The Pregame
Headed to the game? Join fellow fans and friends for a pre-game party starting at 11:30 a.m. at the Terrace Grille & Lounge located inside the University Plaza Hotel & Convention Center. The address is 333 John Q. Hammons Parkway in Springfield.
The Game
Two teams fresh off wins on the opening weekend of conference play meet at Plaster Stadium Saturday. The winner will be one of two or three teams who will be left undefeated in the Valley.
The game is a rematch of last year's Dakota Days game in Vermillion. Missouri State, then No. 24 in the rankings, led 28-27 entering the fourth quarter behind four touchdowns – two rushing and two passing – from quarterback Peyton Huslig. Coyote quarterback
Austin Simmons connected with
Levi Falck for a 40-yard touchdown that put USD ahead, and a two-point conversion made it 35-28.
With less than five minutes to go, Huslig and the Bears had 1
st-and-goal from the 6. Two plays later, it was 3
rd-and-goal from the 1. Donovan Daniels was stuffed on a run up the middle to bring fourth down, and USD linebacker
Alex Coker brought Daniels down in the backfield to preserve the lead. Missouri State got the ball back with one last chance, but was stalled at the USD 37.
The result moved the home team in this series to 5-0.
The Quarterbacks
Simmons and Huslig are matched up again on Saturday. They bring with them the top passing attacks in the Valley, and by a considerable margin. Simmons and the Coyotes rank 19
th nationally at 289 yards per game. Huslig and the Bears are 39
th at 256 yards per game.
Simmons has been bolstered in recent weeks by a run game that went over 200 yards in a win over Northern Colorado and over 300 yards in last week's 38-0 victory against Indiana State. Simmons accounted for 202 yards on the ground in those wins.
Kai Henry ran 14 times for a season-best 101 yards and a score last week.
Huslig has not had that luxury so far through four games. His offense has mustered a 76-yard rushing average, which is near the bottom of the FCS. Huslig was the top rusher for the Bears in last year's meeting, running 18 times for 91 yards while Daniels got 61 yards on 15 carries.
The Receivers
South Dakota is hopeful to get
Kody Case closer to 100 percent after missing two full games and playing just nine snaps a week ago. Case was the star for USD through two games before being sidelined with an ankle injury.
Caleb Vander Esch has 16 catches for a team-high 227 yards in the last three games in place of Case. USD is also hopeful for a breakout game for all-Valley performer
Dakarai Allen, who has 15 catches for 139 yards and a score through five games.
On the other side are upperclassmen Tyler Currie and Lorenzo Thomas for Missouri State. The duo combined for 13 catches, 174 yards and a score in last year's meeting in Vermillion. They enter with 20 catches apiece this season. No other Bear has more than nine.
The Defenses
After surrendering 154 points thru three games, the Coyotes have allowed next to nothing in back-to-back wins. Northern Colorado and Indiana State combined for 77 yards rushing on 66 carries. If you take out nine sacks, those two teams had 57 designed runs for 144 yards (2.5 ypc). But Saturday, they will return to face a pass-first offense headed by Huslig, a 5,000-yard passer. Having cornerbacks
Mark Collins Jr. and
Bakhari Goodson back on the edges will help, but USD will also try to apply pressure with its 3-4 look led by a senior-laded defensive line.
Missouri State has allowed 40 points, 242 yards rushing and 217 yards passing per game, but consider the competition. It included road games at Northern Arizona (L, 37-23) and FBS Tulane (L, 58-6) followed by a home game against then-No. 6 Kennesaw State (L, 35-24). They were tied 21-21 at the end of regulation last week at Western Illinois before prevailing 37-31 in triple overtime.
The Bears have seven starters back including two-time all-MVFC linebacker Angelo Garbutt, who has 4.5 tackles-for-loss in three games (he did not play against Tulane). Preseason all-conference pick and linebacker McNeece Egbim is the team's leading tackler. Defensive end Matt McClellan, another preseason pick, has three of the Bears' four sacks.
One Last Thing…
Simmons enters play 45 yards shy of 5,000 career passing yards. He would become the fifth USD quarterback to reach that plateau. Also, two-time All-American
Darin Greenfield enters with 23.0 sacks and 48.5 tackles-for-loss in his four-year career. The Coyotes' all-time records are 27.0 sacks and 50.5 tackles-for-loss. Greenfield has produced a sack in each of his last four games.
