South Dakota got its third consecutive victory and second straight against a top-25 team Saturday in a 34-21 decision against then-No. 16/17 Northern Iowa. Voters moved USD to No. 15 in the rankings, the program's highest mark since 2017. The Coyotes go for their first four-game win streak since 2017 Saturday at home against Illinois State.
 
Here are more notes from week seven:

• Travis Theis ran a career-high 29 times for 113 yards. That's the most carries by a Coyote running back since the middle of the 2019 season. Theis is the first running back to score back-to-back 100-yard rushing efforts since Kai Henry in 2019.
• Nate Thomas complimented Theis with 14 rushes for 59 yards and a score. It was Thomas' third touchdown of the season.
• Second-year freshman JJ Galbreath's first collegiate catch was an impressive 9-yard touchdown that pushed Coyotes' lead to 21-0 late in the first half
• Carter Bell tied for the team lead with his third touchdown catch of the season
• Caleb Vander Esch caught five passes for 31 yards. He has surpassed 1,300 yards receiving and is 130 yards from reaching the program's top-10 list. His 113 career catches are sixth-most all-time, one shy of Dustin Nowotny's 114.
• Mason Lorber has made 10 consecutive field goals, which is the longest active streak in the FCS. He is also the most accurate kicker in the FCS for those who have attempted at least 10 field goals this season.
• Jacob Matthew and Brendan Webb both recorded a career-best two sacks in a game. Matthew had 2.5 tackles-for-loss, which ties his career high.
• South Dakota led 24-0 at the half. The Coyotes have outscored their six FCS foes 149-31 in the first half this season.
• South Dakota was the last team in the FCS to surrender a rushing touchdown to a running back this season. Vance McShane broke a 62-yard touchdown at the start of the third quarter Saturday. Outside of that 62-yard run, Northern Iowa ran 23 times for 28 yards.
• South Dakota has thrown 41 passes in the second half against its six FCS opponents. The Coyotes have run 143 times. USD ran 33 times for 120 yards in the second half against UNI Saturday.
• The Coyotes ran 10 straight times for 72 yards on a touchdown drive that made it 34-14 with 1:12 left in the third quarter. Nate Thomas carried seven straight times for 47 yards on the drive and dove in from 2-yards away for the score.
• USD controlled the ball for 20 minutes, 11 seconds in the second half despite kicking off to start the third quarter.
• Da'Raun McKinney led USD with 10 tackles Saturday and has 21 tackles in his last two games, making him the eighth-leading tackler on the team this season.

QUOTABLE
Fifth-year junior left tackle Alex Jensen
On the win…
"For the offensive line and the offense it was a hard-fought game, and I think it showed that we've been making steps each week to become a better team and improve upon some of the things we had struggled with in the past. Stringing together three wins in a row has definitely built our confidence. I think confidence is something we've been building since last spring. It started during the offseason and it's showing on the fields on Saturdays this fall.
 
On the first-half performances this season…
"All three components of our team are responsible for those fast starts – that's the offense, defense and special teams. If one of those segments isn't doing as well, the other two pick them up. That's what's really helped us build some of these leads."
 
On playing with the lead…
"There's definitely an emphasis once we get a lead that we're going to have to control the ball and keep our defense off the field for as long as we can. It puts pressure on us, but it's a good feeling to have the game in our hands. There's no greater feeling as an offensive lineman than to be able to run the football when everybody knows you're running the football."
 
Fifth-year senior linebacker Jack Cochrane
On a rare win inside the UNI-Dome…
"It's nice to know that the work you're putting in pays off. The last couple times we've been here it hasn't gone so well, but I think it shows the direction this program is headed so you got to keep after it and keep doing what we're doing."
 
On the key to slowing down the Panthers…
"They're really explosive. They have a lot of talent on the perimeter and they're just a really talented group all around between the line, the wide receivers, quarterback and running back. So we knew we were going to have to keep the ball in front. They got a lot of big plays in the games they've done well so we knew we were going to have to keep the ball in front of us, which we didn't do perfectly especially in that third quarter, but I think we did a good job for most of the game."
 
Second-year freshman quarterback Carson Camp
On the second-half attack…
"It starts up front. We harped all week that we needed to push the ball downfield whether it was passing or rushing and that's exactly what we did in the third quarter. We were able to put the ball in Travis Theis' hands and Nate Thomas' hands and they were able to get a good amount of yards so props to them. They run the ball hard and up front, they did a great job. It's a big UNI defense, but we knew going into this game that we were going to have to run the ball."
 
On the Mason Lorber field goal that stopped a 14-0 UNI run…
"I would have loved to have gotten a touchdown, but with the field goal I think that was able to create a little bit of a cushion for the defense and take the stress off the defense so obviously, it was big and that was a big-time field goal made by Mason Lorber.