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

The Basics
No. 1 South Dakota State (7-0, 4-0 MVFC) at No. 4 South Dakota (6-1, 4-0 MVFC)
Saturday, Oct. 28 at 1 p.m. (CDT)
Vermillion, S.D. | DakotaDome (9,100)
TV: Midco Sports (Jay Elsen, Andre Fields, Darron Wallace)
Radio: Coyote Sports Network (John Thayer, Gary Culver & Jerry Palleschi)
Watch Online: ESPN+ ($) | Midco Sports Plus ($)
Series: SDSU leads 56-53-7 ... USD has won the last two games in Vermillion

About the Coyotes:  South Dakota has won six consecutive games for the first time since 2017 ... the Coyotes have yet to trail in conference play ... they are led by a defense that ranks second in the FCS behind SDSU among scholarship teams ... all-Valley LBs Brock Mogensen and Stephen Hillis back a unit that has 17 sacks and forced 10 turnovers ... the offense has seen three different 100-yard rushers led by Travis Theis, the ninth-leading rusher in program history ... QB Aidan Bouman heads an efficient unit that has turned it over just twice all season ... WR Carter Bell is the fourth-leading receiver in the Valley ... TE JJ Galbreath has 287 yards and 4 TDs ... K Will Leyland hasn't missed all season

About the Jackrabbits:  South Dakota State, the defending national champion, has won 21 consecutive games dating back to a season-opening loss at Iowa in 2022 ... RBs Isaiah Davis and Amar Johnson lead a ground game averaging 240 yards and nearly seven yards per carry ... QB Mark Gronowski has 57 career TD tosses and nearly 6,000 yards passing ... WRs Jaxon Janke and TE Zach Heins remain his top targets ... the Jacks have topped 40 points three times in four MVFC games ... all-American LB Adam Bock has been limited to two games this year, but did make an appearance last week at Southern Illinois ... senior LBs Saiveon Williamson and Jason Freeman have picked up the slack

Quick Hits
-This is the best combined win percentage between these two programs thru 7 games
-South Dakota's No. 4 ranking matches its highest at the FCS level (2017)
-A win Saturday would equal the program's longest winning streak since 2005
-USD has faced the No. 1 ranked team four times in the last five (full) seasons
-The Coyotes' last win vs. a top-ranked team came in 2011 vs. Eastern Washington (30-17)
-USD has had four different leading rushers in its last four games
-Just 10 FCS teams have a trio of 100-yard, single-game rushers this year (Theis, Thomas, Pierre Jr.)
-USD's offense has committed the fewest turnovers in all of FCS (2)
-LB Brock Mogensen (347) has the fourth-most tackles among all active FCS players and the fourth-most in program history
-The winner of Saturday's game will score two points in the Interstate Series between the two athletic departments

The Notes
South Dakota and South Dakota State are meeting for the 117th 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 22 of 27 games since 1990 to take their first lead in the series which now sits at 56-53-7. Five of the last seven meetings have been decided by seven points or less.

The Coyotes have won two of the last three meetings in this series, both of which took place in Vermillion. South Dakota won the last meeting inside the DakotaDome 23-20 on a 57-yard touchdown pass from Carson Camp to Jeremiah Webb on the final play of the game. It was Sports Illustrated's Play of the Year.

The two teams typically don't meet this early in the season. This is just the second pre-November meeting between the intrastate rivals at the FCS level (since 2012). Last year's game broke the string of November matchups with its Oct. 8 date.

This the third top-25 matchup between the two teams at the FCS level. No. 5 SDSU beat No. 15 USD 31-28 in 2017 and No. 17 USD beat No. 4 SDSU 23-20 on the Hail Mary catch in 2021.

South Dakota and South Dakota State have met every season for the last 108 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)
-2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Here are some notes from the first 116 meetings between the two intrastate rivals:
-45 games have been decided by seven points or less
-There have been 32 shutouts, but only 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
-One recent game was decided by a Hail Mary. It is arguably the greatest play in series history.

It will be an interesting week for South Dakota offensive coordinator Josh Davis who won a national title on the coaching staff at South Dakota State last season. Davis was a standout wide receiver at SDSU. He served as offensive coordinator at Northwestern College (NAIA) for six seasons. After going 3-7 in year one, the Red Raiders were a combined 51-10 with five straight playoff appearances. Davis returned to SDSU last season and Northwestern won the 2022 NAIA national title. Davis has helped lead USD to an incredible turnaround from last season.

Davis is one of six new coaches on Bob Nielson's staff. Others include Jeff Nady (OL at Nevada last year), Craig Bagnell (head coach at Mary), Tim Morrison (off. coord. at Upper Iowa), Rob Snyder (former LSU Tiger) and Steve Ferentz (former Iowa Hawkeye who has spent the last three years with the Miami Dolphins). More information on the Coyote coaching staff can be found on page four.

South Dakota is 4-0 at home this season where the Coyotes have outscored teams 131-44. Travis Theis is averaging nearly 100 yards rushing per game at home. Tight end JJ Galbreath has caught a touchdown in all four home games. Defensive tackle Nick Gaes has four sacks and 6.5 tackles-for-loss here. This is South Dakota State's third true road game of the year. It will be the Jacks' third road game in four weeks.

South Dakota's running back room under former Coyote quarterback Dante Warren is loaded! It starts with the veteran Theis, a two-time honorable mention honoree and the ninth-leading rusher in program history (and climbing!). Nate Thomas, the team's leading rusher two years ago, was USD's leading rusher through four games this year before an injury held him out for two games. He ran twice last week at Indiana State. His second carry went five yards for South Dakota's first touchdown.
    Thomas' injury brought redshirt freshman Charles Pierre Jr. into the fold. He has carried 27 times for 213 yards and three touchdowns over the last three games. True freshman Keyondray Jones has two scores, true freshman LJ Phillips made his debut last home game and picked up a key first down, and Mike Mansaray returned from injury last week at Indiana State.

Through seven games last season, South Dakota had allowed 26 sacks including seven in its loss to South Dakota State. This year's team has allowed six sacks all season, tied with South Dakota State for the fewest allowed inside the MVFC.
    Caden Ellingson returned to the lineup two weeks ago at right tackle. He had been out since week one at Missouri. Right guard Isaac Erbes is a sixth-year senior and team captain who has started 46 consecutive games. Joey Lombard is a two-year starter at center. The left side has Joe Cotton as the new left tackle this year and Sam Kohls has been the starting left guard since week three.

The Coyote defense ranks second in scoring defense (14.4 ppg) and 17th in total defense (321 ypg) among FCS scholarship teams. The unit is led by preseason all-American linebackers Stephen Hillis and Brock Mogensen who led the Valley and were among the national leaders in tackles last season. Hillis began his career at Air Force and transferred to USD in 2019 after being diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes. He served mainly on special teams until last year when a week one injury elevated Hillis to the starting lineup. Hillis went on to earn first-team all-MVFC honors while leading USD in tackles-for-loss (8.0) and sacks (4.0). Mogensen is a two-time all-Valley linebacker (2021 spring season and 2022 fall season) with 347 career tackles, fourth-most in program history and fourth-most among active FCS players.

Hillis and Mogensen have received support at all levels. Brendan Webb, Nick Gaes and Micah Roane on the front lines have combined for 12.5 sacks and 18.0 tackles-for-loss. Safety Dennis Shorter is the team's second-leading tackler and has forced two fumbles/turnovers over the last three games. Cornerback Myles Harden is a first-team, preseason all-American who has forced eight turnovers in his last 13 games dating back to last season. He has an interception and a recovered fumble this season.

South Dakota has boasted strong specialists throughout Nielson's tenure. This year's unit features all new starters. Punter Tyler Ebel is a redshirt freshman, Zeke Mata is a recent arrival from LSU who is handling kickoff duties and long snapper Caden Pellizzer is a new arrival from Northern Michigan. Will Leyland, a fourth-year sophomore, is 7-for-7 on field goals and 22-for-22 in extra points. He is one of two FCS players yet to miss a kick this season. He drilled a game-winning, 41-yard field goal to beat Youngstown State inside the Dome two weeks ago.

Saturday's game is one of two FCS top-25 matchups this week. The other is No. 9 Idaho (5-2) hosting No. 2 Montana State. There are nine FCS teams that are undefeated against FCS opponents.

Travis Theis and SDSU's Isaiah Davis are two of 25 FCS running backs with at least three 100-yard rushing efforts this season.

Both USD (punt) and SDSU (interception) were perfect in scoring when reaching the red zone up until last week. They were the final two teams in all of FCS to stay perfect this season.