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

The Basics
South Dakota (0-0, 0-0 MVFC) at Missouri (0-0, 0-0 SEC)
Thursday, Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. (CDT)
Columbia, Mo. | Memorial Stadium (62,621)
TV: SEC Network (Clay Matvick, Aaron Murray & Ashley ShahAhmadi)
Radio: Coyote Sports Network (John Thayer, Chris Streveler & Jerry Palleschi)
Watch Online: ESPN+ ($)
Series: First Meeting

About the Coyotes:  South Dakota is trying to return to playoff form after hosting its first playoff game in 35 years back in 2021 ... eight starters return on each side of the football ... the defense boasts three preseason all-Americans in CB Myles Harden and LBs Brock Mogensen and Stephen Hillis ... Hillis and Mogensen were the top tacklers in the Valley last season ... the offense is under the direction of new coordinator Josh Davis who won a national title at rival SDSU last season ... QB Aidan Bouman started the final four games of last season ... RB Travis Theis enters his third season as the starter with 1,654 yards and 15 TDs ... WR Carter Bell has 88 career catches for 1,256 yards and 11 TDs

About the Tigers:  Missouri is coming off a 6-7 campaign that concluded with a 27-17 loss to Wake Forest in the Gasparilla Bowl ... dual-threat QB Brady Cook passed for 2,700 yards and had 20 total TDs last season ... he is expected to share snaps with R-Fr. Sam Horn in week one ... the Tigers return starting RBs Cody Schrader and Nate Peat who combined for more than 1,100 yards and 11 TDs last season ... LT Javon Foster is preseason all-SEC as are defensive standouts Ty'Ron Hopper (OLB) and Darius Robinson (DE) ... safety JC Carlies led the team in tackles and INTs (3) last season

Quick Hits
-USD has faced an FBS program every (non-COVID) year since 2010 and has wins against Minnesota (2010) and Bowling Green (2017) in that span
-The Coyotes led Kansas State 24-12 entering the fourth quarter of a 2018 contest. USD dropped a 17-14 decision at Kansas in 2021.
-Bob Nielson is one of two active FCS coaches with 200 career wins. He won two national championships with Minnesota Duluth (DII) and is a three-time national coach of the year
-LBs Stephen Hillis and Brock Mogensen led the Valley in tackles last season
-CB Myles Harden forced six turnovers (3 INT, 3FF) in his first four games last year
-QB Aidan Bouman started the final four games of last season. He is the son of former NFL QB Todd Bouman.
-Steve Ferentz, son of Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, is one of six new coaches on Nielson's staff

The Notes
Welcome to 2023! South Dakota begins year eight under Bob Nielson who has led the Coyotes to the playoffs twice in his tenure including two seasons ago in 2021. USD played the toughest schedule (ever?) in FCS last season, lost its offensive coordinator two games in and finished 3-8. This year's schedule sees USD playing six homes games for the first time since 2019.

Enter new offensive coordinator Josh Davis, who won a national title with rival 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 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). Snyder was on staff at Missouri in 2019. More information on the Coyote coaching staff can be found on page four.

Davis has named fourth-year sophomore Aidan Bouman the starting quarterback. Bouman, who spent his first two years at Iowa State, led South Dakota back from a 21-7 deficit against 14th-ranked Southern Illinois on Dakota Days (homecoming) last season and remained QB1 for the final four games of 2022. In five-and-a-half games, Bouman passed for 892 yards and combined for 10 touchdowns (8 pass, 2 rush) against one interception.
   Lem Wash, a sophomore from Wichita, Kansas, who spent last year at Tennessee Tech, has been named Bouman's backup on the initial depth chart.

Bouman is one of six team captains on this year's team. Another is fifth-year junior running back Travis Theis of Pratt, Kansas. Theis has earned honorable mention all-MVFC honors in two seasons as the starter. He ranked sixth in the conference with 775 yards on 4.7 ypc last season and was second on the team in receptions with 25. Theis has run for more than 1,400 yards with 13 touchdowns in the last two seasons (22g).

Nate Thomas and Mike Mansaray, injured for nearly all last season, are back to spell Theis and bolster the ground game. Thomas was South Dakota's leading rusher as a true freshman two seasons ago when he averaged 6.3 ypc. He sustained an injury during the spring season and that injury kept him out for all of 2022. Mansaray had a 141-yard, two-touchdown performance as a second-year freshman in 2021 and finished as the Coyotes' third-leading rusher. He sustained a season-ending injury in week two last season. Charles Pierre Jr., a redshirt freshman who competed on special teams last year, is listed on USD's initial two-deep at running back.

South Dakota's receiving room is expected to be anchored by fifth-year junior Carter Bell, a high school quarterback, who has 88 collegiate catches for 1,256 yards and 11 touchdowns. Bell doubles as USD's return man and he has one career punt return score. Bell caught 41 passes for 673 yards and five touchdowns in 2021. He totaled 59 yards through six games last year before USD switched to Bouman. Bell totaled 16 catches for 186 yards and three touchdowns in five games with Bouman under center.

The No. 2 man in the receiving room behind Bell is up for grabs. Third-year sophomore Javion Phelps is a returning starter who caught 18 passes for 235 yards last season. Jack Martens, one of the best receivers in Wisconsin High School football history, is expected to start the season opener. Martens had 11 catches for 169 yards and a score last year as a redshirt freshman. Tristan Michaud is a 6-6 target from Iowa State. He and Bouman ran scout team together all of 2021 in Ames and the winter going into 2022.
   Redshirt freshmen Cole Rhoden (transfer from Kansas) and Tysen Boze are on the initial two deep as is junior Datwan Blackwood. All three are seeking their first collegiate catches.

Fourth-year tight end JJ Galbreath is a returning starter who was South Dakota's second-leading receiver last year with 286 yards on 22 catches. Jack Hagy, who began at USD on the defensive side of the ball, is on the two-deep after competing mainly on special teams last season. Fourth-year sophomore Jacob Remmert is also traveling to Missouri.

USD's offensive line features three veterans in the middle and two young tackles. Right guard Isaac Erbes is a sixth-year senior and team captain who has started 39 consecutive games. Joey Lombard is a two-year starter at center and left guard Bryce Henderson was the starter there a year ago. Caden Ellingson is the right tackle this year after earning three starts a year ago. Left tackle Joe Cotton is making his collegiate debut.

Coordinator Travis Johansen's defense faced 131 more plays than USD's offense ran and was on the field an average of nearly seven minutes longer each game. Fortunately, eight starters and three preseason all-Americans return to the unit. One of those starters is NFL prospect Myles Harden, a cornerback, who has missed the last half of each of the last two seasons. Harden has five interceptions and five forced fumbles in 16 collegiate games.

Linebackers Stephen Hillis (115) and Brock Mogensen (106) were the top tacklers in the Valley 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). He has racked up 286 tackles in 37 collegiate games. Just seven players in program history have made 300 tackles.

Johansen has moved sixth-year senior Brendan Webb from defensive end to rush backer, a hybrid position in Johansen's scheme that routinely leads the unit in sacks and tackles-for-loss. Webb is a three-year starter who has compiled 7.0 sacks and 15.0 tackles-for-loss in 37 collegiate games.

Veteran safeties Josiah Ganues and Dennis Shorter man the back line. Shorter was USD's third-leading tackler last season. Ganues is a two-year starter approaching 100 career tackles (92). Ganues, Harden and safety Tim White all attended Miramar High School in Florida. White, listed behind Shorter in the initial two deep, attended Robert Morris last season.

The defensive line is headed by returning tackles Blake Holden and Nick Gaes. Nebraska transfer Mosai Newsom is expected to make an immediate impact in the middle as well. Mi'Quise Grace, a promising redshirt freshman, and sixth-year senior Micah Roane will rotate at defensive end.

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, kicker Zeke Mata is a recent arrival from LSU and long snapper Caden Pellizzer is a new arrival from Northern Michigan.

South Dakota currently has two alums on NFL rosters. Defensive tackle Kameron Cline started with the Indianapolis Colts in 2020 and is currently a member of the Buffalo Bills. Linebacker Jack Cochrane won a Super Bowl as a special teams player with the Kansas City Chiefs as a rookie last season. Two other Coyotes are currently free agents. Offensive tackle Tom Compton spent 2022 with the Denver Broncos and has been in the NFL since 2012. Quarterback Chris Streveler won a CFL title with Winnipeg in 2019 and has been in the NFL since 2020.

Other notable USD alums include USA Today founder Al Neuharth, longtime NBC News anchorman Tom Brokaw, the original owner of the Miami Dolphins Joe Robbie and current United States Senator John Thune. The campus also boasts the National Music Museum, which reopened last week following a $10 million renovation. USD is also working on a $31 million expansion of its wellness center which will serve as the new home for the Coyotes' swimming and diving program in the fall of 2024.