The 2021 Drake Bulldogs football team represented Drake University as a member of the Pioneer Football League (PFL) during 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by third-year head coach Todd Stepsis, the Bulldogs compiled an overall record of 2–9 with a mark of 1–7 in conference play, tying for ninth place in the PFL. The team played its home games at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
Preseason The Pioneer League released their preseason coaches' poll on July 27. The Bulldogs were picked to finish in third place.
1 Davidson 97 (8) 2 San Diego 93 (3) 3 Drake 67 4 Dayton 62 5 Presbyterian 59 6 Valparaiso 55 7 Morehead State 51 8 St. Thomas 369 Marist 35 Stetson 11 Butler 15
Schedule
Game summaries Vs. West Virginia Wesleyan
Statistics WVWU DU First downs 10 21 Total yards 179 529 Rushes/yards 25/43 54/304 Passing yards 136 225 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 10–28–1 12–15–0 Time of possession 22:16 37:44 Team Category Player StatisticsWest Virginia Wesleyan Passing Nathan Payne 9–26, 129 YDS, 1 INT, 0 TD Rushing Mason Brubeck 8 CAR, 31 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Dariuse Cooper 3 REC, 52 YDS, 0 TDDrake Passing Ian Corwin 8–11, 203 YDS, 0 INT, 1 TD Rushing Cross Robinson 13 CAR, 100 YDS, 1 TD Receiving Colin Howard 2 REC, 87 YDS, 1 TD
At #11 Montana State
Statistics DU MSU First downs 14 23 Total yards 228435 Rushes/yards 36/79 37/149 Passing yards 149286 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 14–24–0 21–29–0 Time of possession 30:24 29:36 Team Category Player StatisticsDrake Passing Ian Corwin 14–23, 149 YDS, 0 INT, 1 TD Rushing Cross Robinson 9 CAR, 37 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Colin Howard 3 REC, 66 YDS, 0 TDMontana State Passing Matthew McKay 19–25, 256 YDS, 0 INT, 3 TD Rushing Isaiah Ifanse 19 CAR, 60 YDS, 1 TD Receiving Lance McCutcheon 7 REC, 121 YDS, 1 TD
At #11 North Dakota (Potato Bowl USA)
Statistics DU UND First downs 6 24 Total yards 163 527 Rushes/yards 30/77 34/288 Passing yards 86 239 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 15–28–3 25–40–1 Time of possession 28:18 31:42 Team Category Player StatisticsDrake Passing Luke Bailey 9–15, 58 YDS, 2 INT, 0 TD Rushing Cross Robinson 11 CAR, 39 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Colin Howard 2 REC, 39 YDS, 0 TDNorth Dakota Passing Tommy Schuster 23–36, 234 YDS, 1 INT, 2 TD Rushing Isaiah Smith 12 CAR, 125 YDS, 1 TD Receiving Jack Wright 3 REC, 53 YDS, 0 TD
Vs. Valparaiso
Statistics VU DU First downs 17 17 Total yards 379350 Rushes/yards 26/155 33/67 Passing yards 224283 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 19–40–3 28–49–0 Time of possession 25:38 34:22 Team Category Player StatisticsValparaiso Passing Teryn Berry 16–32, 150 YDS, 3 INT, 0 TD Rushing Robert Washington 17 CAR, 143 YDS, 2 TD Receiving Ollie Reese 2 REC, 59 YDS, 0 TDDrake Passing Luke Bailey 28–48, 283 YDS, 0 INT, 2 TD Rushing Cross Robinson 19 CAR, 61 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Colin Howard 3 REC, 94 YDS, 1 TD
At Butler
Statistics DUBU First downs 16 15 Total yards 312 244 Rushes/yards 43/131 30/135 Passing yards 181 109 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 13–24–0 12–21–0 Time of possession 33:06 26:54 Team Category Player StatisticsDrake Passing Blake Ellingson 13–23, 181 YDS, 0 INT, 0 TD Rushing Cross Robinson 19 CAR, 63 YDS, 1 TD Receiving Colin Howard 4 REC, 92 YDS, 0 TDButler Passing Bret Bushka 12–20, 109 YDS, 0 INT, 0 TD Rushing Bret Bushka 14 CAR, 78 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Yogi Flager 6 REC, 82 YDS, 0 TD
Vs. Dayton
Statistics UDDU First downs 22 18 Total yards 340303 Rushes/yards 41/157 29/59 Passing yards 183244 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 21–29–1 19–33–0 Time of possession 33:47 26:13 Team Category Player StatisticsDayton Passing Jack Cook 21–29, 183 YDS, 1 INT, 0 TD Rushing Jake Chisholm 34 CAR, 144 YDS, 2 TD Receiving Joey Swanson 5 REC, 65 YDS, 0 TDDrake Passing Blake Ellingson 19–33, 244 YDS, 0 INT, 1 TD Rushing Blake Ellingson 7 CAR, 48 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Brandon Langdok 4 REC, 64 YDS, 1 TD
At San Diego
Statistics DUUSD First downs 12 18 Total yards 222 302 Rushes/yards 34/121 33/122 Passing yards 101 180 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 6–13–1 19–30–0 Time of possession 25:24 34:36 Team Category Player StatisticsDrake Passing Sean Cooney 6–13, 101 YDS, 1 INT, 0 TD Rushing Dorian Boyland 9 CAR, 67 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Dorian Boyland 2 REC, 55 YDS, 0 TDSan Diego Passing Mason Randall 19–30, 180 YDS, 0 INT, 1 TD Rushing Terrence Smith 19 CAR, 89 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Michael Gadinis 6 REC, 53 YDS, 1 TD
Vs. Stetson
Statistics SU DU First downs 0 0 Total yards 00 Rushes/yards 0/0 0/0 Passing yards 00 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 0–0–0 0–0–0 Time of possession 0:00 0:00 Team Category Player StatisticsStetson Passing Tied 0–0, 0 YDS, 0 INT, 0 TD Rushing Tied 0 CAR, 0 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Tied 0 REC, 0 YDS, 0 TDDrake Passing Tied 0–0, 0 YDS, 0 INT, 0 TD Rushing Tied 0 CAR, 0 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Tied 0 REC, 0 YDS, 0 TD
At Marist
Statistics DUMC First downs 13 15 Total yards 248 256 Rushes/yards 33/104 31/70 Passing yards 144 186 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 13–27–1 21–28–1 Time of possession 27:29 32:31 Team Category Player StatisticsDrake Passing Ian Corwin 13–27, 144 YDS, 1 INT, 0 TD Rushing Cross Robinson 14 CAR, 45 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Colin Howard 3 REC, 60 YDS, 0 TDMarist Passing Austin Day 21–28, 186 YDS, 1 INT, 1 TD Rushing Hunter Cobb 12 CAR, 39 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Will Downes 4 REC, 47 YDS, 0 TD
Vs. St. Thomas (MN)
Statistics USTDU First downs 20 16 Total yards 359239 Rushes/yards 51/213 26/73 Passing yards 146166 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 13–23–1 18–33–5 Time of possession 35:29 24:31 Team Category Player StatisticsSt. Thomas Passing Cade Sexauer 8–14, 111 YDS, 1 INT, 0 TD Rushing Hope Adebayo 23 CAR, 105 YDS, 2 TD Receiving Nick Rice 6 REC, 47 YDS, 0 TDDrake Passing Ian Corwin 17–31, 166 YDS, 4 INT, 1 TD Rushing Caden Meis 7 CAR, 49 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Matt Hartlieb 5 REC, 40 YDS, 0 TD
At Davidson
Statistics DUDC First downs 9 29 Total yards 190 586 Rushes/yards 15/27 72/470 Passing yards 163 116 Passing: Comp–Att–Int 17–34–1 12–21–0 Time of possession 16:31 43:29 Team Category Player StatisticsDrake Passing Ian Corwin 10–22, 117 YDS, 1 INT, 1 TD Rushing Jun Ahn 2 CAR, 6 YDS, 0 TD Receiving Brandon Langdok 7 REC, 61 YDS, 0 TDDavidson Passing Louis Colosimo 11–20, 114 YDS, 0 INT, 1 TD Rushing Aris Hilliard 10 CAR, 133 YDS, 2 TD Receiving Jayden Waddell 3 REC, 45 YDS, 0 TD
Roster 2021 Drake Bulldogs football teamQuarterback 2 Luke Bailey – sophomore (6'0", 172)4 Sean Cooney – sophomore (6’6”, 207)6 Blake Ellingson – freshman (6’2”, 195)9 Ian Corwin – junior (6'0", 187)15 Ruben Beltran – junior (6’1”, 200)Running back16 Jun Ahn – sophomore (5'6", 175)23 Triston Burkett – sophomore (5'11", 195)24 Ian Ridge – freshman (5'9", 180)25 Cross Robinson - Fifth Year (6’0”, 225)27 Caden Meis – junior (5’11", 205)34 Nas Reynolds – freshman (5’9”, 165)36 Dorian Boyland – freshman (6’1”, 225)42 Davion Cherwin – freshman (5’9”, 195)Fullback30 Grant Gossling - Fifth Year (6'1", 250)49 Eli Stewart – sophomore (6'2", 228)Wide receiver5 Hunter Johnson – sophomore (5’11", 170)’’'13 Jacob McCauley – sophomore (5’11”, 170)17 Andrew Kasten – senior (5’11”, 176)18 Joe Coit – junior (5'10", 176)21 Michael Markett – junior (6’0”, 175)28 Zach Drummond – junior (6’1”, 185)80 Colin Howard – junior (6'1", 205)81 Dante Denardo – freshman (6'1", 185)82 Austin Flax – freshman (5'9", 175)83 Brandon Langdok – sophomore (6’0”, 170)84 Trey Radocha – sophomore (5'11", 195)88 Zach Gray – junior (6’2”, 200)Tight end19 Matt Hartlieb – senior (6'1", 215)33 Ryan Hayes – senior (6’2”, 240)40 Sam Carpenter – freshman (6’4”, 250)44 Brenden Burton – junior (6’4”, 236)47 Ben Millman – sophomore (6’2”, 225)85 Sam Rodriguez – sophomore (6’2”, 230)86 AJ Britten – freshman (6’4”, 220)87 Tim Nesslage – sophomore (6’1”, 220)| width="25" | | valign="top" |Offensive Lineman 52 Bennet Krebs – sophomore (6’2”, 270)53 Jonathan Engle – senior (6’2”, 295)59 JP Reilly – sophomore (6’0”, 270)60 Jack Lehmann – senior (6’5”, 270)61 Daniel Bowers – sophomore (6'4", 278)62 Parker Althaus – junior (6’4”, 285)63 Andrew Grout – junior (6’3”, 290)64 Mark Bach - Fifth Year (6’0”, 367)65 Evan Maples – sophomore (6'1", 275)66 Colin Mott – senior (6'2", 270)67 Patrick Conlon – senior (6’6”, 305)68 Ross Palmer – freshman (6’6”, 340)70 Tyler Barrett - Fifth Year (6’5”, 310)71 Rhent Addis – sophomore (6’4”, 325)72 Isaac House – sophomore (6’4”, 270)73 Bryce Bowers – freshman (6'4", 305)75 Kyle Kennedy – freshman (6’3”, 265)76 Jimmy Poremba – ''junior (6’3”, 290) 78 Braeden McLaughlin – senior (6'4", 275) 79 Max Morris – freshman (6’4”, 250)
Defensive Lineman 15 Johnny Hill – senior (6’1”, 214) 24 Kieran Kohorst – senior (6’4”, 235) 31 Andrew Stafford – junior (6’1”, 230) 40 Jacob Richard - Fifth Year (6’1”, 285) 46 Jason Christenson – sophomore (6’1”, 258) 48 Ben Gerdes – senior (6’3”, 235) 56 Jake Shipla – sophomore (6’1”, 265) 57 Zachary Kincade – senior (6'2", 270) 58 Pat Strocchia – freshman (6’4”, 220) 69 Nolan Engmann – junior (6’3”, 270) 77 Max Johnson - Fifth Year (6’3”, 280) 90 Finn Claypool – freshman (6’1”, 240) 92 Ryan Erickson – senior (6’4”, 255) 93 Ethan Rohman – sophomore (6’2”, 258) 94 Stenton Quaye – freshman (6’2”, 220) 95 Ben Kujawa – freshman (6’3”, 270) 96 Jake Hoper – senior (6’4”, 269) 98 Connor Groff – freshman (6’3”, 225)
| width="25" | | valign="top" | Linebacker 7 Tanner Pollock – junior (6’1”, 210) 10 Declan Carr – senior (6'1", 226) 26 Noah Larson - Fifth Year (6’1”, 208) 35 Will Kulick - Fifth Year (6’2”, 223) 37 Hudson Fields – sophomore (6'1", 215) 39 Ryan Kriceri - Fifth Year (6’2”, 235) 41 Colton Wolfe – freshman (6’1”, 205) 45 Andrew Johnson– senior (6’2”, 224) 46 Joe Frommelt – sophomore (6’1”, 200) 51 Riley Theobald – sophomore (6’2”, 245) 52 Sebastian Adamski – freshman (6’0”, 230) 54 Tom Shefte – freshman (6’3”, 198) 55 Jacob Thompson – sophomore (6’1”, 213)
Defensive back 0 Jakobe Davidson – senior (5'10", 182) 1 Ethan Zager – sophomore (6’0”, 175) 2 Tony Graham II – sophomore (5'11", 165) 3 Gage Vander Leest – junior (5'11", 200) 4 Joey Lukrich – junior (6'1", 190) 5 CJ Grisar – freshman (5’9”, 170) 6 Jeremy Villalobos. – sophomore (6’1”, 175) 8 Tyler Radocha – sophomore (5’11”, 195) 9 Alex Rogers - Fifth Year (6'0", 210) 11 Jeran Proctor - Fifth Year (5’10”, 165) 14 Nick Cagnetto – junior (5’11”, 185) 18 Holden Hughes – freshman (6’2”, 180) 19 Caleb Bowling – freshman (5’10”, 190) 20 Eian O’Brien – senior (6’2”, 195) 23 Jackson Williams – sophomore (5’11”, 178) 29 Riley Dravet – freshman (5’10”, 185) 30 Ty Scott – freshman (6’0”, 165) 32 Danny Morales – senior (5’11”, 180) 34 Drew Bramlett – sophomore (5’11”, 194) 38 Sebastian Felix – freshman (6’0”, 190) 50 Sam Anderson – freshman (6’2”, 185)
Special teams 12 Jack Ierulli – junior (6’0”, 178)89 Shane Dunning – ''sophomore (6’0”, 175) 91 Phil Tita – freshman (6’2”, 180)''' 99 Nathan De Bruin – junior (6'0", 170)'''
References