University of South Dakota Athletics

Full Game Notes (.pdf)

The Basics
Northern Colorado (0-1, 0-0 Big Sky) at No. 23 South Dakota (0-1, 0-0 MVFC)
Saturday, Sept. 8 at 2 p.m.
Vermillion, S.D. (DakotaDome)
TV: MidcoSN (Jay Elsen, Andre Fields, Kelly Stewart)
Radio: Coyote Sports Network (Joe Van Goor, Gary Culver, John Thayer)
Watch Online: ESPN+ | FREE webstream on GoYotes.com
Series: Northern Colorado leads 20-14 (home team has won the last seven meetings)

About the Coyotes:  South Dakota won a Division I-era record eight games in 2017, made its FCS playoff debut and advanced to the round of 16 ... the Coyotes started 6-0 last year including a win against Bowling Green, and opened 2018 by putting a big scare into Kansas State ... the defense is highlighted by returning All-American Darin Greenfield, a defensive end who compiled 19.5 TFLs last season ... junior QB Austin Simmons attempted 56 passes last week in his first collegiate start ... WR Levi Falck caught 11 passes for 140 yards

About the Bears:  Northern Colorado had back-to-back winning seasons in 2015 and 2016 before finishing just 3-7 a year ago ... UNC opened 2018 with a 17-14 loss at home against McNeese, a nationally-ranked team that just missed out on an FCS playoff bid a year ago ... QB Jacob Knipp is back after missing the second half of last year due to injury ... his top target is senior Alex Wesley, who has 1,766 yards and 13 touchdowns in his time at UNC ... defensive end Keifer Morris was an all-Big Sky honoree a year ago who produced 63 tackles, 13.5 for loss, and 9.0 sacks ... RB Trae Riek has compiled more than 2,000 yards rushing at UNC

Quick Hits
-Saturday marks the 40th home opener for USD since the DakotaDome opened in 1979
-The Coyotes have won 15 consecutive home openers, a streak that began in 2003, and are 34-5 in home openers inside the Dome
-South Dakota and Northern Colorado were NCC foes from 1980 to 2002 when the Bears made the jump to Division I (UNC won 14 of 23)
-USD former player, coach and Hall of Famer Joe Glenn led Northern Colorado to back-to-back NCAA Division II national championships in 1996 and 1997 (he was 9-2 against USD)
-South Dakota led Kansas State 24-12 at halftime and into the fourth quarter Saturday
-WR Levi Falck tied a USD single-game record by hauling in 11 passes (totaled 16 in 2017)
-LB Alex Gray (pick six, 2 sacks, FR, 7 tackles) was named MVFC Defensive POW
-Darin Greenfield (DE) and Andrew Gray (FS) are returning all-MVFC honorees
-Austin Simmons made his first collegiate start and attemped 56 passes, the second-highest total in program history (63, C. Streveler, 2017)

The Notes
Northern Colorado and South Dakota first met in Greeley, Colorado, in 1959. The teams competed nine times before becoming conference foes in 1980, and met every year for 23 consecutive seasons until 2003. The teams met in a home-and-home series in 2009 and 2010 with UNC winning at home 21-17 in the first game and USD winning at home 34-6 in the most recent matchup.
    UNC is 8-7 all-time in Vermillion. South Dakota has won the last three matchups inside the DakotaDome and is 7-6 against the Bears inside the Dome.

Joe Glenn led Northern Colorado to back-to-back national championships in 1996 and 1997. He was 98-35 in 11 seasons at UNC, and won three consecutive NCC titles from 1997-99 before taking the head gig in Montana in 2000. Glenn was the coach of the Coyotes for four years from 2012-15.

Bob Nielson has begun his third season with the Coyotes, and stands two wins shy of 200 for his career.
    Nielson has led five consecutive programs to the playoffs within four years of taking the helm. The Coyotes won a Division I-era record eight games in 2017 and competed in the FCS playoffs for the first time.
    In their first years under Nielson, six programs combined for a 24-38-1 record (38 percent). In year two, those same six programs combined for a 39-26 mark (60 percent).

South Dakota entered the national rankings this week following its impressive performance against Kansas State, a team receiving votes in the FBS preseason top 25. The Coyotes led 24-12 entering the fourth quarter and at no point looked like underdogs. An 85-yard punt return by the Wildcats swung the momentum, and a 10-yard touchdown toss midway through the frame put K-State ahead 27-24. The Coyotes reached the KSU 29 in the closing seconds, but a long field goal attempt to tie fell short.

Wide receiver Levi Falck and linebacker Alex Gray highlighted USD performances against K-State. Falck tied a USD single-game record with 11 catches and totaled 140 yards receiving. Gray had a pick-six just before halftime. He also had two sacks and recovered a fumble with 50 seconds to go.

Kansas State's offense had 15 drives and mustered 20 points. Four drives resulted in field goals, four ended with turnovers and seven netted fewer than 10 yards.

Ten redshirt freshmen and five true freshmen made their collegiate debuts last weekend. Redshirt freshman Braden Schneider earned the start at right guard.

Junior QB Austin Simmons passed for 257 yards and accounted for two touchdowns Saturday while making his first collegiate start. His 2-yard sprint to the pylon in the first quarter was his first collegiate rushing score. He has thrown eight touchdowns against one interception in two-plus seasons.

Simmons has a talented and diverse receiving group to throw to. Absent from the game one box score was Kody Case who is working back from an injury and Shamar Jackson, the Coyotes' leading receiver in terms of receptions last year who started but went without a catch against K-State. Reggie Crawford made his collegiate debut and helped set up a USD touchdown with a 20-yard reception.

Michael Fredrick, the Coyotes' leading rusher in two of the last three seasons, is moving to cornerback following a two-game suspension to start the season. Depth at running back and lack thereof at corner is the reason. An injury to Isaac Armstead against K-State likely means an increased role this week for true freshmen corners Cameron Tisdale, Tre Jackson and Jakari Starling.

USD opened against K-State with 11 straight passes. Expect a more balanced offense in week two. Kai Henry carried 10 times for 58 yards and set up a touchdown with a 37-yard scamper against K-State. He and Ben Klett combined for nearly 900 yards and nine scores last season. True freshman Canaan Brooks also received his first carries last week.

The Coyotes return all five starters to their offensive line, though redshirt freshman Braden Schneider entered the lineup at right guard. Tyler Ciurej (LG) and Mason Scheidegger (C) were both named to freshmen All-America teams a year ago. Nick Jensen (LT) is a four-year starter.

Under Nielson and offensive coordinator Ted Schlafke, South Dakota has averaged 34 points in 25 games. North Dakota State in 2017 is the only team to hold USD to fewer than 20 points in that span (14).

USD's up-tempo offense produced 82 plays per game on average last season. Of the team's 65 touchdown drives, 31 required less than two minutes and five were one-play strikes. The average touchdown drive spanned 2 minutes, 21 seconds.

A big reason for South Dakota's success last season was a defense that improved by 100 yards per game against the run (250 ypg in 2016, 150 ypg in 2017). Aiding those numbers was a unit that ranked 12th nationally in both sacks and tackles-for-loss. The Coyotes had four sacks and eight tackles-for-loss against Kansas State Saturday.

The Coyotes return six of seven starters in their back seven on defense. The newcomer is inside linebacker Jack Cochrane, who had his redshirt pulled in the middle of last season and competed in the final seven games. Cochrane had a career-high seven tackles against Kansas State Saturday.

Yes, Andrew and Alex Gray are twins. Andrew led the team in tackles from his safety position while Alex ranked sixth on the team from the linebacker spot. Both started as safeties at Lincoln Way West High School in Illinois. Both have now returned interceptions for touchdowns at USD.

Phillip Powell was the Coyotes' second-leading tackler over the final six games of last season despite zero in the finale due to injury. He led USD with eight stops last weekend, had an interception and forced two fumbles, the second of which came with 50 seconds left that gave USD a chance to tie.

There was competition for both specialist positions during fall camp as Brady Schutt and Bryan Clements dualed for punter and Mason Lorber and Ethan James vied for kicking duties. Schutt, a Valley all-newcomer last year, punted eight times for 47.2 yards against K-State, his second-best average as a Coyote. Lorber handled field goal and PAT duties while James took the last three of five kickoffs. Two new long snappers, Dalton Godfrey and Andrew Morrison both saw time against K-State.

Northern Colorado is South Dakota's sixth Big Sky opponent since the start of the 2012 season. The Coyotes have won four of the last five matchups with Big Sky foes including a 45-7 drubbing of North Dakota last season. Other wins include Weber State (2016), UC Davis (2015) and Northern Arizona (2014). The Coyotes faced Montana each year from 2012-14.

Of the 105 players on South Dakota's roster this season, 25 are upperclassmen (13 seniors, 12 juniors).

Since joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2012, 43 of South Dakota's 71 opponents have been either a nationally-ranked FCS team or an FBS opponent (60 percent).

It is Hall of Fame Weekend and running back Stefan Logan, the leading rusher in Coyote history, is one of the inductees to be enshrined Friday at an on-campus ceremony held at the Muenster University Center. In 45 games spanning the 2003-06 seasons, he carried 808 times for 5,958 yards and 28 touchdowns. He is one of 10 players in Division II history to rush for 1,000 yards in all four seasons.
    Logan is currently in his fourth season with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.