University of South Dakota Athletics

Full Game Notes (.pdf)

The Basics
No. 6 South Dakota (7-1, 4-1 MVFC) at UNI (4-4,3-2 MVFC)
Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m.
Cedar Falls, Iowa (UNI-Dome)
TV: None
Radio: Coyote Sports Network (Joe Van Goor, Gary Culver, John Thayer)
Watch Online: ESPN3/WatchESPN
Series: UNI leads 27-19-1

About the Coyotes:  South Dakota rebounded from its first loss by shutting out Southern Illinois 42-0 Saturday in Vermillion ... the Coyotes forced five turnovers and returned two INTs for touchdowns ... Austin Simmons entered during the first series of the game and threw two touchdowns ... starting QB Chris Streveler has accounted for 27 scores against two turnovers and is a national player of the year candidate ... he leads an offense that ranks second nationally in yards and points ... USD ranks in the top five nationally for sacks and TFL

About the Panthers:  Northern Iowa has faced the nation's toughest schedule up to this point ...  USD is the team's fourth consecutive top-10 foe, and the Panthers have won two of those three games ... UNI committed five turnovers in last week's 30-14 loss at NDSU ... QB Eli Dunne has passed for 1,908 yards and 19 touchdowns, and is one of five MVFC QBs on the CFPA FCS National Performer of the Year Watch List ... UNI is averaging 156 yards rushing in four wins, and 60 yards in four losses ... RB Marcus Weymiller has 371 yards in three games this season ... LB Jared Farley, a preseason All-American, leads the team with 84 tackles

Quick Hits
-South Dakota's seven wins are its most since 2006 when the team finished 9-2
-The Coyotes have won four games inside MVFC play for the first time
-USD registered its first shutout of a Valley opponent with last week's 42-0 victory
-USD QB Chris Streveler has been added to the Walter Payton Award Watch List, and the CFPA National Performer of the Year Watch List
-The Coyotes average an FCS-best 528 yards and 43 points per game (both second nationally)
-South Dakota has as many defensive pick-six's this season as offensive turnovers (3)
-The Coyotes have led for 362 minutes and trailed for 65 out of 480 this season (trailed for 55 minutes at ILST)
-USD ranks second nationally in tackles-for-loss (73) and is fifth nationally in sacks (28)
-South Dakota has scored at least 20 points in all 19 games under Bob Nielson
-In four road games, USD has outscored teams 115-39 in the first half (216-59 in all games)

The Notes
South Dakota responded to its first loss of the season by earning its first shutout in MVFC play, a 42-0 win against Southern Illinois. Both team's starting quarterbacks were injured in the first half and did not return. Coyote starter Chris Streveler was injured on the first series. Austin Simmons entered and capped the first drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Brett Samson. Simmons added a 17-yard touchdown pass to Alonge Brooks, and finished with 91 yards passing.

Southern Illinois starter Sam Straub played three series before exiting early in the second quarter. Tanner Hearn went the rest of the way, completing 14 of 33 passes for 231 yards. He was intercepted four times, two of which were returned for touchdowns in the second half.

The Coyote defense forced five turnovers in all last week against Southern Illinois, the most by the unit since 2011. South Dakota has forced 16 turnovers this season and committed four. The team's three offensive turnovers were converted into three points for the opposition.

Andrew Gray's 97-yard interception return for a touchdown last week is the longest interception return in program history. Mike Johnson added a 79-yard pick-six less than 20 defensive plays later. It marked the first time since 2006 that USD returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the same game.

Simmons has earned two wins at quarterback in the last two seasons. He helped USD beat Illinois State 27-24 last year inside the DakotaDome when Streveler was unable to go due to injury.
    Simmons has completed 31 passes in two seasons at South Dakota. Seven have gone for touchdowns.

Head coach Bob Nielson commented publicly Tuesday that Streveler practiced fully on Monday and that he feels Streveler will be able to play on Saturday.

Streveler is one of five MVFC quarterbacks and 36 players in all named to College Football Performance Awards Midseason FCS National Performer of the Year Watch List.

Streveler needs 231 yards passing to move into second place on the Coyotes' single-season passing list (see p3).

Streveler is on a record-setting pace this season. Amongst the numbers he is chasing are:
 - passing yards in a single-season (3,049, W. Beschorner, 2005)
 - completions in a single-season (188, N. Shepard, 2009)
 - attempts in a single-season (314, K. Earl, 2013)

This week's opponent is UNI, which beat then-No. 7 South Dakota State and then-No. 9 Youngstown State before losing at No. 2 North Dakota State Saturday in Fargo. The Bison forced five turnovers and limited UNI to 157 yards of total offense. Wide receiver Daurice Fountain hauled in two touchdown passes from Eli Dunne to account for the Panthers' points. Fountain has 44 catches for 668 yards this season. Both totals are more than double any other Panther pass catcher. He has caught seven of Dunne's 19 touchdown passes.

The series between USD and UNI dates back to 1899. The teams are meeting for the 48th time. The programs competed every year from 1949-77 as members of the North Central Conference. They have met every year since 2008 with the exception of 2011. The teams have split the last four games.

Last year, Tacari Carpenter caught two touchdown passes from Chris Streveler and the Coyotes stopped two fourth-quarter drives in a 28-25 win against UNI on the 100th Dakota Days football game. UNI controlled the ball for 38 minutes, but were outgained 385-378. South Dakota compiled 203 yards rushing against the nation's fourth-best run defense. Streveler completed eight passes for 182 yards, and ran 12 times for 128 yards.

Fast starts have been a staple of USD's success this season. The Coyotes have outscored teams 101-27 in the first quarter and 216-59 in the first half. UNI has totaled 214 points all season (30 in the first quarter, 123 in the first half).

Handoffs from Streveler are split between junior Michael Fredrick (471 yds, 4 TD), true freshman Kai Henry (397 yds, 6 TD) and redshirt freshman Ben Klett (225 yds, 3 TD). Fredrick has led the team in rushing in each of the last three games. In that span, he has carried 34 times for 223 yards.

South Dakota's receiving corps is diverse and unpredictable. Fifteen players - 9 WRs, 3 TEs, 3 RBs - have caught passes. Shamar Jackson had a program-record 229 yards receiving against Youngstown State. Brandt Van Roekel has two 100-yard efforts and leads the team with five touchdowns. Aaron Ramsey caught eight passes two weeks ago after entering the game with nine catches. True freshman Kody Case, who ranks third with 303 yards, is averaging 21.6 yards per catch. No one had more than 36 yards receiving in last week's 42-0 win against Southern Illinois.

Mason Scheidegger, who began the year at center, is now at left tackle following an injury to Nick Jensen. True freshman Tyler Ciurej has made five starts at center. Team captain Stetson Dagel is the left guard. Right guard Cody Jennings won a national title at Garden City Community College last season. Right tackle Tanner Anderson is a returning starter.

Improving a run defense that surrendered 250 yards per game a year ago was a topic of discussion throughout the offseason and during fall camp. The Coyotes had allowed 548 yards rushing thru six games (91 ypg), but surrendered 331 yards against Illinois State before rebounding and holding Southern Illinois to 147 yards on 39 attempts.

Team sacks and other tackles-for-loss all factor into those rushing totals and South Dakota has racked them up this year. For the Coyotes, 16 different players have combined for 28 sacks and 27 USD players have a tackle-for-loss. South Dakota had three sacks against Southern Illinois last week after the Salukis had given up three all season.

Coyote defensive end Darin Greenfield leads the Valley and ranks fourth nationally in tackles-for-loss with 15.0, and is amongst the leaders in sacks with 5.0. Senior defensive tackle Taylor Lambert has 4.5 sacks and 8.0 tackles-for-loss.

Coyote linebackers took a hit earlier in the season when transfer Ray Dixon was injured against Bowling Green. Senior captain John Wessel was injured against Western Illinois, and his backup, Brian Woodward, has missed the last three games. To that end, the Coyotes have activated true freshman Jack Cochrane (Mount Vernon, Iowa), who has played on special teams and at linebacker. Cochrane will miss the first half Saturday following a targeting penalty.

Cornerbacks Mark Collins Jr. and Isaac Armstead earned their first collegiate starts last week. Collins had two tackles and was credited with four pass breakups. Armstead logged seven tackles and tallied his first collegiate interception.
    Adding depth to the secondary are Doug Lewis (seven tackles, sack vs. SIU), Phillip Powell (seven tackles vs. SIU), and Elijah Reed (one pass breakup vs. SIU).

Redshirt freshman Brady Schutt has filled in just fine for the departed All-American Miles Bergner. He has averaged better than 43 yards in each of the last three games. Of his 39 punts this season, 18 have been placed inside the 20.

Ryan Weese, a senior who transferred to USD from Kansas, is 48-for-48 on extra points and has made 3 of 6 field goals, including a game-winning 29-yard field goal to beat Youngstown State. Ethan James, the Vermillion native, handles kickoffs and has seven touchbacks.