ROLLA, Mo. – Heading to the road for the first time in the 2022 season, Missouri S&T's football team will face a Drake squad that had a similar result as the Miners did in week one when the teams face off Saturday afternoon in Des Moines, Iowa. 

Both teams came up on the short end of the score last week in their respective season openers, as the Miners fell 43-20 to South Dakota School of Mines and Drake lost to the top-ranked team in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision, North Dakota State, by a count of 56-14.  And in both cases, each team scored on its opening offensive possession of the game, but fell behind for good before the first quarter had ended.

The Miners got on the scoreboard just 1:38 into play – the fourth-fastest score to start a season in program history – on a 21-yard scoring pass from Max Conard (Blue Springs, MO/Blue Springs South) to CJ Jarmon.  All three of S&T's touchdowns in the opener came through the air, as Conard later threw a 61-yard scoring pass to Isaiah Wright (Panama City, FL/Port St. Joe) and Sam Simril (Portland, OR/Grant) threw a touchdown pass to Blaize Klossner (Rolla, MO/Rolla) in the fourth quarter.

Wright had 119 yards in receptions in the opener on five catches, while Conard threw for 241 yards as he completed 19-of-30 passes.  S&T had 321 yards of total offense in the game, with Gideon Niboh (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell) leading the rushing attack with 58 yards on nine carries.  Including kick returns, Niboh racked up 130 all-purpose yards in the contest.

Defensively, Ben Straatmann (Washington, MO/Washington) led the Miners with nine tackles in the game which included three for a loss, while Kyle Viverito (South Elgin, IL/South Elgin) and Carson Prenger (Jefferson City, MO/Blair Oaks) had seven stops apiece.  Straatmann also recovered both of the fumbles the Miners got in the game, including one that he also forced.

S&T had two sacks against Colorado School of Mines, which came from Skylar Sappington (Brentwood, MO/Brentwood) and Richard Goode (Sulligent, AL/Sulligent).

ABOUT DRAKE:  Drake finished with 219 yards of total offense in the loss to North Dakota State, but had just 144 after its initial touchdown drive to begin the game.  Quarterback Ian Corwin completed eight-of-15 passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns, while reserve signalcaller Luke Bailey went five-of-seven for 46 yards.  Nine different receivers caught passes for the Bulldogs at NDSU, but none had more than two catches.

Dorian Boyland led Drake with 60 yards rushing in the game on his 15 carries as the Bulldogs finished with 104 yards as a team.  Five different running backs had carries for Drake in its opener.

Linebacker Linden Howe led the Drake defense with five tackles in the game, while fellow linebacker Tanner Pollock recorded four stops.  Drake had just one tackles for a loss in the game and safety Nick Cagnetto was credited with the only pass breakup for the Bulldogs.