RON MALY HAS BEEN WATCHING THE PARADE GO BY FOR A LONG TIME. THIS IS ONE OF HIS WEBSITES.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Bulldogs Open Their Pioneer Football League Schedule Saturday At Drake Stadium In a 1 p.m. Game Against Morehead State

Drake opens its Pioneer Football League schedule Saturday at home against Morehead State.

The kickoff is at 1 p.m.

Here are the facts, as listed by Ty Patton, Drake's assistant athletic director for athletic communications:

• The Bulldogs are 5-1 in PFL openers since 2006 and have won three-straight conference openers.


• Drake is coming off back-to-back losses to ranked opponents, falling at home to No. 4 Montana State and on the road last weekend to No. 22 Indiana State to stand at 1-2 this season.


• Saturday could be a record-setting day for Drake quarterback Mike Piatkowski. The senior needs just 31 yards to become Drake’s all-time leader in career passing yards. He currently has 7,838 career yards and has thrown for 300 or more yards in back-to-back games.


• The passing game promises to be on full display as Drake enters the game ranked 10th nationally in passing offense at 303.7 yards per game while MSU is ranked sixth at 349.3 yards per contest.


• Individually, MSU quarterback Zach Lewis has thrown for 8,203 career yards, the fourth-most in PFL history.


• Morehead State is 1-2 on the season as well with a season-opening win over Southern Virginia and losses to Eastern Kentucky and St. Francis (Pa.).


• In its most recent outing, MSU held a 23-14 halftime lead before St. Francis scored 43 unanswered second-half points and ran for 457 yards.


• Drake’s defense continues to disrupt opponents’ backfields and ranks third nationally in both sacks and tackles for loss with 4.3 and 9.7 per game. The defense leads the PFL in both categories as well.


• Drake leads the all-time series between the two programs by a 5-2 margin and is a sterling 3-0 at Drake Stadium. The Bulldogs have won two straight over MSU. Head coach Chris Creighton is 2-0 against MSU at Drake.