The Drake Bulldogs open the Pioneer Football League race at home on Saturday against Marist. Road wins are tough to get in a league that is spreads out from cost to cost and Drake coach Rick Fox says that puts added pressure on the home games. “The home games put you in a position to win a championship and the championships are won by winning on the road. So we have to put ourselves in position by winning at home,” Fox says.

Marist is 0-3 but the history of this series has featured close games, including the 2012 meeting in which the Bulldogs scored 31 straight points to win in overtime. “They’re a very physical football team, they are a very sound football team in terms of their scheme and execution,” Fox says.

Drake is 1-2 after a 38-13 loss at Western Illinois and Fox says the Bulldogs need to take their game to the next level with the start of the PFL.