The Game
A pair of teams looking to even their record in week two meet inside the DakotaDome Saturday when South Dakota hosts Northern Arizona in a 1 p.m. kick on Midco Sports. Both had tall tasks in week one. The Coyotes led the Big 12's Kansas Jayhawks late into the fourth quarter before falling 17-14. The Lumberjacks hosted defending national champion Sam Houston State and stayed close for awhile, but lost 42-16.
 
The Series
South Dakota and Northern Arizona first met in Flagstaff back in 2013 when then-No. 22 Northern Arizona beat USD 22-16. The Coyotes won the rematch the following year, 28-21, in an upset of the 23^rd-ranked Lumberjacks behind quarterback Ryan Saeger, who ran for 108 yards, passed for 85 and totaled three touchdowns.
 
The Construction?
The Department of Transportation has informed the University that the intersection of University St. and Highway 50 will be unavailable Saturday. We encourage those arriving from the east to take Cherry St. into town before turning right onto either University St. or Dakota St. to access parking areas.
 
The Lumberjacks
The biggest question mark coming out of game one is the health of quarterback Keondre Wudtee who exited the season opener early with an ankle injury and did not return. Redshirt freshman Jeff Widener entered the game and played the rest of the half and the majority of the third quarter. Wudtee passed for 1,074 yards, four touchdowns and an interception in five games this past spring. Widener went 20-for-34 for 274 yards a touchdown and two picks in relief of Wudtee last week.
 
Outside of the passing game, Northern Arizona hopes to improve on the 91-yard rushing effort against the defending champs. Kevin Daniels ran 11 times for just 23 yards. Widener actually led the ground game with 31 yards. Defensively, NAU got 10 tackles from safety Morgan Vest last week. Vest also led the Jacks with 53 tackles in the spring.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota's young backs Travis Theis and Shomari Lawrence ran effectively against Kansas last week, but a sub-par performance in the passing game is where USD hopes to improve. Two-time all-Valley wide out Caleb Vander Esch was limited to just one catch and seven yards against the Jayhawks. The Coyotes did see the return of Kody Case to the field and he led USD's receiving corps in the opener.
 
Defensively, USD's defensive line was the star against Kansas and that allowed all-Valley linebackers Jack Cochrane and Brock Mogensen to make plays. Starting cornerback Myles Harden must miss the first half due a targeting call against him in the fourth quarter against Kansas. That's significant because the Lumberjacks boast a pair of receivers in Brandon Porter and Stacy Chukwumezie who have combined for more than 3,000 career yards.
 
One Last Thing
The Coyotes have won 16 of their last 18 home openers in the DakotaDome. With the season pushed back to the spring last season, the Yotes will be playing their first game in the newly renovated DakotaDome without fan restrictions this fall.

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