DRAKE HOSTS UPPER IOWA

6 p.m. Drake Stadium

RADIO: Thursday's game with Upper Iowa will be broadcast on KRNT Radio (1350 AM) with Scott Pierce handling the play by play. Fans can also listen to the game at www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com

WEBCAST: Thursday's game with Upper Iowa will be webcast over the Drake website at www.GoDrakeBulldogs.com

GAME SIGNIFICANCE: Drake, under new head coach Chris Creighton, opens its 115th season of intercollegiate football playing host to Upper Iowa.

SEASON OPENERS: The Bulldogs sport a 67-41-6 record (.624) in season openers. Drake's 27-24 upset victory at Illinois State last year snapped a string of six straight years in which the Bulldogs had dropped their season opener with all the games played against scholarship opponents: Truman State, 40-29, 2001; Western Illinois, 64-7, 2002; at Illinois State, 27-13, 2003; at Missouri State, 31-26, 2004; at Northern Iowa, 52-17, 2005; and Northern Iowa at home, 48-7, 2006.

AMONG LEADERS: Drake ranks 19th in overall victories (542) among the 123 schools which play in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).The game against Upper Iowa will be the 1,043rd game in school history with Drake owning a record of 542-471-29 for a winning percentage of .535.

PRESEASON PFL POLL: Drake has been picked to finish fifth in the Pioneer Football League coaches preseason poll.
The coaches selected San Diego as the preseason favorite in the poll, while receiving only two of the nine possible first-place votes.
While San Diego was picked to win, the league's coaches also expect a competitive conference race as only 10 points separate the top four teams in the poll.

Both second-picked Dayton (55 points) and third-ranked Davidson (51) received three first-place votes each and fourth-place Morehead State (48) picked up the remaining first-place tally.

Drake garnered 36 points followed by Jacksonville (29), while Butler and Valparaiso were tied for seventh (19) and league-newcomer Campbell (9) rounded out the nine-team poll.

San Diego has won or shared the PFL title the past three seasons, most recently splitting the 2007 crown with Dayton.

Each PFL team will play a complete round-robin conference schedule, beginning Sept. 29. The PFL champion will play at the Northeast Conference Champion in the third annual Gridiron Classic, Dec. 6.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT: Upper Iowa has 13 starters back from last year's squad which posted a 3-8 record, including a 2-7 eighth-place finish in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.

Senior receiver Kyle Hosch is the lone returning starter among the skill players on offense, having caught 16 passes for 239 yards last year including five touchdowns. There are four starters back on the offensive line.

Defensively, the Peacocks return five starters headed by junior linebacker Vernard Wilkins who had 66 tackles last year including one interception and 6.5 tackles for losses. Junior cornerback Dominique Jackson had a team-high five interceptions last year.

Mike Knoll, a 1974 graduate of Missouri Western, is in his fourth year as head coach at Upper Iowa, owning a 9-24 record.

THE SERIES: Drake owns a 2-0 lead in the series against Upper Iowa. The Bulldogs won the inaugural meeting, 45-27, at Drake Stadium in 2004 before earning a 40-7 home victory in 2006.

THE LAST MEETING: Drake 40, Upper Iowa 7 (Sept. 9, 2006, Des Moines, Iowa) ? Scott Phaydavong rushed for 184 yards , while scoring three touchdowns to ignite Drake. The Bulldogs rolled up 532 yards total offense, including a whopping 414 yards rushing as nine players carried the pigksin.
Meanwhile, the Bulldog defense forced Upper Iowa into four turnovers with the Atlantic, Iowa duo of sophomore strong safety Andy Green and senior linebacker Nick Ross each intercepting passes.

Phaydavong had back-to-back touchdown jaunts of 69 and 51 yards in less than a two-minute span late in the first quarter. He gained 128 yards rushing in just six carries in the first quarter.

Drake marched 80 yards on its first possession to grab a 6-0 lead following an eight-yard scoring gallop by Phaydavong with 14:18 left. A fumble recovery by Drake senior strongside linebacker James Adams at the Bulldog 16 yardline stopped an Upper Iowa drive midway through the second half.

Drake took advantage with an 11-play, 84-yard scoring drive, climaxed by a 31-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Derek Retherford to redshirt junior Brandon Millard with 2:33 left in the first half.

Junior redshirt Clay Cleveland and redshirt freshman Mason Bucklin rounded out Drake's scoring with touchdown runs of 40 and nine yards, respectively, in the fourth quarter.

Junior free safety Jacob Craig led Drake's defense with eight tackles. Sophomore linebacker Jeremy Gehl also recovered a fumble.

THE CREIGHTON ERA BEGINS: Chris Creighton, who ranks fourth among all active NCAA Division III football coaches in career winning percentage, was named the 25th head football coach at Drake University Dec. 22, 2007.

Creighton served as head coach at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind., the past seven years where he constructed a 63-15 record with teams winning four North Coast Athletic Conference championships, while competing in three NCAA Division III playoffs.

Creighton, 39, owns an overall record of 95-24 (.798 winning percentage) in 11 years as a college head coach, including a 32-9 mark as head coach at Ottawa (Kan.) University from 1997-2000.

During his last three years at Wabash, Creighton led the Little Giants to a 30-5 record, including three straight league championships and appearances in the 2005 and 2007 NCAA Division III playoffs.

Wabash posted an 11-2 record in 2007, competing in the NCAA Division III playoffs while being ranked No. 8 in the final NCAA Division III coaches poll. Wabash went 12-1 in 2002 and 11-1 in 2005, capping both seasons with appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs.

As offensive coordinator at Wabash, Creighton's teams averaged 35 points per game with the multiple offense producing the school's all-time leading rusher and passer. Three starting quarterbacks received All-American honors.

Under Creighton, Wabash won conference championships in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007. He coached 83 all-conference players, including seven who earned conference player of the year honors, along with 13 All-Americans.

He was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2002, 2005 and 2007, as well as the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 1997.

The Seattle, Wash., native produced one of the greatest single season turnarounds in NAIA history during his first year at Ottawa in 1997. He inherited a team that posted a 1-8 record the previous season, then finished 9-2 en route to capturing its first Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference title since 1972.
He also led Ottawa to a conference championship in 2000, along with appearances in the NAIA playoffs in 1997 and 2000.

Creighton served as offensive coordinator at Concordia (Ill.) from 1991-92 and Manchester (Ind.) from 1993-96 before becoming head coach at Ottawa.
As an All-American quarterback, Creighton led Kenyon (Ohio) College to its only North Coast Athletic Conference title in 1989. He was named the league's player of the year after setting single-season conference records for passing yardage (2,843) and touchdowns (29).

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kenyon College in 1991 and a master's degree from Concordia (Ill.) University in 1993.

BRAIN TRUST: In addition to new head coach Chris Creighton, there are five other new coaches on the Drake staff. Assistant head coach Neal Neathery had served as associate head coach at Wabash College since 2001 before coming to Drake with Creighton. Neathery will coach linebackers at Drake, while also serving as defensive coordinator.

Rick Fox, who had served as offensive coordinator at Centre (Ky.) College since 1999, will be Drake's special teams coordinator and offensive line coach. Ben Needham will serve as defensive line coach, while Aaron Selby will coach the tight ends at Drake. Needham was defensive line coach at Wabash last year, while Selby served as the strong safeties coach there. Poul Collins, who was a two-year starting cornerback on the 2006 and 2007 Drake teams, will coach the cornerbacks this fall.

FAMILIAR TRIO: Matt Jeter returns for his sixth season on the Drake staff, serving as recruiting coordinator and defensive backs coach. The Des Moines native was the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs under head coach Steve Loney last year.

Running backs coach Bill Charles began coaching at Drake under coach Chuck Shelton when the program was Division I from 1980-85. He also served on the coaching staffs of Nick Quartaro in 1987-88, Rob Ash (1992-2006) and Steve Loney (2007). Receivers coach Jeff Martin is in his 13th year as an assistant at Drake. The Des Moines native graduated from Drake in 1977 as owner of five school records, including career pass completions (370) and total offensive plays (982).

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN: Andy Green, a three-year starter at strong safety, has been selected to The Sports Network Mid-Major preseason All-American team. Green was a first-team Sports Network Mid-Major All-American selection in 2006 and 2007. He enters the 2008 campaign with 11 career interceptions.

CO-CAPTAINS: Drake senior quarterback Cole Ingle (Runnells, Iowa/Southeast Polk), senior receiver Mike Bialas (Hoffman Estates, Ill.), sophomore linebacker Cale Hunt (Littleton, Colo.) and senior linebacker Cole Douglas (Lawrence, Kan.) have been named captains for the Drake football team.

"I feel the team did a good job in selecting this year's captains," said first-year Drake football coach Chris Creighton. " Already, these four men have done so much for the program in the few short months that I have been at Drake. They care deeply about Drake Football and have kept things going in a positive direction despite tough circumstances. I will be relying on them heavily this year.

Ingle completed 112 of 190 passes for 1,387 yards in 2007 including 11 touchdowns. Bialas, who has rushed for 1,051 yards in his career, including 33 touchdowns, was named the Drake special teams player of the year in 2007.

Hunt started the first three games of 2007 for Drake before a season-ending injury. Douglas is a two-year letterwinner at linebacker who was redshirted last year.

WHAT'S IN STORE: To ease the transition of a new coaching staff, first-year coach Chris Creighton will rely on the leadership of 20 seniors, including seven fifth-year players who have seen Drake win 31 games during their careers, including the 2004 Pioneer Football League title.

“I believe we're hungry,” added Creighton. “We have fifth-year seniors who won a league championship, were 9-2 two years ago and were close last year with a huge win over Illinois State but fell short in the end. They are hungry...they absolutely want to be their best and they believe that their best is good enough to win a championship.”

The Bulldogs were hit hard by graduation with a combined 11 starters returning on offense and defense ? the fewest the program has seen since the 1993 campaign.

Among the biggest losses will be finding a replacement at running back for Scott Phaydavong, a four-time first-team all Pioneer Football League performer, who set the Drake career rushing mark with 5,830 yards in 925 carries, including 37 touchdowns.

The competition is wide open at running back with sophomore Michael Lahart (Chariton, Iowa) the leading candidate. Junior Gus Olofsson (Frankfort, Ill.) heads a list of untested running backs that could also figure in the equation. Junior Steve Platek (Arlington Heights, Ill.) will show his versatility at H-back after starting the last 10 games at linebacker last year, collecting 74 tackles.

Fifth-year senior Cole Ingle (Runnells, Iowa) looks to blossom in Creighton's multiple offense after sharing the starting quarterback duties with the graduated Derek Retherford last year.

Ingle ranked fourth in the PFL in pass efficiency last season with 132.0 points after completing 112 of 190 passes for a career-high 1,387 yards, including 11 touchdowns. Senior Ben Ostermann (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) , who started two games as a freshman in 2006, will provide depth.

Fifth-year senior Zach Brower (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) is the top returning veteran of the receiving corps after leading Drake with 47 receptions for 651 yards last year, including four touchdowns.Fifth-year senior Michael Bialas (Hoffman Estates, Ill.), who has rushed for 1,051 yards wit 28 touchdowns in his career, has moved to receiver. Seniors Spencer Cady (Fort Dodge, Iowa) and Travis Bogaard (Pella, Iowa) also will be counted on heavily.

“We have a good group of receivers,” said Creighton. “We will pass a little more than Drake has thrown in the past. So how quickly those guys become comfortable in our system will be critical to our success.”

Seniors Travis Klatt (Albert Lea, Minn.) and Frank Pucher (Skokie, Ill.) , along with sophomore Ryan Scott (Overland Park, Kan.), will challenge for the starting tight end spot vacated by the graduation of three-year starter Dan Marx, who was one of the top tight ends in the PFL.

Up front, seniors Eric Mora (Roselle, Ill.) and Quinn McVey (Bettendorf, Iowa) are the lone holdovers on the offensive line at right guard and center, respectively.

The starting positions are highly competitive on the left side of the offensive line and at right tackle. Senior Jonathan Jones (Bolingbrook, Ill.) and sophomore Stephen Flynn (Davenport, Iowa) are challenging for the starting left guard spot. Dan Clinton (Gurnee, Ill.), Preston Lappe (Sleepy Hollow, Ill.), Hunter Nelson (Rockford, lll.) and John Pugh (Des Moines, Iowa/Roosevelt) are battling for starting spots at both left and right tackle.

NEW DEFENSIVE SCHEME: Defensive coordinator Neal Neathery and his staff implemented a new 4-2-5 defensive scheme during spring practice.

“Our defense was young in spots last year but returns some experienced players who did not play last year because of injuries,” said Drake coach Chris Creighton.

On paper, there are seven returning starters on defense headed by two-time first-team all-league safety Andy Green (Atlantic, Iowa), who has 11 career interceptions, and junior Andrew Asbell (Machesney Park, lll.) who will enter his third season as starting tackle.

Asbell earned second-team all-league honors last year, while leading the team with six quarterback sacks for 46 yards in losses. Junior Sean Kitts (Leawood,Kan.) is another returning starter on the line at defensive end where he had 39 tackles, including a team high 8.5 tackles for 22 yards in losses. Junior Dain Taylor (Highland Ranch, Colo.) also has experience at defensive end, collecting 28 tackles last year.

Junior Andrew Brooks (Kansas City, Mo.) returns at nose guard where he recorded 25 tackles last year but he is facing a strong challenge from junior Richard Neal (St. Louis, Mo.).

Creighton is counting on the return of two linebackers who were sidelined last season because of injuries. Senior Cale Hunt (Littleton, Colo.) started the first three games at weakside linebacker before suffering a season-ending arm injury. Fifth-year senior Cole Douglas (Lawrence, Kan.) was projected to start at middle linebacker before undergoing knee surgery during the 2007 preseason camp.

Those injuries did pave the wave for several players to emerge, including juniors Ben Morrison (Long Grove, Ill.) and Josh Walkup (Littleton, Colo.). Morrison led the league with 87 tackles last season, including 62 solo hits, while also pacing the PFL with three fumble recoveries at linebacker. Walkup had 23 tackles at linebacker last year but moved to defensive end this spring where he is challenging for a starting spot.

Fifth-year senior Jeremy Gehl (Naperville, Ill.), who had 42 tackles at strongside linebacker, returns challenging for a starting spot at defensive back in the new defensive scheme.

Junior Tim Harvey (Evanston, Ill.), who had 27 tackles and two interceptions as a reserve last fall, emerged as a top candidate at starting cornerback. Senior Skye Buckner-Petty (Florissant, Mo.) , a two-year letterwinner at nickel back, will challenge junior letterwinner Lucas Mosier (Lewis, Iowa) at rover back.
Untested sophomores Matt Hancock (Kansas City, Kan.) and Richard Courtney (Markham, lll.) are fighting for the starting position at strong cornerback.

VETERANS KEY KICKING GAME: Fifth-year senior place-kicker Logan Rees (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) and senior punter Brandon Wubs (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.) return on Drake's special teams.

Rees was the second leading scorer on the team a year ago with 59 points, including nine of 12 field goals, while tying for the league lead in field goal percentage (.750).

Wubs looks for improvement after watching his punting average drop nearly four yards last year at 33.8 after averaging 37.4 yards in 2006.

“Logan Rees will be a great weapon for us and will play a pivotal role in scoring points and field position,” said Drake coach Chris Creighton.