GARRY: One last day in the Dome for Simmons

VERMILLION, S.D.—After five years at the University of South Dakota, Austin Simmons' college career is winding down this week. The quarterback will take with him a lot of memories and some elite numbers.

These efforts will put the former Lewis Central High School star from Council Bluffs, Iowa, in any future conversation about the best Coyote quarterbacks ever.

With South Dakota State coming to the DakotaDome on Saturday, Simmons will need six yards to move into second place, ahead of Wes Beschorner (6,240), in total career passing yards.

With a good day, he'll move ahead of Beschorner (7,476) into second place in total offense and has an outside chance – he'll need to throw four touchdown passes – of matching Chris Streveler for No. 3 in that statistical category. He's already No. 2 all-time in completions behind Noah Shepard. With 39 more, he can finish first on that list.

His effectiveness can be measured by all those numbers, but just as accurately, by all those names. Shepard, Beschorner, Streveler and Simmons. In any order, longtime Coyote fans can tell you that's fine company to be keeping.

"Our record is probably not indicative of how well he's played for us this year," said USD offensive coordinator Ted Schlafke. "He does everything for our team in terms of how defenses defend us. It starts with how he plays and his style. It can open up a lot of things for a lot of different guys."

Simmons, who has thrown for 2,701 yards in 2019, will try to finish with one more big day at home against the Jackrabbits.

Any serious questions about his potential as a professional quarterback — he’s mobile and has a big arm — can wait until sometime late Saturday afternoon. The time he has spent at USD, however, is another matter.

Early in his career, Simmons tossed his words around to the media as if they were manhole covers. Excellent student, incredibly dedicated football player, not much of a talker. More recently, he's been more generous in his role as a team spokesman. It has been part of the process.

"I've improved in my overall understanding of the game," Simmons said. "In your final year, finishing up five years of college football, you learn a lot. I've probably grown in that aspect more than anything."

Simmons completed his education degree last spring, including his required stint as a student teacher. He has been taking graduate-level courses toward a master's degree in USD's kinesiology and sports management program since the summer.

To others, and this includes teammates and the coaching staff, it's not like he's leaving anything on the shelf. He has been extremely motivated in everything that goes with playing quarterback at this level.

"The amount of work he has put in here is really impressive," Schlafke said. "The strides he has made over the course of the four years I've been with him is due to his work ethic. You're not going to find anyone who does more individually for our team. That goes for the weight room and for putting the time in studying or coming in to watch film or for extra meetings. He just makes sure he's dialed-in. He's been a joy to work with because of that."

While that effort has helped Simmons produce elite numbers, there is way more to it. As he prepares to play his last college football game, he hasn't lost sight of how memories win out over statistics. If anything, that philosophy is more important now than ever.

"There are ups and downs and lessons learned," Simmons said. "For me, it's things like learning to push through weight sessions, preparing for games, making sure you know what you're doing."

A younger Simmons would have stopped there and hoped no more questions were coming. But the fifth-year senior kept talking.

"You learn to put in that extra work all the time," he continued. "That might be throwing in the offseason or throwing after practice. You get to hang out with your friends, you get to meet different people from different walks of life. There's so much that goes into a football career. That's something that is very special."

There is almost nothing good about going into a last game of a college career knowing there is no chance of a postseason run, but it does serve to clarify a few things.

"At the end of the day, I've built some great relationships," Simmons said. "I've had a lot of really cool experiences here. It's been a pleasure being a Coyote and I wouldn't trade it for anything."