VERMILLION, S.D.—Ryan Saeger passed for a career-high 275 yards and true freshman Michael Fredrick ran for a career-high 129 yards to lead South Dakota to a 40-10 win against Missouri State Saturday inside the DakotaDome.
It was the 199th coaching victory for South Dakota head coach Joe Glenn. His first chance at 200 comes next week at Northern Iowa.
South Dakota (4-3, 2-2 MVFC) ran nearly twice as many plays as Missouri State (1-6, 0-4) and outgained the Bears 529-155. Missouri State's lone touchdown came on a 100-yard kickoff return by Deion Holliman near the end of the first quarter that cut the Coyotes lead to 9-7.
Coyote place-kicker Miles Bergner became the fourth player in program history to make four field goals in one game. He capped the game's opening possession with a career-long 53-yarder and also hit from 29 and 28 in the first quarter. He added a 36-yarder near the end of the third quarter.
Fredrick earned his first collegiate start in place of injured back Trevor Bouma. He averaged nearly six yards per carry and broke several tackles during a 13-yard touchdown run up the middle to make it 23-7 South Dakota six minutes into the second half.
Saeger completed 20 of 29 passes including a 34-yard touchdown strike to Eric Shufford for the Coyotes' first touchdown of the game. Bergner's extra point made it 16-7 with 4:49 left in the first half.
The Coyotes outgained the Bears 295-49 in the first half, but led by just nine points. Holding penalties took away two South Dakota scores. The first was a 100-yard kickoff return by Paul Anderson who was trying to answer Holliman's return. Saeger had a 21-yard touchdown run taken away during the final minute of the second quarter. The Coyotes reached the 5, but Saeger was intercepted by Darius Ivy in the end zone just before halftime.
The Bears went 3-and-out on the first possession of the second half and the Coyotes marched 63 yards in 12 plays on a drive capped by Fredricks' 13-yard run. Fredrick ran five times for 43 yards during the series.
Nate Gunn made it 30-7 with a 2-yard touchdown run up the middle with 4:33 left in the third. Gunn finished with 46 yards on 10 carries. Coyote safety Tyson Graham intercepted Missouri State quarterback Brodie Lambert on the next possession and Bergner paid that off with his fourth field goal.
South Dakota's advantage in total offense was 435-64 thru three quarters. Bears running back Jason Randall carried 60 yards on the third play of the fourth quarter, but was caught from behind by South Dakota defensive end Andrew Van Ginkel at the 4. The Coyote defense held on three plays from there and Marcelo Bonani kicked a 21-yard field goal with 11:58 remaining to make it 33-10.
Van Ginkel had six solo tackles to lead South Dakota. He had two tackles-for-loss and nearly brought down an interception at the line of scrimmage in the second quarter.
Backup quarterback Brian Woodward entered the game mid-drive with seven minutes to go for South Dakota and hit fullback Taylor Lambert for a 5-yard touchdown toss with 5:32 remaining for the final score of the game. It was the first career touchdowns for both players. It was the first career catch for Lambert, a sophomore who converted to fullback back ahead of this season.
Missouri State quarterbacks Lambert (38) and Breck Ruddick (3) combined for 41 yards on 9 of 18 passing. Randall had 10 carries for 77 yards including his 60-yarder. Junior linebacker Dylan Cole had a career-high 20 tackles – 17 solo.
