VERMILLION, S.D. — The story continues for the 2025 South Dakota football team, adventuring to the state of Montana for the second-straight FCS Playoffs as they head to Missoula, Montana to battle the No. 3-seeded Montana Grizzlies on Saturday, December 13 in the FCS Quarterfinals from Washington-Grizzly Stadium led by the new South Dakota career passing leader Aidan Bouman. 
 
The game will televisted on ABC with Roy Philpott (PxP), Sam Acho (analyst), and Taylor Davis (sideline) on the call for the 2025 FCS Quarterfinals. You can listen to the voice of the Coyotes John Thayer on the Coyote Sports Network beginning at 1:30 p.m. (CT) for the pre-game show with former Coyote Gary Culver joining Thayer for the call at 2:30 p.m. (CT).
 

FCS QUARTERFINALS | No. 11-seed SOUTH DAKOTA (10-4, 6-2 MVFC) at No. 3-seed MONTANA (12-1, 7-1 Big Sky)
Date | Time	Saturday, December 13 | 1:30 PM (MT) / 2:30 PM (CT)
Location	Missoula, Mont. | Washington-Grizzly Stadium (25,217)
Fan Information	Tickets | Parking | Game Day Info
Television	ABC - Roy Philpott (PxP), Sam Acho (Analyst), Taylor Davis (sideline)
Radio	Coyote Sports Network (John Thayer, Gary Culver) [KVHT 106.3 FM]
Live Stats	NCAA
Game Notes	South Dakota | Montana | 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. 
• Six of the 10 total FCS Playoff games for South Dakota have been played in the DakotaDome, while Saturday's game at Montana will be the fifth road FCS Playoff game.
• The Yotes are set to clash with what's proven to be the most frequent conference in the FCS Playoff with their fourth meeting against a Big Sky school in the playoffs.
• 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 (4-0), lead at halftime (5-0), force 3+ takeaways (4-0), and/or holds the ball for 30+ minutes of game action (3-0).

 
KEY STORYLINES

• South Dakota and Montana are set to meet for the 21^st time in program history on Saturday with the first-ever meeting in the FCS Playoffs.
• This season South Dakota is 7-2 when scoring first, 7-0 when leading at halftime, 7-1 when not committing a turnover, 5-0 with a rusher over 150+ yards in the game, and 5-0 with a receiver having 100+ yards in the game.
• The Yotes are 4-2 against top-25 FCS opponents this season with all four wins coming in the months of November and December.
• USD had a stretch of not committing a turnover in six-straight games did not commit a turnover in six of the eight MVFC games this season. It's now eight games this season without a turnover, following the Mercer game (Dec. 6).
• PACING THE FCS: L.J. Phillips Jr. LEADS the FCS net rushing yards (1,847), fourth in carries (279), fourth in rushing yards per game (131.9), T7th in rushing touchdowns (18), and sixth in yards per carry (6.62).
• Phillips Jr. has climbed the top-10 single-season all-time list for rushing yards, sitting SECOND entering heading to Missoula. He needs 115 yards to set a new single-season program record.  
• 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 32-13 (45 games) record as the starting quarterback at South Dakota and has thrown a touchdown pass in 12 of the 14 games this season with a new season - and career-high five touchdowns in the regular season finale at Southern Illinois.
• After the Mercer game, Bouman is now the South Dakota career passing yards leader (9,047) and SECOND all-time in career passing touchdowns (66).
• Bouman has now thrown 11 touchdown passes in the last three games.
• With 11 100-yard rushing games this season (nine from Phillips Jr., two from Fletcher), South Dakota now has had 78 100-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; vs. Drake) 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 (x2; vs. Drake, Sept 20; at Mercer, Dec. 6) and leads the team with ten (10) 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.  
• Last week, head coach Travis Johansen became the first coach to win double-digit games in their first season as head coach at South Dakota.
• South Dakota holds an all-time program record of 590-568-35 entering Saturday. In the Division I FCS era, South Dakota has won 96 games (96-108).

 
MONTANA GRIZZLIES

• Led by Bobby Hauck in his 14^th full season in Missoula, he picked up his 150^th win leading the Griz with the 50-29 win over South Dakota State last weekend in the Second Round.
• Montana won their first 11 games of the season before dropping a top-5 clash to in-state rival Montana State to end the regular season and finished with a 11-1 record.
• Earning the No. 3 national seed, the Griz had a First Round bye before a dominant win over SDSU last time out.
• The Griz are 2-0 against MVFC teams this season – both games in Missoula – defeating SDSU and North Dakota (24-23 back in September).
• QB Keali'I Ah Yat has thrown for over 3,500 passing yards this season with 29 touchdowns to help the Griz to their 12-1 mark. He leads an offense that boasts a top-10 FCS passing offense (286.6 yards per game) and top-5 total offense (466.1 yards per game).
• The defense, however, has struggled to stop opponents' passing attacks. The Griz sit 115^th of 126 FCS programs, allowing 263.6 passing yards per game.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• South Dakota and Montana have met 20 previous times, with Montana leading the all-time series, 14-6.
• Montana has won eight-straight games in the series with South Dakota never defeating the Griz since going Division I (0-5).
• In Missoula, the Griz lead the series 11-3 with the last South Dakota win coming in Montana back in 1965.
• It marks the fourth Big Sky opponent for South Dakota in the FCS Playoffs (USD, 2-1).