The Pregame
Coyote Alley, presented by HyVee and Scheels, is the place to be prior to kickoff. Located directly east of the DakotaDome near the tennis courts, Coyote Alley will feature live music, games, food and more. This area is free for the public to access and will be home to alumni, Coyote Sports Properties and student tailgate programming.
 
HyVee is providing a free lunch for the first 500 patrons (drinks not included). Inflatables are available starting at 11 a.m. Coyote greats and NFL alumni Tyler Starr and A.J. Schable will be on hand to sign autographs. Candy Misfits will provide live music.
 
The Game
South Dakota plays in front of the home crowd for the first time this fall Saturday when the Coyotes host St. Thomas in a 1 p.m. kick inside the DakotaDome.
 
It will be an anniversary of sorts. It was exactly 44 years ago Friday that these two teams first met inside the DakotaDome in what was the Coyotes' first game in the facility. Behind coach Dave Triplett, then in his first season at USD, the Coyotes won 22-6. Saturday marks the first time St. Thomas and South Dakota have met on the gridiron since that introduction.
 
The Coyotes
South Dakota is trying to return to its playoff form from two seasons ago and success during this unique stretch of four home games out of five is crucial to that end. The Coyotes opened the season last week with a 35-10 loss at Missouri of the SEC. This week's foe is the defending champion of the Pioneer League, a non-scholarship conference.
 
It is the first home game for the Coyotes' new offensive coordinator Josh Davis and for five other assistant coaches who have joined Bob Nielson's staff since last season. Success in the running game behind Travis Theis and Mike Mansaray are part of the game plan. Defensively, USD is led by a trio of preseason all-Americans in cornerback Myles Harden and linebackers Brock Mogensen and Stephen Hillis.
 
The Tommies
St. Thomas is looking for its first statement win during its transition from NCAA Division III to Division I. The Tommies have had their way with non-scholarship teams, but UST lost 44-3 at UNI in 2021 and 44-13 at Southern Utah last year.
 
Head Coach Glenn Caruso was the offensive coordinator at South Dakota for the 2004 and 2005 seasons. He arrived at St. Thomas in 2008 and immediately turned the Tommies into a Division III powerhouse. UST beat Division II Black Hills State 36-26 last week, but was outgained 366-334. Starting quarterback Amari Powell was injured, but is expected to start Saturday. The Tommies also played without preseason all-American receiver and return man Andrew McElroy.
 
One More Thing
The before mentioned Mogensen had a game-high nine tackles last week at Missouri to run his career total at South Dakota to 295. Just seven players in program history have made 300 tackles. Safety Josiah Ganues' first tackle Saturday will give him 100 for his career.