1949 Drake Bulldogs football team

The 1949 Drake Bulldogs football team was an American football team that represented Drake University as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference during the 1949 college football season. In its first season under head coach Warren Gaer, the team compiled a 6–2–1 record (3–1 against MVC opponents), finished second in the conference, and outscored opponents by a total of 202 to 95. The team played its home games at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Drake halfback Johnny Bright led the nation in total offense in both 1949 and 1950. See List of NCAA major college football yearly total offense leaders. He was the second African-American athlete to lead the country in this category after Kenny Washington did so in 1939. Bright later played 11 seasons in the Canadian Football League and was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.