Junior linebacker Jack Cochrane racked up a career-high 17 tackles in Saturday's game against Southern Illinois inside the DakotaDome. That's the most by any Coyote since 2012 when Tyler Starr registered 18 in a game at Youngstown State.
 
Here are more notes from week eight…

• Cochrane wasn't the only one piling up the stops against the Salukis. Brock Mogensen had a career-high 13 tackles and true freshman cornerback Cori Fant Jr. had a season-high nine.
• Safety Mike Johnson has scored two career touchdowns, and both were in the DakotaDome against Southern Illinois. He returned an interception 79 yards for a touchdown against the Salukis two years ago, and returned a fumble 31 yards for a score Saturday.
• That play was caused by Jake Richardson, who stripped Saluki quarterback Kar Lyles during a sack on the opening possession of the second half. That was the third career sack for Richardson, who also forced a turnover with his first sack last season at Youngstown State.
• South Dakota had two sacks Saturday. Kameron Cline notched his second sack of the season and the fifth of his Coyote career.
• Southern Illinois used a big play on a broken tackle on its opening possession to setup a 6-yard touchdown run. It marked the first time a Coyote opponent scored on its opening possession this season.
• Kai Henry rushed for a career-high 116 yards on 18 carries, topping the 113 yards he gained in the triple overtime contest at Indiana State last season. It was Henry's second 100-yard effort this season and the fourth of his career.
• Caleb Vander Esch led USD in receiving for the sixth game in a row. He had a career-high nine catches for 85 yards including an 18-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. Vander Esch has a team-leading five touchdowns this season and has six in his career.
• Brett Samson also made his sixth collegiate touchdown catch. He corralled a 2-yarder in the third quarter for his first score of the season.
• Marquis Majors, who made his first collegiate catch last week, had three catches for 28 yards Saturday.
• True freshman Carter Bell, who played quarterback last year at Bettendorf High School, made his collegiate debut Saturday as a punt returner. He had three returns for 28 yards. The Coyotes had 18 punt return yards in their first seven games of this season.
• Brady Schutt is now the nation's third-leading punter with an average of 46.3 per boot. He set career highs by averaging 51.7 yards on three punts Saturday and a net of 50.7.

QUOTABLE
 
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Kody Case
On getting back on the field…
"It definitely felt good to be back out there. Sitting there for a couple of games isn't fun. I had to go through that last year and then again this year. As a competitor, you want to be out there helping your team win. I felt fine after that first tackle, which wasn't the case a few weeks ago, and it was nice to get through a whole game without any injuries."
 
On the Coyote offense…
"We just need to be more consistent. We can drive the ball really well, but when we get into scoring position, we need to find a way to come away with touchdowns. The turnovers hurt, but we know what kind of team we can be and what we've shown we can be. Like that first half against UNI, we moved the ball and got touchdowns. We're capable of that, but we need to do it for four quarters."
 
Redshirt freshman linebacker Brock Mogensen
On the game…
"We played well at times, but certainly the missed tackles brought us down. When he [Javon Williams Jr.] came in and ran the wildcat, we adapted to it a little bit, but they threw in some new stuff and knew how to scheme us up so that was a big part of it. Our emphasis is on doing our 1/11 every play, and a few times, we didn't do that. We can clean up that little stuff and the tackling and we will be back better."
 
On his progression throughout this first season…
"I remember being nervous for that first game, but as Coach Aurich told me, the more experience you get, the better and easier it's going to come. I just feel more confident now. Those first few games, I wasn't very physical, and I think my physicality and tackling is becoming more of an asset for me and I'm continuing to focus on those things."
 
Freshman wide receiver Carter Bell
On making his collegiate debut…
"I heard about halfway through the week and had to get my mind focused. After watching the game before, and seeing Randy [Baker] get dinged up a little bit, I knew I was the next guy up for punt return. For me, it was the same as every week in that I got the same amount of reps. That first return was a little nerve wracking, but it was pretty smooth after that one."
 
"Coach O [Ockinga] told me at the beginning of the year that they were going to try to get me four games at the end of the year, so I've always had in my head to keep working hard throughout the whole season and my four games will come."
 
Junior linebacker Jack Cochrane
On trying to stop Southern Illinois…
"The guy they run is a good player, but honestly, the big plays they got out of it were just misfits and execution things. And one of them was mine. It's my third year playing and I hold myself to a higher standard than that so it's just execution. It isn't anything they're doing, it's what we're doing and what we're not doing. Missed tackles, thinking we're in a different look that we were, a variety of things that all can't happen if you want to be a good football team."
 
On rebounding from a tough loss…
"We got four games left on our schedule against four good teams. There's no room to lay over and sulk. We're a good defense, we've shown that. We weren't today, but we know what we can do, we know what we're capable of. So just going to fix what happened today, going to have to dig deep and really show some heart these last four games and show what we're capable of."


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, who called the game for Midco Sports Network, break down the game against the Salukis and look ahead to Saturday's game at Western Illinois.