Coyote Tailgate (opens at 10:30 a.m.)
The Game
South Dakota takes on UNI this afternoon inside the UNI-Dome in one of the premier FCS matchups of the week. It is a rematch of last year's 28-25 South Dakota win on Dakota Days in Vermillion. USD and UNI are 2-2 in their last four meetings.
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The Coyotes enter the final month of the regular season in the hunt for a Valley title, a playoff-clinching win, and one of those eight seeds. They will have earned one if they can conquer a November schedule that includes UNI, North Dakota State and South Dakota State.
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It is do or die for the UNI Panthers. At 4-4, UNI needs three wins to secure a playoff bid. The Panthers have faced the nation's toughest schedule and this is the team's fourth straight game against a top-10 team. They are 2-1 during the stretch with wins against South Dakota State and Youngstown State. After this one, UNI is at Missouri State before returning home for Indiana State in the finale.
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Panther Trio
UNI junior quarterback Eli Dunne averaged 295 yards passing in his first five games of the season. He has averaged just 143 in his last three, which has coincided with the return of junior running back Marcus Weymiller. Most notably, Weymiller carried 42 times in UNI's 38-18 win against South Dakota State in his first game back from injury. He has averaged 30 carries and 124 yards per game over the last three games.
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Senior wide out Daurice Fountain is the focus of the passing game. Fountain had three consecutive 100-yard efforts earlier this year and totaled 99 yards in another. He has seven touchdown catches on the year, including two last week against North Dakota State.
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Yotes on Defense
South Dakota looks to counter with a run defense that ranks 32
nd nationally and a rush that has the team in the top-five nationally for sacks and tackles-for-loss. The Coyotes forced five turnovers in last week's shutout of Southern Illinois while UNI committed five turnovers in a loss at North Dakota State.
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Safety
Andrew Gray leads the team with 51 tackles and middle linebacker
Jim Litrenta is second with 49. Defensive end
Darin Greenfield has five sacks and 15 tackles-for-loss.
Mark Collins Jr. and
Isaac Armstead performed well in their first starts at cornerback last week and will work to shutdown Fountain and company this week.
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Streveler's Status
Coyote quarterback
Chris Streveler, a leading candidate for national player of the year honors, was injured early against Southern Illinois last week and did not return. Coach
Bob Nielson has stated that Streveler has practiced all week and should be ready to return today against the Panthers. Streveler has accounted for 27 touchdowns against two turnovers all season.
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Streveler passed for 182 yards and ran for 128 while accounting for three scores in the Coyotes' win against UNI last season. Prior to last week's injury, he was the nation's leader in points responsible for (23.1 ppg) and total offense (397 ypg).
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Panther Pride
The pride of the Panthers rests with their defense, led by preseason all-American middle linebacker Jared Farley, the coach's son. Farley is the second-leading tackler in the Valley with an average of 10 per game. Support comes from defensive end Rickey Neal who has 6.5 sacks and 10 tackles-for-loss. Neal had 3.5 sacks in a win against Youngstown State two weeks ago.
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Final Facts
UNI is averaging 26.7 points per game. South Dakota is averaging 27 points in the first half … the Coyotes have as many pick-six's this season as offensive turnovers (3) … South Dakota's offense ranks second nationally in points (43 ppg) and yards per game (528) … USD has led for 362 minutes and trailed for 65 out of 480 this season (trailed for 55 minutes at Illinois State)
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