Corwin leads Drake in 45-3 romp past West Virginia Wesleyan

Updated Sep. 2, 2021 10:32 p.m. ET

Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Ian Corwin ran for two scores and passed for a third in the first half as Drake opened its season with a 45-3 win over Division II West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday night.

Corwin, who missed one game and struggled with injuries throughout the abbreviated spring season, engineered scoring drives on the Bulldogs' first three possessions. Caden Meis punched in from the 1 to cap a seven-play, 48-yard drive. Cross Robinson cashed in a six-play, 49-yard drive, scoring from 3 yards out, and Corwin ran the final yard after an eight-play, 45-yard drive to make it 21-0 after one quarter.

Corwin scampered 28 yards for his second rushing touchdown in the second quarter then fired a 79-yard scoring pass to Colin Howard that made it a 35-0 lead at halftime.

Trailing 45-0, West Virginia Wesleyan mounted a 13-play, third-quarter drive that stalled at the Drake 4 and resulted in a 21-yard field goal by Liam Depp to avoid the shutout.

Corwin completed 8 of 11 passes for 180 yards. Robinson finished with 100 rushing yards on 13 carries and Meis carried 19 times for 98 yards.

Nathan Payne led the Bobcats with 129 yards on 9-of-26 passing.

___

More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25