VERMILLION, S.D. — Winners of six of their last seven to secure second-place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), the No. 11 national seed South Dakota football team opens the 2025 FCS Playoffs with a home rematch against the Pioneer Football League champion Drake University on Saturday, November 29 from the DakotaDome.
 
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Jason Ross Jr. (PxP) and Tyoka Jackson (analyst) on the call for the First Round clash. You can listen to the voice of the Coyotes John Thayer on the Coyote Sports Network beginning at 11 a.m. for the pre-game show with former Coyote Gary Culver joining Thayer for the call at 12 p.m.
 

FCS FIRST ROUND | No. 11-seed SOUTH DAKOTA (8-4, 6-2 MVFC) vs. DRAKE (8-3, 7-1 PFL)
Date | Time	Saturday, November 29 | 12:00 PM (CT)
Location	Vermillion, S.D. | The DakotaDome (9,100)
Fan Information	Tickets | Parking | Clear Bag Policy | A-to-Z Guide
Television	ESPN+ - Jason Ross Jr. (PxP) & Tyoka Jackson (Analyst)
Radio	Coyote Sports Network (John Thayer, Gary Culver) [KVHT 106.3 FM]
Live Stats	NCAA
Game Notes	South Dakota | Drake | MVFC | College Pressbox
Digital Program	NCAA Program
Social Media	@SDCoyotesFB  | #GoYotes | @sdcoyotesfb  | Facebook

 
YOTES IN THE FCS PLAYOFFS

• South Dakota makes their fifth trip to the FCS Playoffs this season (2017, 2021, 2023-25) and third-straight trip.
• It's the first trip for head coach Travis Johansen in his first season as head coach, though he's been a part of four total trips now as defensive coordinator and/or head coach.  
• Five of the eight total FCS Playoff games for South Dakota have been played in the DakotaDome with Saturday being the sixth.
• QB Aidan Bouman is just one of two USD QBs to play in multiple FCS Playoff games (Streveler, 2017). He's the only QB to throw for 1,000+ yards in the playoffs.
• South Dakota is undefeated in FCS Playoff games when they score first (3-0), lead at halftime (3-0), force 3+ takeaways (3-0), and/or holds the ball for 30+ minutes of game action (2-0).

 
KEY STORYLINES

• South Dakota and Drake meet for the 22^nd meeting in program history and the second time in 2025 (42-21, USD, Sept. 20).
• This season South Dakota is 6-2 when scoring first, 5-0 when leading at halftime, 5-1 when not committing a turnover, and 4-0 with a rusher over 150+ yards in the game.
• The Yotes are 3-2 against top-25 FCS opponents this season with all three wins coming to end the season (UND, SDSU, SIU).
• PACING THE FCS: L.J. Phillips Jr. is third net rushing yards (1,556), fourth in rushing yards per game (129.7), fourth in the FCS in carries (250), tied eighth in rushing touchdowns (15), and 13th in yards per carry (6.22).
• Phillips Jr. has climbed the top-10 single-season all-time list for rushing yards, sitting fifth entering the FCS Playoffs.
• LEADING THE MVFC: WR Larenzo Fenner leads the conference in yards per catch (22.6), while K Will Leyland is fourth in made field goals (14), Phillips Jr. is first with his 145.7 all-purpose yards per game, and DB Mikey Munn sits tied second in interceptions (3).
• 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 against Northern Iowa (Oct. 18).
• Aidan Bouman holds a 30-13 (43 games) record as the starting quarterback at South Dakota and has thrown a touchdown pass in 10 of the 12 games this season with a new season- and career-high five touchdowns in the regular season finale at Southern Illinois.
• Bouman now sits second all-time in program history in career passing yards (8,545) and third all-time in career passing touchdowns (60).
• He passed QB Chris Streveler (2016-17), who was on the Coyote Sports Network radio call to witness it, for third all-time in career passing touchdowns against South Dakota State.
• With eight 100-yard rushing games this season (seven from Phillips Jr., one from Fletcger), South Dakota now has had 75 100-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.
• Walsh (at Lamar), Roman Tillmon (vs. UNC), Nate Ewell (at NDSU; at UNI; vs. UND; at SIU) 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 eight pass-break ups on the season.
• South Dakota has won 20 of their last 24 MVFC games dating back to the 2023 season.
• 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 to a tie for first-place in program history for wins as a first-year head coach.
• South Dakota holds an all-time program record of 588-568-35 entering Saturday. In the Division I FCS era, South Dakota has won 94 games (94-108).

 
DRAKE BULLDOGS

• Drake earned the Pioneer Football League's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs for the third-straight season. The Bulldogs finished 7-1 in PFL play.
• Starting with both USD and SDSU in non-conference play, Drake entered 1-2 into league play before winning seven of their last eight games under first-year head coach Joe Woodley.
• The Bulldogs boast a top-20 rushing attack in the FCS this season, averaging 198.8 rushing yards per game (18^th in FCS). RB N. Herman and QB L. Inagawa leads the Bulldogs in rushing with 960 and 354 yards, respectively, for a combined 14 rushing touchdowns.
• Senior LB Sean Allison has an impressive 120 tackles this season to lead the team with three Bulldogs having 80+ tackles on the campaign.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Meeting for the 22^nd time in program history, Drake leads the all-time series 11-10.
• However, the Coyotes have won six-straight in the series and have won every meeting in the NCAA Division I FCS era dating back to the 2009 meeting.
• The first contest in the series dates all the way back to 1919 with USD winning 6-3.
• The Yotes have scored 40+ points in all six DI FCS era meetings.
• Saturday marks the first-ever DI FCS Playoff meeting between the two schools, plus the first school out of the Pioneer Football League for South Dakota.