South Dakota football earns tight 14-10 win over North Dakota
In a game with massive playoff implications against No. 10 North Dakota and their back against the wall early in the fourth quarter, the South Dakota offense responded.
With the Coyotes facing a 10-7 deficit late in the third quarter, the USD offense embarked on a seven-minute, 13-play, 81-yard drive that resulted in a game-winning 10-yard rushing touchdown from Charles Pierre Jr. that gave USD a 14-10 lead.
South Dakota overcame multiple second-and-longs on that drive with big passes to Carter Bell and JJ Galbreath.
“In circumstances like that, and in situations like that, that's where guys will step up,” Galbreath said after the monumental win. “That's where we need to be our best and that's what we saw today.”
The Coyotes' defense remained one of the best aspects of this team and turned North Dakota over on downs on the following drive, sealing the win.
USD put themselves in a difficult position to start the game, allowing North Dakota to return the first kickoff of the game for a touchdown.
“Not good,” South Dakota football coach Bob Nielson said of his reaction to that kickoff return. “Particularly when you coach the kickoff unit. (That’s) part of my responsibility, so obviously I didn't do a very good job this week. “
That was the lone touchdown the South Dakota defense allowed against a team that was averaging 30+ points per game coming into the DakotaDome.
Here are three takeaways from USD’s win over North Dakota.
The seniors played a large role in turning this team around
During halftime of the game against North Dakota, a game that was also senior night for the Coyotes, Nielson called over his seniors and told them “‘Hey, you know, this is our game to win. We just have to go out and do it.’”
“There was not a questionable eye in the locker room,” Nielson said postgame. “They knew we had to go out and find a way to win it.”
The role the senior leadership team has played in turning this team around from the 3-8 season they had last year can’t be understated.
Nielson said the mantra of the team has been “we’re going to change the outcome by changing the input,” and the seniors were leaders in the offseason of changing that input and now they’re reaping the benefits.
Leaning on the passing game
It became evident quickly that the Coyotes weren’t going to be able to run the ball very efficiently against the North Dakota defense. The Fighting Hawks were prepared for the multiple backs USD could throw at them and loaded the box to limit the run.
So, South Dakota leaned on Aidan Bouman and the passing game to move down the field.
“Certain games call for us to do different things and today we had to pass the ball,” Bouman said. “Our receivers did a great job of getting open today and the (offensive line) protected really well.”
Bouman ended the game with 307 passing yards and the Coyotes edged North Dakota in passing yards 307-116.
Playoff lock?
This win was USD’s third against top-10 opponents and their fourth against ranked opponents. With that number of quality wins under their belt, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which they don’t make the playoffs.
If they win out, it’s likely they’ll end up with a top-8 seed and a first-round bye. Next week they'll have the opportunity to win game number nine of the year against Western Illinois.
“We want to get to that ninth win,” Nielson said. “(It) still gives us a chance to, even though we need a little help, to be in the hunt for a conference championship and hopefully a nine-win resume is good enough to allow this team to keep playing in the national playoffs, which I feel this team certainly deserves that opportunity.”
Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFERN31
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota football pulls off tight 14-10 win over North Dakota
