2018 Drake Bulldogs football team

The 2018 Drake Bulldogs football team represented Drake University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Rick Fox and played their home games at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa as members of the Pioneer Football League. They finished the season 7–4, 6–2 in PFL play to finish in a tie for second place.

2018 Drake Bulldogs football
ConferencePioneer Football League
2018 record7–4 (6–2 PFL)
Head coachRick Fox (5th season)
Defensive coordinatorTodd Stepsis (5th season)
Home stadiumDrake Stadium
(Capacity: 14,557)
2018 Pioneer Football League standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 25 San Diego $^  8 –0     9 –3  
Stetson  6 –2     8 –2  
Drake  6 –2     7 –4  
Marist  5 –3     5 –6  
Dayton  5 –3     6 –5  
Davidson  3 –5     6 –5  
Butler  2 –6     4 –7  
Morehead State  2 –6     3 –8  
Valparaiso  2 –6     2 –9  
Jacksonville  1 –7     2 –8  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

On December 10, head coach Rick Fox resigned.[1] He finished at Drake with a five-year record of 33–22.

Previous season

The Bulldogs finished the 2017 season 7–4, 6–2 in PFL play to finish in second place.

Preseason

Preseason All-PFL team

The PFL released their preseason all-PFL team on July 30, 2018, with the Bulldogs having four players selected.[2]

Preseason coaches poll

The PFL released their preseason coaches poll on July 31, 2018, with the Bulldogs predicted to finish in third place.[3]

Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1San Diego81 (9)
2Dayton72 (1)
3Drake58
T–4Butler48
T–4Valparaiso48
6Jacksonville47
7Marist44
8Morehead State22
9Stetson19
10Davidson11

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
May 2612:00 a.m.at China All-Stars
(AFLC, CAFL, & CBL)*
QQLiveW 77–0[lower-alpha 1]
September 16:00 p.m.William Jewell*
BV Cancelled[lower-alpha 2]
September 82:00 p.m.at No. 14 Montana*
GoGrizL 16–4823,132
September 151:00 p.m.Missouri S&T*
  • Drake Stadium
  • Des Moines, IA
BVW 52–121,881
September 2912:00 p.m.at Jacksonville
ESPN3W 41–91,738
October 61:00 p.m.Butler
  • Drake Stadium
  • Des Moines, IA
BVW 36–63,011
October 131:00 p.m.Stetson
  • Drake Stadium
  • Des Moines, IA
BVL 21–231,439
October 2012:00 p.m.at Dayton
Facebook LiveW 28–172,168
October 271:00 p.m.at Valparaiso
ESPN+W 42–251,945
November 31:00 p.m.San Diego
  • Drake Stadium
  • Des Moines, IA
BVL 10–271,522
November 101:00 p.m.Marist
  • Drake Stadium
  • Des Moines, IA
BVW 13–101,348
November 171:00 p.m.at Morehead State
ESPN+W 43–63,287
December 1[lower-alpha 3]11:00 a.m.at No. 24 (FBS) Iowa State
Cyclones.tvL 24–2756,738
  1. Exhibition game
  2. The season opening game vs. William Jewell was cancelled due to severe weather.[4]
  3. This game was added on November 20, 2018 after their season opener was cancelled.[5]

Game summaries

at Montana
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 0 3 7 6 16
No. 14 Grizzlies 3 7 21 17 48
See also: 2018 Montana Grizzlies football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
First meeting

Missouri S&T
1 2 3 4 Total
Miners 0 6 0 6 12
Bulldogs 14 14 14 10 52
Overall record Last meeting Result
6–0 2011 DRAKE, 27–23

at Jacksonville
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 14 17 0 10 41
Dolphins 0 0 2 7 9
See also: 2018 Jacksonville Dolphins football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
13–3 2017 DRAKE, 52–7

Butler
1 2 3 4 Total
BU Bulldogs 0 0 0 6 6
DU Bulldogs 7 7 13 9 36
See also: 2018 Butler Bulldogs football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
18–8–1 2017 DRAKE, 27–16

Stetson
1 2 3 4 Total
Hatters 0 7 10 6 23
Bulldogs 3 0 11 7 21
See also: 2018 Stetson Hatters football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
3–0 2016 DRAKE, 45–17

at Dayton
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 7 7 7 7 28
Flyers 7 3 0 7 17
See also: 2018 Dayton Flyers football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
8–26 2017 DAY, 20–10

at Valparaiso
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 7 14 0 21 42
Crusaders 3 0 7 15 25
See also: 2018 Valparaiso Crusaders football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
22–3 2017 DRAKE, 38–13

San Diego
1 2 3 4 Total
Toreros 13 7 7 0 27
Bulldogs 0 7 3 0 10
See also: 2018 San Diego Toreros football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
11–13 2017 USD, 45–15

Marist
1 2 3 4 Total
Red Foxes 0 0 3 7 10
Bulldogs 3 0 0 10 13
See also: 2018 Marist Red Foxes football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
6–0 2017 DRAKE, 19–14

at Morehead State
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 9 13 7 14 43
Eagles 6 0 0 0 6
See also: 2018 Morehead State Eagles football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
8–3 2016 DRAKE, 30–28

at Iowa State
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 7 7 10 0 24
No. 24 (FBS) Cyclones 7 13 7 0 27
See also: 2018 Iowa State Cyclones football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
17–48–4 1985 DRAKE, 20–17[6][7]

References
  1. "Drake football coach Rick Fox stepping down to follow his faith ... wherever it takes him". Des Moines Register.
  2. "Twelve First-Team All-PFL returnees highlight Preseason All-PFL Team". Pioneer-Football.org.
  3. "Defending Champion San Diego edges Dayton in PFL Preseason Coaches’ Poll". Pioneer-Football.org.
  4. "Drake-William Jewell Game Canceled". Drake University Athletics. September 1, 2018. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  5. "Football Adds Iowa State To Schedule For A Dec. 1 Game". Drake University Athletics. November 20, 2018. Retrieved December 1, 2018.
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20181127020748/https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/isuni.sidearmsports.com/documents/2015/6/5/FB_Notes.pdf
  7. https://static.godrakebulldogs.com/custompages/GameNotes/FB/2018footballnotes/120118_atIowaState_Notes.pdf
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