Analysis: South Dakota football delivered memorable, standard-raising 2023 season

Dec. 12—VERMILLION — Don't get it twisted: South Dakota's 45-17 loss to North Dakota State in the FCS quarterfinals was indeed a massive letdown.

And because of the fashion in which it happened — the Coyotes were ran over by a herd of angry Bison in their home stadium on national TV for 60 minutes — the final memory of the 2023 season will be a bitter one.

But that shouldn't be the prevailing memory.

Because setting the woeful ending aside, there's no doubt about it: The 2023 football season was a rousing success for the University of South Dakota.

In their 16th year as a Division I program, a Coyote team that has fluctuated from mediocre, to decent, to just plain bad, finally put together a season anyone not donning the blue-and-yellow overalls would agree was impressive.

A year removed from a 3-8 record, South Dakota compiled a program-best 10-3 record in FCS play, and reached the FCS quarterfinals for the first time in program history. The Coyotes also won a program-best five games against ranked opponents, including a win over the would-be vengeful Bison earlier in the fall. And the three losses came against two teams in the FCS semifinals (NDSU and South Dakota State) and one that's headed to the Cotton Bowl (Missouri).

Such a strong campaign, members of the program couldn't help but pat themselves on the back when asked about it at the press conference following Saturday's loss.

"Obviously, in the moment, today didn't go how we wanted, but this team did something that no team had ever done here. And that's something to be very proud about," said junior offensive lineman Joey Lombard.

"I told our guys in the locker room, I don't think anybody outside of the guys that were standing in that locker room at the beginning expected us to be there, playing in a national quarterfinal," coach Bob Nielson said. "And it just shows you what internal belief can do, and those guys worked really hard. It's been a special road for our guys, been a special road for an old head coach."

The way the Coyotes pulled it off has been

chronicled

as such: After a difficult 2022 season, which, according to Nielson, was " a perfect storm" of everything going wrong, the players got together, hashed out their differences and agreed to double-down on their commitment to winning at USD.

Aligned with new offensive coaching staff, and the growth that comes with a full-season of continuity and training, USD was a different squad this fall, becoming one of the top scoring defenses in the country, and establishing enough physicality and big-play ability offensively to win games.

In turn, the Coyotes raised their standard.

USD treated inferior opponents as such, beating its five unranked foes by a combined score of 162-22. Wins over NDSU and Southern Illinois proved the Coyotes can travel outside of the DakotaDome and play well against talented opponents. Victories over North Dakota and Youngstown State showed that South Dakota can respond to in-game adversity and come away unscathed.

And soundly defeating Sacramento State in the second round put the Coyotes into the final eight and into the national spotlight — somewhere they've never gone before.

"Unless we're winning the national championship game, there's more work to do," Nielson said. "But we took a significant step forward. And that's how I'll characterize it. That we came one step closer to that ultimate goal of being in that national championship game."

Is it possible that, as Nielson said, this season could be a stepping block to future, sustained success? Is USD actually on the trajectory to becoming a contender in the MVFC? North Dakota State coach, and soon-to-be USC linebacker coach Matt Entz thinks so.

"I mean, they were (a contender) this year for sure," Entz said. "They'll regroup and get ready and have a tremendous offseason. There's always pieces that you want to interject and add and (coach Nielson) has a lot of experience doing that. He's won at the highest level, at different levels. And the one thing I know is there isn't a more organized and thorough individual that's out there in the coaching ranks right now."

There were 10 players honored on Senior Day, nine of whom were on the defensive side. Losing defensive starters Myles Harden, Stephen Hillis, Brock Mogensen, Brendan Webb, and Micah Roane will create a hole.

The key is keeping players from entering the transfer portal. If this is accomplished, the offense will lose just one starter, Erbes, and defensive stalwarts Blake Holden, Nick Gaes, Mi'Quise Grace, Mosai Newsom, Dennis Shorter and Shahid Barrros are set to return.

"The amount that (those seniors) invested in this program, it'd be a complete disservice to not carry that on," Lombard said. "We've learned a lot from them and the amount of growth that can come from looking back on this season. Moving forward, it's our job to carry that forward and build off of this, because that's how we're going to get to where we want to be."