South Dakota turned it over six times on 16 possessions in dropping a 42-27 decision to 14
th-ranked Northern Iowa Saturday inside the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls. It marked the seventh time in eight meetings as Valley foes that USD outgained UNI in terms of total yardage, but the Panthers have a 6-2 record in that span.
Here are more notes from week seven…
- UNI has forced 13 turnovers in its last three meetings with South Dakota and had a defensive score in each game
- Just one of the Coyotes' six turnovers led directly to points – a pick-6 in the second quarter. UNI ran 17 plays on the five drives following USD turnovers and netted minus-2 yards.
- The Panthers drove 75 yards on four of their five touchdown drives and 58 on their other
- Congratulations to Darin Greenfield for breaking the Coyotes' all-time record for career tackles-for-loss. He notched one in the first quarter Saturday, giving him 51.0 for his career, surpassing Bill Gassen's mark which had stood since 2002.
- Billy Conaway's first collegiate catch went for 56 yards and a score. It tied for the longest catch by a Coyote this season. Conaway had two catches for 73 yards. He also averaged 25 yards on three kickoff returns.
- Caleb Vander Esch also had 73 yards receiving on six catches. It marked the fifth consecutive games that Vander Esch has led the Coyotes in receiving.
- Austin Goehring also hauled in his first collegiate touchdown. It came on his fourth career catch and gave USD a 21-14 lead in the first quarter.
- Tight end Brett Samson has six career carries in 31 career games. Half of them have come against the Panthers.
- Travis Theis, a true freshman from Pratt, Kansas, got a carry in his collegiate debut
- Mason Lorber made field goals of 33 and 30 yards. It is the second time this season and fourth time in his Coyote career that he has hit two 3-pointers in a game.
- Four different Coyotes registered sacks Saturday including co-captain DeValon Whitcomb, who finished with a career-high seven tackles
- Junior linebacker and co-captain Jack Cochrane recorded his first collegiate sack
- Freshman Stephen Hillis has 12 special teams tackles in seven games. That's the most by a Coyote in a single-season as a member of the MVFC (since 2012).
- Hillis also registered his second sack of the season Saturday
- Redshirt freshman linebacker Brock Mogensen tied his career high with seven tackles Saturday
- Mark Collins Jr. has two interceptions in three games this season. He has four picks as a Coyote, which is second amongst active players.
- Austin Simmons' 299 yards are the most put up against UNI's defense this season. It was the second-highest tally for Simmons this season.
- Simmons was pressured on 28 of his 53 drops. On those pressures, he completed 11 of 18 passes for 137 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He also scrambled six times for 42 yards. He picked up first downs on 10 of those 28 plays. He was sacked four times and had no chance on two of them.
- Simmons (6,251) surpassed 6,000 yards of total offense for his career during Saturday's game. He is the fourth quarterback to reach that plateau and did it with 18 career starts.
- Where would this rank on your South Dakota plays of the year list?
QUOTABLE
Freshman wide receiver Billy Conaway
On his first collegiate (touchdown) catch…
"It was pretty wild. We had made this play where I come in and streak it down the middle and [Austin] Simmons just throws it and I go get it. That's what happened. I almost thought I wasn't going to get there, but I did. And when I scored, it was unreal. As a kid, you think about that day and it was great."
On waiting for an opportunity as a true freshman…
"It's hard and a little stressful, but you look for an opportunity to step in and have a big impact. And once you do, you have to take it and don't look back.
"You have to get past the redshirt mode. Once you get past the redshirt mode, you come in and start practicing a little harder, you start feeling a little better about things and you start giving your all in practice and that's what happened. They started including me more, and I started giving it more and Saturday happened. I just really wish we had come out a little better in the second half. We fought hard, but we needed to be a little better."
Junior cornerback Mark Collins Jr.
On his return to the field and the interception…
"Last week, I tweaked my ankle at the wrong place at the wrong time and wasn't able to go, but thankfully, it was nothing serious and I was able to get back quick.
"We knew this quarterback could extend plays and tries to make things happen late instead of taking a sack or throwing the ball away. So I knew I had to stick with my man and have good eyes and not get fooled by the quarterback on a fake run or something like that. The ball ended up coming my way."
On Saturday's game…
"I thought we played them tough all game, honestly. If you take out a handful of plays, I think our defense played well, holding them in the run and the pass. But those big plays cost us the game, and against good teams like that, you have to minimize those mistakes.
"[Isaiah] Weston is a good player. They lined him up in the slot a lot to create some mismatches and it made it tough on us at times."
Senior defensive tackle DeValon Whitcomb
On Saturday's result…
"We played well, but the score didn't show it. They had four big plays that led to most of their points. Upfront, we were focused on keeping the quarterback within the pocket. He had one big run, but we won a lot of those matchups, kept good vision and was able to hold him to just eight completions."
On a sack and a career-high seven tackles…
"I knew I got in on a lot of tackles, but I didn't know it was that many. Outside of that quarterback run, they had less than 70 yards rushing prior to the fourth quarter. They started running the ball to the opposite side on some of those later drives, and by the time we adjusted, it was too late."
Sophomore tight end Austin Goehring
On Saturday's game…
"It was a fun game, hard-fought game, but we didn't do some of the little things and came out on the wrong end. Field position in the second half and those six turnovers killed us. Turning the ball over in their territory made it hard to gain position. We put some long drives together, but had to settle for field goals. Especially against their defense, which is physical and fast and so it was tough."
On his first touchdown…
"I had a good feeling going into it. I was running a corner route and they had a little bit of pressure. I saw the ball coming towards me back shoulder a little bit and made the play. It was a pretty good throw. He [Simmons] was being pressured so I'll give him props on that one."
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 Panthers and look ahead to Saturday's game at Southern Illinois.
