Full Game Notes (.pdf) | UNI Notes (.pdf)

The Basics
UNI (5-5, 4-3 MVFC) at South Dakota (3-7, 2-5 MVFC)
Saturday, Nov. 19 at 1 p.m. (CST)
Vermillion, S.D. | DakotaDome (9,100)
TV: Midco Sports (Jay Elsen, Andre Fields)
Radio: Coyote Sports Network (John Thayer, Gary Culver, Carter Woodiel)
Watch Online: FREE webcast here | ESPN+ ($) | Midco Sports Plus ($)
Series: UNI leads 30-20-1 ... USD won 34-21 in Cedar Falls last season

About the Coyotes:  South Dakota is trying to end its season with a third consecutive home victory ... the Coyotes have averaged 25 points in four home games compared to 10 points in six road trips ... the team is taking a look at RS-freshman QB Aidan Bouman who is expcted to make his fourth collegiate start ... Bouman has passed for 760 yards with seven TDs against one turnover thus far ... Wesley Eliodor has caught a Bouman touchdown toss in four consecutive games ... Carter Bell has caught three TDs in the last two weeks ... RB Travis Theis has carried a heavy load all season ... the defense has missed CB Myles Harden, but features the two leading tacklers in the Valley in Stephen Hillis and Brock Mogensen

About the Panthers:  It was a season that could have been for UNI. The Panthers lost by two points at North Dakota, two points at home against Illinois State, and last week had a penalty on a field goal attempt that cost them a chance to play overtime against SDSU ... UNI enters with the Valley's No. 1 offense led by the Valley's No. 1 passer ... Theo Day is averaging 274 yards passing per game and has 21 TD passes against 6 INTs ... Dom Williams and Vance McShane split carries ... Sam Schnee and Deion McShane pace a deep receiving room ... defensively, UNI has allowed 400 yards on average

Quick Hits
-South Dakota is set to honor 11 seniors in a pregame ceremony Saturday. Six have been with the program for five years or more.
-South Dakota is hosting UNI for the first time since 2018
-The Coyotes are ranked 34th in the Massey Ratings with the toughest strength of schedule in FCS
-LBs Stephen Hillis (101 tackles) and Brock Mogensen (96 tackles) are in competition to be the Valley's leading tackler this season
-Aidan Bouman is expected to make his fourth collegiate start at quarterback
-WR Wesley Eliodor has caught a touchdown in four consecutive games. He is the first USD player since 2005 to do so (Derek Gearman).
-USD led UNI 24-0 at the half and won 34-21 in last year's meeting in Cedar Falls
-The Coyotes have converted 14-of-23 third downs the last two weeks (30-of-107 in games 1-8).

The Notes
South Dakota hosts UNI on Senior Day Saturday inside the DakotaDome. The Coyotes are honoring 11 seniors and it is certainly a unique and diverse group. Eight of the 11 seniors are in their sixth season of college football. Josh Manchigiah, the South Dakota State transfer, played in his seventh season. Four have been with the Coyotes for six years, two for five years and four are finishing their first year at USD. The list of seniors includes: John Bickel, Dalton Godfrey, Austin Goehring, Alex Jensen, Josh Manchigian, Isaiah McDaniels, Eddie Ogamba, Parker Rickert, Michael Scott, Trevor Shohoney and Cameron Tisdale.

Jensen has competed in 48 games at USD. Godfrey has played in 46, McDaniels in 45, Goehring in 44 and Tisdale in 42.

South Dakota is 3-1 at home this season with the lone loss to then-No. 1 North Dakota State in a game the Coyotes led 17-14 at the half. The Coyotes have averaged 25 points and 372 yards of offense inside the DakotaDome. The defense has forced seven turnovers in four home games compared to six turnovers in six road games. Individually, Wesley Eliodor has caught a touchdown pass in all four home games. Travis Theis has averaged 83 yards rushing and scored in three of the four games. Brock Mogensen has logged 42 tackles inside the DakotaDome.

Eliodor has caught 18 passes for 272 yards with four touchdowns in the last four games as the Coyotes' passing game has transitioned to quarterback Aidan Bouman. Eliodor is the first Coyote at the Division I level to catch a touchdown pass in four conecutive games. The last Coyote to achieve the feat is Derek Gearman who caught a touchdown in eight consecutive games in 2005 with quarterback Wesley Beschorner.

Bouman is set to make his fourth collegiate start Saturday. He threw for 151 yards and a career-high three touchdowns last week at North Dakota. Bouman has thrown for 760 yards and seven touchdowns with one turnover (lost fumble) in a little more than three-and-a-half games. He is 2-0 inside the DakotaDome including the come-from-behind victory against Southern Illinois on Dakota Days where he made his collegiate debut.

Carter Bell is the other receiver who has benefitted from the new arm. Bell was the team's leading receiver last year, but had seven catches for 69 and no scores through six games. He has 15 catches for 186 yards and three touchdowns in the last four games.

Travis Theis and Shomari Lawrence have taken nearly all of the handoffs this season. Mike Mansaray had three carries before being injured in game two. Cole Stentrom's eight carries have mostly came on direct snaps. Theis and Lawrence have combined to average 126 yards rushing and scored eight touchdowns in 10 games. Theis is the fifth-leading rusher in the Valley at 76 yards per game.

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. 7 (Montana), and No. 17 (Illinois State) FCS defenses in half of its 10 games.
     Another factor is that the Coyotes are hudling more consistently and running 57 offensive plays per game. By comparison, USD averaged 67 plays in 2020 and 2021 and 81 plays per game in 2017 and 2018. Last week's game at North Dakota featured just seven offensive possessions apiece. The Coyotes scored touchdowns on three of them.

Speaking of tough competition, South Dakota ranks 34th 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. 34 to one of its early 2023 opponents St. Thomas. The Tommies are 9-1 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 127th-ranked schedule (out of 130). They have two Division II wins and their best FCS win, Davidson, is ranked No. 97. Their one loss was a 44-13 decision to No. 69 Southern Utah. South Dakota's six FCS losses are all to top-31 teams. It boasts wins against No. 22 Southern Illinois and No. 29 Missouri State.

South Dakota's 34-21 win over then-No. 16 UNI last year in Cedar Falls went a long ways in helping the Coyotes' reach the FCS playoffs. South Dakota led 24-0 at the half in that game behind two turnovers and a blocked punt. UNI cut the lead to 24-14 in the third quarter, but USD responded with a field goal and a Nate Thomas touchdown run. Theis carried 29 times for 113 yards and a touchdown for South Dakota. Theo Day was 24-of-35 for 303 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions for UNI. The Panthers ran for 90 yards, 62 of which came on a Vance McShane touchdown run to start the second half.

Because of COVID-19, the last two games of this series have taken place in Cedar Falls. This is the Panthers' first trip to Vermillion since 2018. The teams have met every year except two since South Dakota's transition to Division I in 2008 (2011, 2020).

Linebacker Stephen Hillis leads the Valley and ranks 10th nationally in tackles per game (101 in 10 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 is tied for the team lead 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 has 10 or more stops in half the 10 games this season. Mogensen is currently second in the Valley in tackles with 96. UNI's Spencer Cuvelier is third on the tally with 90 tackles.

The Coyotes' have been without their brightest star defensively the last four weeks in sophomore cornerback Myles Harden, who led the nation with six forced turnovers in just four games. Harden is responsible for nearly half the Coyotes' 13 turnovers this season.
   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 three weeks ago at Youngstown State was his first game back and he has started the last two games.

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 16th 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 24 touchbacks on 38 kickoffs.

Last week's tribulations for special teams at North Dakota were certainly an anomaly, but a costly one. A blocked punt, a missed extra point and a blocked extra point accounted for the nine-point difference in the Hawks' 28-19 win. The Coyotes have had two punts blocked this season, and Ogamba has missed three extra points in the last two games.