VERMILLION, S.D. — No. 21 South Dakota will commence a three-week homestand this weekend when playing host to No. 18/20 Illinois State in a top-25 clash inside the DakotaDome on Hall of Fame Weekend and Military Appreciation Day on Saturday, October 25.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and Midco Sports, while also available on Midco Sports Plus, with Jay Elsen and Andre Fields on the call. You can listen to the voice of the Coyotes John Thayer on the Coyote Sports Network beginning at 12 p.m. (noon) for the pre-game show with Gary Culver and Jerry Palleschi, joining Thayer for the call at 1 p.m.
 

Game 9 | No. 21 SOUTH DAKOTA (5-3, 3-1 MVFC) vs. No. 18/20 ILLINOIS STATE (4-3, 1-2 MVFC)
Date | Time	Saturday, October 25 | 1:00 PM (CT)
Location	Vermillion, S.D. | The DakotaDome (9,100)
Fan Information	Tickets | Parking | Clear Bag Policy | A-to-Z Guide | 2025 HOF Inductees
Television	ESPN+ / Midco Sports Plus - Jay Elsen (PxP) & Andre Fields (Analyst)
Radio	Coyote Sports Network (John Thayer, Gary Culver, Jerry Palleschi) [KVHT 106.3 FM]
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Game Notes	South Dakota | Illinois State | MVFC | College Pressbox
Social Media	@SDCoyotesFB  | #GoYotes | @sdcoyotesfb  | Facebook

 
PROMOTIONS

• This weekend will be a busy one in Vermillion with it being both Hall of Fame Weekend and Military Appreciation Day.
• The Illinois State game is sponsored by Pepsi (Pepsi of Siouxland), the soft drink partner of USD Athletics.
• HALL OF FAME: South Dakota will honor the eight inductees to the 2025 Henry Heider Hall of Fame during the contest.
• MILITARY APPRECIATION: the game ball will be rappelled down by the USD ROTC.
• Service members of any branch, veteran or current service member, are eligible to receive two free tickets. To redeem the military ticket offer, call the USD Ticket Office (605) 677-5959.

 
KEY STORYLINES

• South Dakota and South Dakota meet for the 11^th time this weekend with South Dakota wearing white helmets for the third time this season.
• HC Travis Johansen has won three-straight home games as the home win streak extends to 11-straight games; while additionally bringing a three-game overall win streak back to Vermillion.
• Arguably two of the most electric MVFC wide outs go head-to-head this weekend at the DakotaDome with Illinois State's Daniel Sobkowicz (7) and USD's Larenzo Fenner (6) sitting No. 1 and No. 2 in touchdown receptions.
• This season South Dakota is 5-1 when scoring first, 4-0 when leading at halftime, 3-0 with a rusher over 150+ yards in the game, and 3-0 in the month of October. 
• MVFC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Setting the new program record for longest field goal last week with a 58-yarder, K Zeke Mata has been named the MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week.
• It's the second-straight Coyote to win Special Teams Player of the Week.
• PACING THE FCS: L.J. Phillips Jr. leads the nation in net rushing yards (1,059), second in rushing attempts (156), tied third in rushing yards per game (132.4), tied third in rushing touchdowns (11), and 10th in yards per carry (6.79).  
• LEADING THE MVFC: WR Larenzo Fenner leads the conference in yards per catch (23.5), while K Will Leyland sits tied second in made field goals (8) and DB Mikey Munn sits tied second in interceptions (3).
• South Dakota has won 17 of their last 20 MVFC games dating back to the 2023 season.
• Phillips Jr. became the 12^th Coyote – and third in the Division I FCS era – to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards in a single season.
• Aidan Bouman holds a 26-13 record as the starting quarterback at South Dakota and has thrown a touchdown pass in six of the eight games this season with a season-high three against the Racers.
• With four 100-yard rushing games this season – all from Phillips Jr. – South Dakota now has had 71 100-yard rushing games in the Division I FCS era with Phillips Jr.'s 301 yards against Northern Colorado being the Division I single-game record.
• Defensively, DB Roman Tillmon (53), LB Gabriel Hardman (51), and LB Matt Walsh (51) lead the team in tackles, and DL Caden Crawford leads the team with his 9.0 tackles for loss.
• Walsh (at Lamar), Tillmon (vs. UNC), Nate Ewell (at NDSU; at UNI) are the only three Yotes with 10+ tackles in a game this season with Tillmon (14) now holding the season high.
• Mikey Munn has been on a tear at cornerback with a career-high two interceptions against Drake and leads the team with six pass-break ups on the season.
• For the second-straight week (at INST, at UNI), the Coyote defense held the opponent to under 100 yards rushing.
• South Dakota is in their 130^th season of college football and with their 31^st head coach in program history.  
• A win on Saturday would put Johansen tied for fifth-best in program history for wins as a first-year head coach.
• The home win streak currently sits fifth in the FCS among active home win streaks, behind two MVFC streaks (SDSU, 32-straight & NDSU, 16-straight).
• South Dakota holds an all-time program record of 585-567-35 entering Saturday. In the Division I FCS era, South Dakota has won 91 games (91-107).

 
SERIES HISTORY

• South Dakota and Illinois State meet for the 11^th time on Saturday with the first meeting in Vermillion since 2021.
• Illinois State has had USD's number in series history, leading 8-2 but this will be the first meeting since 2022.
• This weekend marks the second meeting in series history that both teams will be ranked inside the top-25 for the contest.
• At least one of the two teams have been ranked inside the top-25 in seven of the 10 previous meetings.
• Illinois State head coach Brock Spack has been the head coach at Illinois State for each of the 10 previous meetings.