Full Game Notes (.pdf) | North Dakota Notes (.pdf)

The Basics
South Dakota (3-6, 2-4 MVFC) at North Dakota (6-3, 4-2 MVFC)
Saturday, Nov. 12 at noon (CST)
Grand Forks, N.D. | Alerus Center (12,283)
TV: Midco Sports (Brian Shawn, Ryan Kasowski)
Radio: Coyote Sports Network (John Thayer, Gary Culver)
Watch Online: ESPN+ ($) | Midco Sports Plus ($)
Series: North Dakota leads 63-31-5 ... USD won 20-13 last season ... UND has won last 14 at home

About the Coyotes:  South Dakota is coming off one of its best performances of the season in a 20-13 win at home against Missouri State ... all three wins this season have come in Vermillion ... the team has totaled just 44 points in five road games ... USD is facing the toughest FCS schedule in the nation ... the team is taking a look at RS-freshman QB Aidan Bouman who has been featured in the last two home wins and is poised to make his third collegiate start ... RB Travis Theis has been asked to carry a heavy load all season ... Wesley Eliodor has emerged as the go-to receiver ... the defense has missed CB Myles Harden, but features the two leading tacklers in the Valley in ILBs Stephen Hillis and Brock Mogensen

About the Hawks:  North Dakota can all but secure an FCS playoff bid with a win Saturday ... a loss and UND will have to win at NDSU next week ... QB Tommy Schuster leads a balanced, high-scoring and ball-hogging offense that features former UNI RB Tyler Hoosman, who has posted identical numbers to USD's Theis ... Bo Belquist is the fifth-leading receiver in the Valley ... UND has turned it over just six times and is among the nation's leaders in time of possession ... DL Ben McNaboe has emerged as a true playmaker for a defense that has given up a lot of points and yards through the air

Quick Hits
-South Dakota is searching for its first road win of the season and its first win in Grand Forks since 1985 (0-14).
-The home team has won the last seven games in this series dating back to 2008
-The Coyotes are ranked 31st in the Massey Ratings with the toughest strength of schedule in FCS
-LBs Stephen Hillis (88 tackles) and Brock Mogensen (84 tackles) are in competition to be the Valley's leading tackler this season
-Aidan Bouman is expected to make his third collegiate start at quarterback
-Bob Nielson hired Bubba Schweigert to be the coach at Minnesota Duluth after Nielson moved from head coach to athletic director following the 2003 season
-WR Wesley Eliodor has caught a touchdown in three consecutive games
-UND is South Dakota's fifth top-20 foe in nine FCS games this season

The Notes
South Dakota heads to snowy Grand Forks for one last chance at a signature road win this season. It will have to come against a 19th-ranked North Dakota team honoring its seniors and fighting for its playoff life. The Fighting Hawks have won four of their last five games with a home loss to top-ranked South Dakota State the only blemish.

South Dakota enters having won two of its last three games behind quarterback Aidan Bouman, who entered late in the first half of a homecoming game against Southern Illinois and rallied the Coyotes to a 27-24 win. USD is coming off perhaps its best all-around performance of the season in a 20-13 victory against Missouri State. The Bears entered that game having scored a season-high 64 points the prior week against Western Illinois.

This is the fifth matchup between Bob Nielson and Bubba Schweigert and both have two wins apiece. Nielson hired Schweigert at Minnesota Duluth after Nielson moved from head football coach to athletic director there following the 2003 season. Schweigert left Duluth after four seasons to become the offensive coordinator at Southern Illinois. Nielson returned to the sidelines in 2008 and led Duluth to a 15-0 season and a Division II national championship.

South Dakota hasn't won at North Dakota since 1985. There have been some close calls of late. North Dakota won 38-37 in 2011 after scoring 20 unanswered points over the final 11 minutes. The next meeting didn't come until 2016 and it was another late 20-point rally that eventually led to the Hawks' 47-44, double-overtime win. The latest meeting was a 21-10 UND win during the COVID season in the spring of 2021.

That said, South Dakota has won two of the last three matchups in this series including a 20-13 win inside the DakotaDome last fall. Coyote running back Travis Theis ran for what remains a career-high 138 yards while South Dakota's defense held all-American running back Otis Weah to 58 yards on 15 carries. Back in 2018, it was quarterback Chris Streveler leading the Coyotes to a dominant 45-7 win against then-No. 10 North Dakota inside the DakotaDome. USD would go on to reach the FCS playoffs for the first time that season and advance to the round of 16.

Hidden in the numbers of last year's win against North Dakota were the yards after contact for Theis. South Dakota didn't have a negative run play against a defense that had produced more than 30 negative plays in its four games prior. Unofficially, Theis broke 15 tackles and had 104 yards after first contact in that game. He has consistently offered that type of effort throughout this season in trying to boost an offense that has been inconsistent at times while facing the nation's most difficult schedule.

To that point, South Dakota is taking a look at Bouman at the quarterback position. Bouman began his career at Iowa State and transferred to USD prior to this season. He has passed for 609 yards and accounted for five touchdowns (4 pass, 1 run) in a little more than 10 quarters of work. He was sacked five times and lost a fumble at Youngstown State, but was unblemished last week in the win against Missouri State. Bouman is the reigning Valley Newcomer of the Week after passing for 235 yards and two touchdowns.

Wesley Eliodor has been the biggest benefactor to the new arm. He is coming off a career-best six-catch and 97-yard performance against Missouri State, and has 14 receptions for 225 yards and three touchdowns in his last three games. The Coyotes have also tried to get Carter Bell more touches throughout the season. He has nine catches in the last three games after logging just seven over the first six. Bell led USD with 41 catches for 673 yards and five touchdowns last season.

Before digging too deep at South Dakota's offensive rankings this season, consider that in addition to Kansas State in the opener, South Dakota has faced the No. 2 (SDSU), No. 5 (NDSU), No. 6 (Montana), and No. 14 (Illinois State) FCS defenses in five of its nine games.
     Another factor is that the Coyotes are hudling more consistently and running 58 offensive plays per game. By comparison, USD averaged 67 plays in 2020 and 2021 and 81 plays per game in 2017 and 2018.

Speaking of tough competition, South Dakota ranks 31st out of 130 FCS teams in this week's Massey Ratings and that's because South Dakota is performing against the toughest FCS schedule (ever?).
     Compare South Dakota at No. 31 to one of its early 2023 opponents St. Thomas. The Tommies are 8-1 and the AFCA Coaches poll has them in the top 25 this week. The computer (Massey) ranks St. Thomas No. 76. Why? The Tommies, which compete in the non-scholarship Pioneer League, are facing the 125th-ranked schedule (out of 130). They have two Division II wins and their best FCS win, Davidson, is ranked No. 93. Their one loss was a 44-13 decision to No. 66 Southern Utah. South Dakota's five FCS losses are all to top-30 teams. It boasts wins against No. 17 Southern Illinois and No. 32 Missouri State.

Linebacker Stephen Hillis leads the Valley and ranks in the top-20 nationally in tackles per game (88 in nine games). What's impressive there is that Hillis wasn't a starter at the beginning of the season. He entered when Jakari Starling was injured in the season opener at Kansas State. Hillis also didn't play the majority of the game against Cal Poly when a first-half injury forced him to exit. Hillis leads the Coyotes in both sacks (3.0) and tackles-for-loss (7.0).

Brock Mogensen is an all-conference linebacker and a preseason all-American playing alongside Hillis. He had a career-high 15 tackles in the Valley opener against NDSU and equaled Hillis' tally of 12 last week in the win against Missouri State. Mogensen is currently second in the Valley in tackles per game (84 in nine games).

The Coyotes' have been without their brightest star defensively the last three weeks in sophomore cornerback Myles Harden, who led the nation with six forced turnovers in just four games. Harden is responsible for half the Coyotes' 12 turnovers this season. USD hasn't forced one in its last two games.
   Harden led the nation in passes defended per game during the COVID-shortened season. He had nine in six games this season.

With Harden out, the Coyote secondary has received a boost in the return of Tre Jackson at cornerback. Jackson had made 12 consecutive starts prior to his absence at the end of last season. The road game two weeks ago at Youngstown State was his first game back. He started last week and recorded a career-high 10 tackles in the win.

 More injuries along the defensive line have provided opportunities for younger players to emerge. That was the case last week as freshman Marcus Simmons Jr., redshirt freshman Justin Stallworth and senior Miles Emery helped reign in MSU quarterback and reigning offensive player of the year Jason Shelley. The Coyotes had three sacks, six hurries and a number of hits on Shelley while also limiting the Bears to less than 100 yards rushing. 

 For the first time in Bob Nielson's 30 years of coaching, a special teams player has been voted a team captain. That player is all-American long snapper Dalton Godfrey, who doubles as an academic all-American. Godfrey is working with two new specialists this year and both are seniors. Eddie Ogamba, who transferred from Iowa State prior to last season, is doing the kicking. John Bickle, who had success at Division III Wheaton College last year, is the punter.

Bickle is among the Valley leaders in punting with a 42-yard average and the Coyotes rank 12th nationally in net punting, a category the program has held high rankings in for a long time behind Miles Bergner and Brady Schutt. The Coyotes led the nation in net punting during the COVID-shortened season.

Ogamba is 7-for-11 on field goals this season. He made a career-long 46-yard field goal and a game-winning 44-yarder against Southern Illinois on homecoming. Ogamba has 23 touchbacks on 34 kickoffs.