CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – On a day filled with football in the state of Iowa, the Drake football team visited UNI in the UNI-Dome. Drake entered Cedar Falls seeking its first win of the Matt Walker era, but former Bulldog head coach Todd Stepsis and his Panthers had too much for the Dogs to handle in a 56-14 contest.
Drake (0-3) won the coin toss and took the ball. The Dogs got a little help after the end of the return as UNI was flagged for a late hit penalty, moving the ball closer to midfield. The first Drake possession was short-lived after the infraction, however, as two
Riley Warzynski passes fell incomplete and his third offering was picked off by senior linebacker John Powers.
UNI then got some help on its first drive as Drake was whistled for two pass interference calls, the second coming on a fourth down to move the chains. The Panthers eventually finished off their march as Ben Gordon clipped the pylon on an jet sweep to score the first points of the afternoon.
Lucci Fidone got the Bulldogs back near the 50-yard stripe on the ensuing kick return, slicing through the Panther coverage unit for a 40-yard run-back. A sack on first down pushed the Bulldogs back as UNI (1-1) forced a Drake punt. Another penalty in the Drake defensive backfield sparked the next Panther drive as quarterback Jaxon Dailey, whose sister, Brooklin, is a member of the Bulldog women's basketball team, connected on two downfield tosses, the second finding Brady McCullough in the corner of the endzone for six more points.
Drake's defense made its first stop, forcing UNI punter Logan Gregory onto the field for the first time. Another Panther late hit on a Warzynski scramble got the Drake drive started in the right direction. A couple snaps later, Drake got a free play as the entire Panther defensive line jumped into the neutral zone. Waryznski found a wide-open
Mitchell January on the opposite sideline. January evaded a couple UNI pursuers and sprinted home to get Drake on the board.
The Panthers answered immediately, though, as Dailey again linked up with McCullough on a corner route, which gave UNI a 21-7 lead after the first quarter.
Drake's offense started to really find its rhythm in the second period. Warzynski and the Drake offense strung together 14 plays over 71 yards, which ended on an chaotic scramble and score as Warzynski laced one to
Lincoln DeLaere for a touchdown.
Warzynski's wizardry energized the visiting sideline as the Bulldog defense put together another stop. A Panther false start put UNI behind the chains, and
Zach Adamo eventually sacked Dailey on fourth down, giving the rock back to a focused Drake offensive unit.
The Bulldogs soon faced another fourth down but kept the offense on the field in true Matt Walker fashion. Warzynski tried to fire one in on a comeback route, but Josiah Young leapt in front to pick off the Drake QB for the second time of the day. UNI again took advantage of the Drake mistake, capping the first half with another scoring drive as Dailey and McCullough hooked up for the third time.
Drake trailed 28-14 at the break.
The Panthers scored again with ease to start the second half as Christian Collins ran one in from seven yards out after just six plays. UNI really opened things up on Drake's next drive as Calvin Jaworski intercepted Warzynski again as the Bulldogs tried to convert another fourth down, this time barreling 80 yards to the endzone to make it 42-14 in UNI's favor.
The Bulldogs failed to get going again offensively the rest of the way until
Braylon Wilson came on in relief under center and orchestrated a methodical march into Panther territory. But a Drake fumble into the endzone was pounced on by a Panther, giving the ball back to UNI after a touchback.
Meanwhile, the Panthers continued to execute on both sides of the ball. UNI scored two more times the rest of the way to reach the 56-14 final score.
"We just didn't play very good football," Walker said. "That's a boring answer but we just played badly on defense and offense. [UNI is] too good of a team that if you can't play a clean game, you'll be in trouble. We missed some throws early and they did a great job capitalizing. They scored on three or four third downs and fourth downs, so we had some chances to keep it check. But we just played too poorly and couldn't get it together. The scoreboard hasn't looked great the last two weeks, but we have great leadership, and our focus will shift now to PFL play. Lots of what ifs today but all our goals are ahead of us."
Warzynski went 27-of-47 through the air for 241 yards and two scores and three interceptions. He and reserve quarterback
Braylon Wilson spread the ball around to 12 different receivers with
Mitchell January's five catches and 75 yards leading the way. Wilson was also Drake's top rusher with 19 yards on six carries in the final quarter.
Defensively,
Tommy Williams amassed 10 tackles to pace the Bulldogs while
J.R. Flood was just behind him at nine. Both
Devyn Davis and
Zach Adamo made a sack for Drake while the former forced a fumble.
The Bulldogs will be off next week with a chance to rest and prepare for their trek through Pioneer Football League play. Drake will start league action on the road at Davidson on Saturday, Sep. 26.
