VERMILLION, S.D. — The No. 9/9-ranked South Dakota football team and the high-scoring Coyote offense hits the road to battle the Murray State Racers on their Homecoming this Saturday, October 17 to continue positioning themselves atop the Missouri Valley Football Conference standings.
 
Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m. (CT) on ESPN+ with Rob Cross (PxP) and Bryan Cross (analyst) on the call. You can listen to the game on Coyote Sports Network with the voice of the Coyotes John Thayer beginning the pre-game show at 3 p.m. (CT). Gary Culver and Jerry Palleschi will join him for the game action at Roy Stewart Stadium.
 

GAME 8 | No. 9 SOUTH DAKOTA (5-2, 2-1 MVFC) at MURRAY STATE (1-5, 0-2 MVFC)
Date | Time	Saturday, October 17 | 4:00 PM (CT)
Location	Murray, Ky. | Roy Stewart Stadium (16,800)
Fan Information	Tickets | Parking | Game Day Info
Television	ESPN+ - Rob Cross (PxP), Bryan Cross (Analyst)
Radio	Coyote Sports Network (John Thayer, Gary Culver, Jerry Palleschi) [KVHT 106.3 FM]
Live Stats	StatBroadcast | USD Season Stats (PDF)
Game Notes	South Dakota | Murray State | MVFC | College Pressbox
Digital Program	Digital Program
Social Media	@SDCoyotesFB  | #GoYotes | @sdcoyotesfb  | Facebook

 
SETTING THE SCENE

• South Dakota hits the road again on a two-game win streak after back-to-back 3+ score victories at the Dome.
• USD picked up their first win over a ranked opponent last time out with a 31-10 victory over No. 25 Southern Illinois. The Yotes are now 1-1 against ranked opponents this season and under Vitzthum.
• USD has outscored opponents 152-74 (+78 margin) in the first half this season thanks to a +43 margin in the first quarter.
• The Coyotes are inside the top-10 of the two major FCS polls this week – No. 9 in both the Stats Perform and the AFCA polls – for the first time this season. The Yotes crack the top-10 in the AFCA poll for the first time this year.  
• USD is one of the least penalized teams in the FCS this season. With just 30 penalties through seven games, the 4.3 average per game sits No. 5 in the FCS.
• The Yotes started the season 3-0 for the first time since the 2017 season under Bob Nielson.
• OFFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE WEEK: Redshirt freshman Lucas Feldkamp has been named the MVFC's Offensive Lineman of the Week after USD put up 486 yards of offense on 8.8 yards per play against the Salukis. It's the most yards SIU has surrendered to an FCS team this season.
• Murray State is led by 3rd year head coach Jody Wright. He's 0-2 all-time against South Dakota.
• South Dakota picked up FCS win No. 100 with the 44-14 Dakota Days victory over Indiana State on October 3.

 
NEWS & NOTES

• South Dakota is in their 131st season of college football and with their 32^nd head coach in program history and embarking on the 15^th season in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
• In his first season as head coach, Matt Vitzthum holds a 5-2 record [5-1 vs. FCS opponents].
• QB Austyn Modrzewski has thrown for multiple touchdown passes in five of his first seven games as the starter at South Dakota.
• He's thrown at least one TD pass in all seven games this season. It sits as the sixth-longest consecutive TD streak in the South Dakota FCS era.
• Modrzewski's 184.5 QB rating now LEADS in the FCS.
• His 19 touchdown passing touchdowns sits T1st in the nation (FCS). He became the fastest Yote in program history to reach 18 passing touchdowns in a season (min. amount to crack single-season top-10), doing so in just six games.
• RB Charles Pierre Jr. eclipsed 2,000 career rushing yards against Eastern Washington (Sept. 12), becoming the 15^th Coyote in program history to achieve 2,000 rushing yards.
• His 28 career rushing scores which sits T7th all-time at South Dakota and second-best in the FCS era.
• LB Wade Abrams once again LEADS the MVFC and leads the USD defense with his 61 tackles and 8.7 tackles per game this season.
• He's posted four double-digit tackle games this season with a career-best 14 tackles at Boise State (Sept. 19).
• DL Nathan Laperi leads the team with 3.0 sacks and LB Gabriel Hardman leads the team with his 5.0 TFLs.
• K Bohdie Ing connected on a USD- and career-long 43-yard field goal to tie the game at 24-24 in the fourth quarter at Boise. He's 6-for-6 on field goals this season.
• THE CAPTAINS: The Yotes have named three season-long captains for the 2026 season in Tysen Boze (offense), Gabriel Hardman (defense), and Keyondray Jones-Logan (special teams).
• Announced earlier during Fall Camp, senior defensive lineman Chris Dixon was named a top-10 (No. 9-ranked) prospect in the 2027 Canadian Football League (CFL) draft.
• South Dakota has won 191 games in the DakotaDome (191-83) since it opened in 1979.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• South Dakota and Murray State have met just three times in series history, the Yotes winning all three meetings.
• The last time these two met in Murray, Ky. the Yotes dominated with a 59-0 shutout victory over the Racers.
• All four meetings will now have taken place in the month of October (USD leads 3-0).