South Dakota and SIU get together in a big top 25 FCS game that could decide playoff hopes/seeding.
Meet the Coyotes:
USD is currently 6-2 on the season and 4-1 in the MVFC. They started the season with a 35-10 loss at Missouri and they lost last week on the road at South Dakota State 37-3. The Coyotes have wins at North Dakota State and home against Youngstown State.
The Coyotes are coached by Bob Nielson in his 8th season as head coach. Nielson has worked his way up from Division 3 Ripon, Wartburg, and Wisconsin-Eau Claire to Division 2 Minnesota-Duluth, where he won 2 D2 National Championships to his first FCS job at Western Illinois. Nielson won a playoff game in his 3rd year at WIU and got poached by South Dakota. It's been an up and down tenure for Nielson at USD. The Coyotes won a playoff game in his 2nd season and they've made the playoffs twice in his first 7 seasons.
On the offensive side, South Dakota is 9th in the MVFC in points per game (23.1 PPG). The Coyotes are 5th in the MVFC in rushing yards per game (146.9), 7th in the MVFC in rushing touchdowns (13), 10th in the MVFC in passing yards per game (186.5), and tied for 9th in the MVFC in passing touchdowns (10).
On the defensive side, the Coyotes are 3rd in the MVFC in points allowed per game (17.3 PPG). The Coyotes are 8th in rushing yards allowed per game (156.6), tied for 7th in rushing touchdowns allowed per game (9), 3rd in the MVFC in passing yards allowed per game (183.8), and tied for 2nd in passing touchdowns allowed (7).
The Quarterback of the Coyotes is 6-5 Sophomore Aidan Bouman. Bouman was a 3 star recruit out of Buffalo, MN and started his collegiate career at Iowa State where he didn't play. Last season, Bouman made his collegiate debut in the 2nd quarter against SIU and led South Dakota to a comeback win leading them to a game winning field goal in the 4th quarter. This season, Bouman has thrown for 1,492 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions. In their win against Youngstown State earlier this year, Bouman threw for 369 yards and 3 touchdowns.
South Dakota's leading rusher is 5-11 Junior Travis Theis. Theis is in his 5th year at South Dakota and has accumulated 2,253 rushing yards and 19 rushing touchdowns on 491 career carries. Theis made the All-MVFC honorable mention team each of the last two seasons. This season, Theis has rushed 120 times for 601 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. In their win over Murray State earlier this year, Theis rushed 26 times for 190 yards and 2 touchdowns.
USD's leading receiver is 5-11 Junior Carter Bell. Like Theis, Bell in his 5th year at South Dakota and made the All-MVFC honorable mention team each of the last 2 seasons. This season, Bell has caught 27 passes for 497 yards and 4 touchdowns. He recorded over 100 yards and had 2 touchdowns each in their wins over North Dakota State and Youngstown State earlier this year. Their 2nd leading receiver is 6-4 Junior Tight End JJ Galbreath. Galbreath has 25 receptions this season for 352 yards and 4 touchdowns and had 6 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown in their win earlier this year against Youngstown State.
The Coyotes have some big impact players on the defensive side of the ball including 6-4 Junior Defensive Lineman Nick Gaes. Gaes leads the Coyotes in tackles for losses with 7.5 and is tied for the team lead in sacks with 4.5.
Weather:
Massey Ratings:
Massey Ratings has SIU winning 21-14 and gives SIU a 77% chance of winning.
Links:
SIU Game Notes
South Dakota Game Notes
Not sure how USD is still ranked #4 in Faktor rankings after getting destroyed by SDSU at home.
https://faktorsports.com/#/home
Massey has #5 SIU beating #9 USD 21 - 13. Me likey!
Massey Ratings for MVFC:
If we beat USD and INSU and beat NDSU, we definitely get a seed.
If we beat USD and INSU and play NDSU tough, at 8 - 3 we still might get a seed.
Big Sky has 4 teams ranked in the top 7 right now, but I don't see them getting 4 of the 8 seeds.
https://theanalyst.com/na/2023/11/fcs-football-week-10-preview-and-predictions-shout-it-out-its-make-or-break-month/
MVFC: No. 9 South Dakota (6-2, 4-1) at No. 10 Southern Illinois (6-2, 3-2)
Kickoff: 2 p.m. (ESPN+)
Notable: This is a big-picture matchup for a potential seed in the FCS playoffs. Even after a 37-3 loss to top-ranked South Dakota State, USD ranks ninth in the FCS in fewest points allowed per game (17.3). Quarterback Aidan Bouman came off the bench to lead a comeback win over SIU last season and has started all 12 games since then. The Salukis are allowing 16.6 points per game – seventh-best nationally – losing only 17-10 to SDSU one week before a 63-0 shutout win over Western Illinois. Nic Baker holds their all-time record with 8,415 passing yards, and his 61 TD passes are four shy of the standard.
The Pick: Southern Illinois
Feels like the last 2-3 years this is the type of game we come out flat and lose ugly putting us on the playoff bubble. No more of that! Would love to see us pull off a big win and put ourselves in position for a home playoff game. Roll Dawgs
I have a bad feeling about this...
Such a big game this weekend. Win here helps wash out the bad taste from last year’s collapse…lose, maybe we get a repeat.
Couldn’t ask for better weather on Saturday for November. 64 degrees and Sunny. I know attendance always dips off after Homecoming but hope we get a nice crowd.
@salukiworld currently tickets available would indicate a small crowd unless there is a big walk up contingent. I wish I could make it in to use my season ticket, but will not be able to make the trip down unfortunately.
Already bought tickets for me and my peeps.
The ticketing software at SIUSALUKIS is crap - couldn't get it to let me pick my own $5 seats on two different browsers - cleaned the cache, logged out and in - nope. You can call and order them.
Had problems with it last year for basketball.
I've been to every home game, and there was a fairly large walk-up crowd at the windows for SDSU and MoST.
I have a bad feeling about this...
I have a good feeling about it!!
I do think they will be hyped up after getting buttkicked last week. I like their big, lefty QB - Iowa St. transfer who can fling it, but I think our D is quite a bit better than last year.
Need to pressure their QB and not let their tough RB Theis rip off big runs.
I expect a playoff game feel, because it has playoff and seed implications.
Does anybody know if tickets are free for students? Can't find that info anywhere, but I think they just have to show their ID.
My nephew's boy is a sophomore and we want to take him to the game. Just not sure if we have to buy a ticket.
Does anybody know if tickets are free for students? Can't find that info anywhere, but I think they just have to show their ID.
My nephew's boy is a sophomore and we want to take him to the game. Just not sure if we have to buy a ticket.
Should be free with an ID unless something changed recently
