on the ticker, but it could not conjure up any more heroics. Warzynski completed three straight short passes before linebacker Gabe Frerichs cut off a crossing route for an interception. The Hardrockers were able to kneel out the remaining moments to secure the 38-35 upset result.
"I'm searching for words right now," Walker said. "That was not the way any of us wanted to start. So much credit to [South Dakota Mines], but we made mistakes that you just cannot have. They moved it up and down the field and we couldn't stop it and didn't make enough plays early. [I'm] proud of the fight but we're not into moral victories. I feel bad for the kids, and there are going to be plenty of opinions on what when wrong, but we'll stick together and figure it out."
The two teams totaled nearly 1,100 yards of offense with Drake racking up 559 and South Dakota Mines tallying 527. The Hardrockers enjoyed a major advantage in the ground game, outrushing Drake 221-24, but Warzynski and the Bulldog throwing attack amassed 535 yards to Mines' 306. Warzynski's total set the program record for single-game passing yards, outdoing the previous mark of 455 set by Mike Grejbowski in 1970.
Two Bulldog receivers eclipsed the triple-digit mark as Nofsinger led the way with 168 yards and
Hank Foley added 146.
Defensively, star linebacker
J.R. Flood led the way for the Dogs with a career best 18 tackles.
Tyson Shivers, who also had two sacks, was matched by
Skylar James and
Taye Proctor with eight stops.
Drake's season will not get any easier as the Bulldogs will prepare for their first road trip of the season. Drake is teed up for a date with second-ranked Montana in Missoula on Saturday, Sep. 5. Kick off scheduled for 2 p.m. central time.
