VERMILLION, S.D. — The Coyotes are set to open the 2026 football season in the first season as head coach for Matt Vitzthum this Saturday, August 29 when the back-to-back Northeast Conference champions Central Connecticut State Blue Devils travel to Vermillion for the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
 
Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. on ESPN+ and Midco Sports with David Brown and Andre Fields 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 12 p.m. (noon). Gary Culver and Jerry Palleschi will join him for the game action inside the DakotaDome.
   
NEW THIS SEASON (2026): Game programs will now be DIGITAL ONLY. No longer will printed copies of game programs (i.e., roster sheets) be available for fans on game day at the DakotaDome.
 
Upon publication each home week, you can find the digital program with rosters here: DIGITAL PROGRAMS. These will also be posted to the preview, schedule page, on GoYotes.com/FB, and on social media each week.

PROMOTIONS

• The season opener for 2026 is sponsored by Pioneer Seeds.
• This weekend is Ag Appreciation Day at the DakotaDome.
• Fans are encouraged to WEAR BLACK at the game this weekend.

KEY STORYLINES

• South Dakota embarks on 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.
• USD enters the 2026 campaign on the heels of three consecutive 10+ win seasons for the first time in program history.
• The Coyotes begins inside the top-15 this season, checking in at No. 12 in both the Stats Perform media poll and the AFCA Coaches' poll.
• With a win over CCSU, Vitzthum would be the first coach in the Division I era to win their opener as a head coach. He's just the fourth coach in the Division I era but only the second to open their tenure as head coach with an FCS opponent (Joe Glenn, 2012).
• The Yotes are an impressive 29-11 in the DakotaDome as a ranked team and 18-5 when ranked inside the top-15 (FCS era).
• 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).
• For the first time in three seasons, South Dakota will have a new man under center, needing to replace Aidan Bouman (2022-25 as QB1).
• A total of seven true or redshirt freshmen are slated to make their first starts against the Blue Devils this weekend.
• South Dakota has the most MVFC wins of any current Valley school over the last three seasons with 20.
• Since the Dome opened in 1979, USD has played 270 football games in it. The Yotes are 187-83 all-time in the dome, winning nearly 70% of the games played in the Dome.
• Returning from an injury last season, 2024 All-American running back – and a 2026 Walter Payton Award watch list honoree and a top-1000 East/West Shrine Bowl recipient – Charles Pierre Jr. returns to action as the slated RB1.
• Pierre Jr. was the program's first-ever FCS era 1,000-yard rusher back in 2024. He needs just 181 yards to become the 15^th Coyote running back to rush for 2,000 career yards.
• The senior has eight 100-yard rushing games to his name, which sits second in the DI FCS era behind Theis' 11.
• 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.

COYOTES IN SEASON OPENERS

• The Yotes are 79-49-1 (.610) in season openers dating back to 1889.
  • Three seasons are missing game and score information (1890, 1894-95).
• South Dakota has opened the season in the FCS era in the month of August seven times, being 3-4 since 2008 in August season openers.
• In the Division I FCS era, USD is 6-12 in openers, though 10 of those games have been against FBS opponents.
• This season marks just the fifth time that a season has opened with an FCS opponent (USD being 2-2 in those games; not counting the 2020 Covid season).
• Both of those loses to FCS opponents in the opener have been to Montana (2012, 2019).

SERIES HISTORY

• South Dakota and Central Connecticut State meet for the first time in program history.
• Additionally, CCSU marks the first-ever opponent for the Coyotes to be from the state of Connecticut.