South Dakota held quarterback Peyton Huslig and the Valley's No. 2 passing attack to 184 yards on 40 attempts Saturday. That's the fewest Missouri State has mustered against an FCS foe this season and the lowest tally of the year for the Coyote defense. USD evened its record to 3-3 (2-0 in the MVFC) with a 45-10 win over the Bears.
 
Here are more notes from week six…

• South Dakota is 2-0 in the Valley for the third consecutive season
• Coyote defense in three wins: 16 points allowed (5.3 ppg), 141 yards rushing (47.0 ypg), 604 yards passing (201.3 ypg), 9 sacks, 6 turnovers
• The longest run by an opposing running back in the last two weeks – 7 yards
• Opposing running backs have ran 73 times for 154 yards over the last three games (2.1 ypc)
  • 15 rushes have lost yards
  • 25 rushes have netted 0-2 yards
  • 20 rushes have netted 3-5 yards
  • 9 rushes have netted 6-8 yards
  • 1 rush netted 16 yards
• Jakari Starling (8), Brock Mogensen (7) and Bakhari Goodson (6) all registered career highs for tackles Saturday
• Goodson forced two turnovers Saturday. He picked off Huslig inside the red zone and returned it 42 yards to flip field position. He also forced a fourth-quarter fumble that Brendan Webb recovered
• Jack Cochrane forced two turnovers Saturday in a span of three plays. He recovered a fumble that led to a one-play touchdown drive that put USD ahead 24-7. He picked off Huslig and returned it 40 yards to the MSU 4, setting up a Kai Henry touchdown that extended the lead to 31-7.
• Cochrane has two of USD's eight interceptions this season
• Austin Simmons turned in his best NCAA efficiency rating of his career, 225.49, after completing 15 of 21 passes for 228 yards and four touchdowns. It was his third four-touchdown game of his career and second in his last four games.
• Simmons surpassed 5,000 yards on his 56-yard pitch-and-catch touchdown to Caleb Vander Esch. Simmons is the fifth USD quarterback to reach that plateau.
• Simmons moved into fourth place on USD's career touchdown pass list with 39. Next up – Chris Streveler with 54
• Caleb Vander Esch became the third Coyote receiver this season to catch two touchdowns in a game. Vander Esch ranks third in the Valley with four touchdown catches this season.
• Drew Greenhaw has caught a touchdown pass in back-to-back games
• Ben Klett caught his first collegiate touchdown pass and has 10 career receptions
• Klett's 57-yard scamper in the second quarter was a career-long, and the longest run by a Coyote this season
• Kai Henry has ran for five scores in the last three games, and has 18 career rushing touchdowns
• Canaan Brooks reached the end zone for the first time this season and for the third time in his career
• Marquis Majors made his first collegiate catch Saturday
• South Dakota has run for 200 yards in three consecutive games for the first time since the start of the 2017 campaign and for just the second time since 2009
• USD's largest margin of victory on the road in MVFC play prior to Saturday – 7 points at Southern Illinois in 2017

QUOTABLE
 
Redshirt freshman linebacker Jakari Starling
On Saturday's win in Missouri…
"It was definitely a fun game to play in. Everything clicked, especially as we started getting the ball rolling these past three games.
 
"We've certainly improved over these last few games. We had a team meeting awhile back and talked about trusting each other more and doing our 1/11, and nobody tries to go outside the box and try to do more than what they have to do. As long as everyone does their job, we will continue to have success on both sides of the ball."
 
On defensive changes throughout the win streak…
"Everything has pretty much stayed the same, we have just fine tuned it and got more in depth on how to do it. The coaches have showed us how to do it better, and that's been a big factor in our success. We're playing more aggressively and have made teams more one dimensional. That's when we've been able to get into our different packages.
 
"Our three down linemen have been our strength. No matter who lines up there, they know where they have to be and what they have to do. And then on top of that, we have a hybrid outside linebacker who can cover and put his hand in the ground when he needs to. It makes the defense more versatile in terms of speed, stopping the run on the edges, getting off perimeter blocks and running to ball.
 
On his improvement since week one…
"The game has slowed down for me. That first game, I knew what I had to do, but it was moving really fast. My technique is better now and my foundation is more solid."
 
Junior right guard Mason Scheidegger
On Saturday's performance…
"There were a couple of times where we made mistakes that were fixable, but just like the week before, we played physical and were pretty dominant up front.
 
"We're focusing more on finishing games this year where in past years, we might have started to coast a little bit after building a big lead. Coach Nielson has really made us focus on the fact that we need to finish games, and so in the third quarter, to have two long scoring drives where we took some time off the clock was certainly part of the fun and was nice to see."
 
On the running game…
"Our option play was successful last year, we just didn't run it a lot. I think our coaches noticed that and we've made it more of an emphasis this year. It also gives us an opportunity to get our players out in space and make plays and that's been really good for us this year.
 
"Moving forward, teams are seeing that we've had multiple rushing games where we've gotten over 200 yards and I'm sure as we continue in the Valley, people will try to stop some of our different schemes and will give us some different looks. We need to be ready and continue to push forward."
 
Junior wide receiver Caleb Vander Esch
 
On Saturday's performance…
"We got off to a sketchy start in the beginning, but we picked it up and kept pushing. It was a lot of fun to build a lead and maintain that lead throughout the game. There was a lot of energy on our sidelines."
 
On the 56-yard screen pass for a score…
"Coach Schlafke does a great job of setting us up for success by calling the right play at the right time. I think our execution on that play was just about perfect. The linemen came out and blocked it up, and Brett Samson had an awesome kick-out block on the corner, so they set it up perfectly and I just had to run straight."
 
On the fake option play that went for his second score…
"Right when that play was called in the huddle, I was excited to run it because we had been practicing it. But all that week, I never got the pass on that play – it was always the tight end coming across, so it was fun to get it and I'm glad it worked and gave us a bigger lead."
 
On the most impressive part of the team's play in the last three weeks…
"Definitely the defense. They've been awesome. I don't know their exact stats, but the run defense can't be better than what they've been and they've done a great job shutting down the pass as well. I know Missouri State's had success throwing it and they completely shut them down. So defense picking it up has been awesome and the offense has been able to put some points on the board as well so it's been a big team effort.
 
On his last two-touchdown game…
"(chuckles) It was high school for sure. Never in college. Senior year sometime a few years back."
 
Junior cornerback Bakhari Goodson
On Saturday's game…
"We played well. We had some guys who stepped up and I think the offense and the defense complimented each other very well. Mark went down during warmups, but Cori, Tis and Darion were ready to play. Missouri State had some bigger receivers and it turned out to be a good matchup. We did a good job of preparing for them."
 
On the two turnovers…
"I actually got picked on the play, but it's the game of football and it tipped off the player's hand and I was following through with my cover and was in the right spot at the right time to make the pick. After that, it was a blur. I saw the receiver to the side so I made a cut in and after that, I just saw linemen everywhere!
 
"On the fumble, I punched it out, but my arm got stuck between Meaty's [DeValon Whitcomb] arm and the running back and it wasn't a good place to be."

Junior linebacker Jack Cochrane
On the team's third straight win…
"The most positive thing is the fact that we're still making mistakes that we shouldn't be making and still getting the results. Seeing the amount of growth that's still out there for us is really promising.
 
"Their quarterback is an experienced guy so we knew they were going to try to hang on him, and it was our first test since Houston Baptist against a team that really lives and dies by the way they throw the ball. We also knew they were going to try to get the ball out quick, which is something we struggled with earlier this year, so we showed some nice steps in our ability to hang and defend those plays."
 
On the adjustments…
"We had some different looks in terms of alignment and some different drops by the backers, which I ended up getting the interception on that one. All the credit goes to the coaches for scheming teams up so that all we have to do is execute."
 
On what he saw on the interception return…
"I saw a lot of open space, and obviously I was a little frustrated that I couldn't quite get into the end zone, but I guess that's what happens when you don't carry the ball since you were in high school. I kind of just froze. I haven't had to juke anyone in a while…"


AUDIBLE
For more on Saturday's game, check out the latest edition of YoteCast, the official podcast of the South Dakota Coyotes. In Monday's edition, John Thayer, who worked the sidelines for the Coyote Sports Network and Jay Elsen from the Midco Sports Network, break down the game against the Bears and look ahead to Saturday's game at Northern Iowa.