Full Game Notes (.pdf) | South Dakota State Notes (.pdf)

The Basics
No. 17/19 South Dakota (6-3, 4-2 MVFC) vs. No. 7/4 South Dakota State (7-2, 4-2 MVFC)
Saturday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. (CST)
Vermillion, S.D. | DakotaDome (9,100)
TV: Midco Sports (Jay Elsen, Andre Fields, Elaina Lanson)
Radio: Coyote Sports Network (John Thayer, Gary Culver, Carter Woodiel)
Watch Online: FREE webcast on GoYotes.com | ESPN+ (subscription required) | Midco Sports Plus
Series: SDSU leads 55-52-7 ... USD won last meeting 24-21 in Vermillion in 2019

About the Coyotes:  South Dakota is trying to solidify a playoff spot with a seventh win ... QB Carson Camp returned to the lineup last week and led USD to its fourth win in five games ... he has thrown 9 TDs with zero INTs in that span ... Travis Theis and Nate Thomas give USD two of the top eight rushers in the Valley ... WR Carter Bell is coming off a 182-yard, 2-TD performance at WIU ... all-Valley MLBs Jack Cochrane and Brock Mogensen lead a Coyote defense that ranks 10th nationally against the run and 21st overall ... Cochrane is two tackles shy of 300 ... USD has 14 sacks in its last three games and ranks fifth nationally in sacks per game ... Coyote specialists are some of the best in the FCS

About the Jackrabbits:  SDSU likely secured its playoff ticket with a 27-19 win against NDSU last week and is now eyeing a top-eight seed and a first-round bye ... the defending national runner-ups are led by junior RB Pierre Strong, the leading rusher in the FCS and a likely finalist for this year's Walter Payton Award ... Samford transfer Chris Oladokun has thrown 16 TDs against 3 INTs ... WRs Jaxon and Jadon Janke have combined for 1,050 yards receiving and 8 TDs ... R-Fr. LB Adam Bock leads an SDSU defense with strikingly similar numbers to the Coyotes ... both units have forced 15 turnovers in nine games

Quick Hits
-Saturday will be the 115th meeting in a series that dates back to 1989
-Eleven seniors will be recognized in a pregame ceremony down on the field
-USD ended a 10-game skid against the Jacks with a 24-21 win in Vermillion in 2019
-LB Jack Cochrane has 298 tackles. Just six players in program history have reached 300.
-USD has outscored its eight FCS foes 184-58 in the first half
-Mason Lorber has made 10 consecutive field goals (10-for-11 on the season)
-DT Nick Gaes has six sacks over the last five games and ranks third in the Valley in sacks
-Carson Camp's 91-yard TD pass to Carter Bell last week was a program record
-RB Nate Thomas was named Valley Newcomer of the Week for the second time this season following an 11-carry, 110-yard performance at Western Illinois last week

The Notes
South Dakota and South Dakota State are meeting for the 115th time in a series that dates back to 1889. South Dakota held a 48-34-7 lead in the series at the end of the 1980s, but the Jackrabbits have won 21 of the last 25 games since 1990 to take their first lead in the series which now sits at 55-52-7. The Coyotes' 24-21 win in 2019 ended SDSU's 10-game win streak in the series.

South Dakota and South Dakota State have met every season for the last 106 years with the following exceptions:
-Three years during World War I (1916-18)
-Three years during World War II (1943-45)
-Eight years after SDSU made the jump to FCS (2004-11)
-Last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Here are some notes from the first 114 meetings between the two intrastate rivals:
-44 games, including four of the last five, have been decided by seven points or less
-USD has scored 1,950 points; SDSU has scored 1,865 points
-There have been 32 shutouts in 114 games (one since 1970)
-SDSU has been shutout 20 times, USD 14 times (two 0-0 ties)
-USD's largest margin of victory is 73-7 in 1912
-SDSU's largest margin of victory is 61-0 in 1963
-The most combined points scored is 90 (USD, 51-39 in 1986)
-The teams have met twice in the same season 12 times
-The programs have yet to meet in the postseason

Saturday marks the second time since 1997 that South Dakota and South Dakota State are competing in a matchup of top-25 teams. Then-No. 5 South Dakota State defeated then No. 15 South Dakota 31-28 in a game played in Vermillion back in 2017. The Jackrabbits have held a national ranking in all eight matchups at the FCS level (since 2012).

Kody Case caught five passes for 111 yards and Brett Samson caught six passes for 71 yards and two touchdowns in the Coyotes' 24-21 victory against South Dakota State back in 2019. Travis Theis ran 10 times for 32 yards in that game, but USD was led in rushing by quarterback Austin Simmons who carried 16 times for 47 yards and a touchdown. He also passed for 252 yards and two scores. Defensively, Jack Cochrane had a team-high 12 tackles including a sack, Elijah Reed had 10 tackles and Isaiah McDaniels had nine tackles and forced two turnovers.

South Dakota's offense, which led the Valley in passing for three consecutive seasons from 2017-19, has handed the keys to a veteran offensive line and a stable of young running backs. The Coyotes are averaging nearly 190 yards rushing, which ranks 22nd nationally. USD is averaging 195 yards passing.

South Dakota boasts the Valley's seventh- and eighth-leading rushers in third-year freshman Travis Theis and true freshman Nate Thomas. Theis has averaged 91 yards over his last four games including back-to-back 100-yard efforts against North Dakota and Northern Iowa. Thomas is averaging 6.8 yards per carry, which ranks seventh nationally. He didn't make his collegiate debut until game three, and has seen an extended role since the injury to Shomari Lawrence in game four.

Carter Bell was the Valley's fourth-leading receiver through five games, but had been relatively quiet for three games in weeks 6-8. He broke out with five catches for 182 yards and two touchdowns – all in the first half – against Western Illinois last week. It included a program-record, 91-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter and a 60-yard touchdown catch in the second. It was the seventh-best performance in program history. Bell's 584 receiving yards this season ranks eighth in the Valley.

Alex Jensen (LT), Kian Rexroat Potts (C) and Isaac Erbes (RG) are the veterans along the offensive line who have started 25 consecutive games. Colton Harberts started the first four games at right tackle, filled in at left guard against North Dakota after Joey Lombard was unable to go with an injury, and returned to right tackle when Lombard returned to the lineup. Harberts missed the Illinois State game, but returned against Western Illinois. Austin Wallace, who has played in 36 games over the last four seasons, and Siler Tschirhart have both started at right tackle this season and can fill in where needed.

Coyote quarterback Carson Camp was injured early in the second quarter of the loss against Illinois State and did not return. He started against Western Illinois last week and passed for 236 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone. He threw just five passes in the second half before being replaced with a comfortable lead.

Camp has thrown at least two touchdowns in four of his last five games with the Illinois State game the lone exception. He's been interception free in all but one game this season (Missouri State).

All-Valley linebacker Jack Cochrane is vying to become the seventh player in program history to make 300 tackles. Here is a look at the all-time list:
5.  331 - Craig Austin, 1978-81
6.  306 - Todd Pharis, 1981-84
7.  298 - Jack Cochrane, 2017-pres.
7.  298 - Jim Glogowski, 1992-95

Cochrane is half of a pair of all-conference linebackers roaming the middle of the Coyotes' defense. Fourth-year sophomore Brock Mogensen earned all-Valley honors this past spring when he ranked second in the Valley in tackles per game. Mogensen is South Dakota's second-leading tackler this season. He has a sack, five TFLs and forced a fumble last week in Macomb.

South Dakota's defense has intercepted eight passes this season – two in four different games. Only two players in the Valley have more interceptions than Cochrane, who got his third last week at Western Illinois. Safety Elijah Reed, the Coyotes' third-leading tackler, has two.

The Coyotes were without starting cornerback Tre Jackson last week and Myles Harden was injured four games ago against North Dakota. Da'Raun McKinney, a transfer from Iowa, and veteran Cam Tisdale are the next men up on the outsides. The duo managed to contain Western Illinois' high-powered passing game a week ago. They will face a passing game this week that averages 250 yards (28th in the FCS) and has thrown just three interceptions all season.

The Coyotes hope to defend that passing game with pressure. South Dakota has 30 sacks this season and ranks fifth nationally in sacks per game. The Coyotes have totaled 14 sacks in their last three games. Third-year freshman Nick Gaes along with six-year senior Jacob Matthew top the list with six sacks each, which are third-most in the Valley. Defensive lineman Brendan Webb has four and linebacker DeJaun Cooper has three.

Mason Lorber is one of the top kickers in the nation. He has made 10 consecutive field goals since a season-opening miss at Kansas. That was the longest active streak in the FCS. He has not attempted a 3-pointer in the team's last two games. The average distance on those makes is 36 yards and includes a program-record-tying 54-yarder. He is the third-most accurate FCS kicker. In addition, he has had 36 touchbacks on 50 kickoffs.

Brady Schutt is one of the top punters in the nation. He has ranked fourth in the FCS for punting average in each of the last two seasons and currently ranks 12th nationally with a 43.6-yard average. He's acheived that average and that ranking while pinning more than half his punts inside the 20. In the last two games alone, he has put 11 punts inside the 20.

In addition, USD led the nation in net punting back in the abbreviated spring season. The team currently ranks 10th in that category. Schutt's career average of 43.0 is a program record. Did we mention he and his long-snapper, Dalton Godfrey, were preseason all-Americans?

Wesley Eliodor is one of the top kick returners in the nation. He currently holds the third-best return average of 32.7 yards per return. That includes a 99-yard touchdown return on the road at Missouri State back in week four.