ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T's football team has achieved a 3-0 start only nine times in the history of the program, but in order to do it a 10^th time this weekend, it will have to do something no Miner team has accomplished since 2006 when it travels to Des Moines, Iowa to face Drake in a 1 p.m. contest Saturday afternoon.

The Miners improved to 2-0 with a 27-16 win over Northwood in its first road venture of the season and will seek their third straight win to begin the year against a Drake squad that lost its first completed game of the season Saturday when it lost 48-16 at Montana.

While the Miners last started a season with three straight wins in 2012, they have not defeated a team from the NCAA Division I ranks – Drake plays in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision – since their 2006 win over Butler.

ABOUT THE MINERS:  The Miners won for the second straight week with the win at Northwood, thanks in large part to a strong performance by the defensive unit that held the Timberwolves to 130 yards of total offense.  The 130 yards was the fewest given up by a Miner team since the final game of the 2012 campaign.

Tershawn Wharton (University City, MO/University City) recorded a team-high nine tackles in the win, including four for a loss and two forced fumbles, helping him earn "Player of the Week" honors from the Great Lakes Valley Conference.  Wharton has 16 tackles for the season, second to linebacker Bo Brooks' (Canutillo, TX/Canutillo) 17, and a team and GLVC-high 4.5 for a loss.   He also shares the team lead in sacks with linebacker Jack Hayes (Republic, MO/Republic) with two apiece.

Justin Onwugbufor (Maize, KS/Northwest) and Landon Compton (Lamar, MO/Lamar) have 14 tackles apiece for the Miners, who rank sixth in NCAA Division II in total defense heading into the weekend as the unit has allowed just 199.5 yards per game.  The Miners also have another league leader in the secondary in Roderick Chapman (Los Angeles, CA/Jefferson), who has a league-high five pass breakups.

S&T's offense scored on its first two possessions Saturday, as Tyler Swart (Dickinson, TX/Dickinson) threw a pair of scoring passes to Braxton Graham (Seneca, MO/Seneca) and later in the first half, threw his third to Logan Armontrout (Centralia, MO/Centralia) to move to within two touchdown passes of Evan Gray's career record of 59.

Swart has completed 70.3 percent of his passes thus far for 489 yards and seven touchdowns, while Graham has a league-high 12 receptions for 155 yards and three touchdowns.  Meanwhile, Josh Brown (Gainesville, FL/North Marion HS) has 10 catches for 134 yards on the young season and Deshawn Jones (Olympia Fields, IL/Rich Central) leads the S&T rushing attack with 140 yards.

Besides the GLVC weekly award won by Wharton, the Miners also earned the league's special teams award as punter Jonathan Banowetz (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt North) averaged better than 40 yards on his seven punts in the contest and is averaging 40.5 yards per kick on the year.

ABOUT DRAKE:  After having their original season opener cancelled on Sept. 1 on account of weather, the Bulldogs dropped a 48-16 decision at Montana Saturday.  Drake trailed by only a 10-3 margin at halftime against the 14^th-ranked Grizzlies, but were outscored 38-13 in the second half as Montana rolled up 401 yards of total offense.

Quarterback Grant Kraemer completed 23-of-42 passes in Saturday's contest for 281 yards and a touchdown, but he also threw two interceptions and was sacked seven times.  Nine of the 23 completions went to Devin Cates, while Steven Doran had four receptions for 64 yards.

The Bulldogs finished with 78 yards on the ground in the Montana game, getting 49 yards on one carry by Will Warner and 35 more from Cross Robinson.  Drake gained 143 yards on the ground, but suffered 65 yards in losses with its running game.

Warner, a strong safety whose run on a fake punt resulted in a touchdown, led the Bulldogs along with fellow safety Sean Lynch with seven tackles Saturday.  The Bulldogs had one sack in the game, which was recorded by defensive end Jacob Hardy.

Drake has won all six previous meetings from Missouri S&T, but the schools have not played one another since 2011.