VERMILLION, S.D. — Another offensive clinic for the South Dakota football team on Saturday afternoon in front of nearly 8,000 fans on Dakota Days as L.J. Phillips erupts for 244 yards and four touchdowns as the Coyotes roll past Murray State, 49-24.
South Dakota improves to 3-3 (1-1 MVFC) on Saturday, while Murray State falls to 0-5 (0-1 MVFC). The win streak improves to 11-straight in the DakotaDome and South Dakota sets a new program record with their ninth-straight victory on Dakota Days as USD scored on 70 percent of their possessions to make it three-straight games with 40+ points against the Racers.
L.J. Phillips Jr. continued his dominant trend of running the football in front of the home crowd as he posted 244 yards on 24 carries, averaging 10.2 yards per carry. He tied his career-high with four rushing touchdowns on the day.
"We really appreciate a great Dakota Days crowd. We got an awesome turnout, particularly our student section. There was a lot of energy in the building," said head coach
Travis Johansen. "L.J. is a hard kid to tackle and our offensive line did a good job."
South Dakota quickly jumped out to a 14-0 lead in their first two possessions of the day after the defense forced a pair of three-and-outs from the Racers. In the first possession of the day,
Aidan Bouman found
Larenzo Fenner for a 41-yard touchdown that got the DakotaDome energized early on.
It was all Coyotes in the first half with a 35-7 lead at the break behind 172 first half yards and three touchdowns from Phillips Jr.
Zach Witte also picked up his second touchdown reception of the season in the first half.
The defense was stellar in the first half. The Racers had five full possessions in the first 30 minutes and the Coyote defense forced four punts and all of those were on three-and-outs. In those four shut down drives, the Yotes surrendered just 22 yards.
If the game wasn't decided at the halftime break, Phillips Jr. made sure to finish it off with the first Coyote play from scrimmage in the third quarter. Fresh off the defense's fifth three-and-out of the day, Phillips Jr. would break off a 67-yard touchdown run to make it 42-7.
The rest of the second half would see younger Yotes get their shot at game reps.
Reid Watkins and
Carson Fletcher both posted early career-highs with 80 and 41 yards on the ground, respectively.
Bouman was efficient all day long, throwing a season-best three touchdown passes in the victory. He finished the day 11-for-16 passing for 185 yards. Fenner,
Jack Martens, and Witte all recorded touchdown receptions on the day.
Defensively,
Gabriel Hardman led the way with eight tackles for the Yotes. The defensive unit forced five three-and-outs on the afternoon and had six tackles for loss.
Chris Dixon and
Carter Hooper both recorded a sack in the contest, while
Matt Walsh had a pair of pass break-ups.
When South Dakota didn't score a touchdown on the drive, punter
Tyler Ebel was dominant at flipping the field as he booted a pair of 60+ yard punts on the day, including a new career-high 66 yard punt in the fourth quarter.
Up Next: South Dakota hits the road for the next two weeks as they head to Terre Haute, Indiana to clash with the Sycamores of Indiana State University next weekend, October 11, from Memorial Stadium with kickoff slated for 12 p.m. (noon) (CT).
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