2017 South Dakota Coyotes football team

The 2017 South Dakota Coyotes football team represented the University of South Dakota in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Bob Nielson and played their home games in the DakotaDome. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.[1] They finished the season 8–5, 4–4 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, which was the schools first ever FCS Playoff bid, where they defeated Nicholls State in the first round before losing to Sam Houston State in the second round.

2017 South Dakota Coyotes football
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 42–54 vs. Sam Houston State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 15
FCS Coaches	No. 16
2017 record	8–5 (4–4 MVFC)
Head coach	Bob Nielson (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Ted Schlafke (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Bill O'Boyle (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Atiba Bradley (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Tyler Yelk (2nd season)
Home stadium	DakotaDome (Capacity: 10,000)

2017 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^		7	–	1					14	–	1
No. 3 South Dakota State ^		6	–	2					11	–	3
No. 19 Northern Iowa ^		6	–	2					8	–	5
No. 13 Western Illinois ^		5	–	3					8	–	4
No. 15 South Dakota ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Illinois State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Youngstown State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Southern Illinois		2	–	6					4	–	7
Missouri State		2	–	6					3	–	8
Indiana State		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	at Drake*		Drake Stadium Des Moines, IA	BV	W 77–7	3,332
September 9	5:00 p.m.	at Bowling Green*		Doyt Perry Stadium Bowling Green, OH	ESPN3	W 35–27	17,912
September 16	2:00 p.m.	No. 10 North Dakota*	No. 23	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (Sitting Bull Trophy)	ESPN3 Midco	W 45–7	9,645
September 30	3:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Western Illinois	No. 10	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3 MVC TV	W 38–33	5,631
October 7	2:00 p.m.	No. 3 Youngstown State	No. 7	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3 Midco	W 31–28	10,056
October 14	2:00 p.m.	Indiana State	No. 4	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3 Midco	W 56–6	8,390
October 21	2:00 p.m.	at No. 24 Illinois State	No. 4	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3 NBCS CH	L 21–37	12,113
October 28	3:00 p.m.	Southern Illinois	No. 6	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3 Midco	W 42–0	8,498
November 4	1:00 p.m.	at Northern Iowa	No. 6	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3 PSN	L 29–34	10,814
November 11	2:30 p.m.	at No. 5 North Dakota State	No. 10	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN3 NBC ND	L 14–49	18,623
November 18	2:00 p.m.	No. 6 South Dakota State	No. 15	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (South Dakota Showdown Series)	ESPN3 Midco	L 28–31	10,147
November 25	3:00 p.m.	at Nicholls State*	No. 16	John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	W 38–31	9,612
December 2	2:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Sam Houston State*	No. 16	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX (FCS Playoffs Second Round)	ESPN3	L 42–54	4,401
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS FCS at time of game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

at Drake

	1	2	3	4	Total
Coyotes	28	28	7	14	77
Bulldogs	0	7	0	0	7

See also: 2017 Drake Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–11	2015	USD, 52–0

at Bowling Green

	1	2	3	4	Total
Coyotes	21	0	7	7	35
Falcons	3	6	7	11	27

See also: 2017 Bowling Green Falcons football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

North Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Fighting Hawks	0	0	7	0	7
No. 23 Coyotes	17	14	7	7	45

See also: 2017 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team and Sitting Bull Trophy

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
29–61–5	2016	UND, 47–44 ^2OT

at Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Coyotes	7	17	14	0	38
No. 13 Leathernecks	0	6	14	13	33

See also: 2017 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–5	2016	WIU, 35–34

Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Penguins	7	7	7	7	28
No. 7 Coyotes	7	14	7	3	31

See also: 2017 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–5	2016	YSU, 30–20

Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	3	3	0	0	6
No. 4 Coyotes	7	21	14	14	56

See also: 2017 Indiana State Sycamores football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–1	2016	USD, 33–30 ^2OT

at Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Coyotes	0	14	0	7	21
No. 24 Redbirds	14	3	7	13	37

See also: 2017 Illinois State Redbirds football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–5	2016	USD, 27–24

Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Salukis	0	0	0	0	0
No. 6 Coyotes	14	7	7	14	42

See also: 2017 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
1–2	2016	SIU, 35–28

at Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Coyotes	7	9	7	6	29
Panthers	3	10	7	14	34

See also: 2017 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
19–27–1	2016	USD, 28–25

at North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Coyotes	7	7	0	0	14
No. 5 Bison	14	14	14	7	49

See also: 2017 North Dakota State Bison football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
26–53–3	2016	NDSU, 28–21

South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Jackrabbits	0	17	7	7	31
No. 15 Coyotes	0	14	7	7	28

See also: 2017 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
52–53–7	2016	SDSU, 28–21

FCS Playoffs

at Nicholls State–First Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Coyotes	7	10	14	7	38
Colonels	0	7	14	10	31

See also: 2017 Nicholls State Colonels football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

at Sam Houston State–Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 16 Coyotes	7	7	14	14	42
No. 5 Bearkats	14	27	0	13	54

See also: 2017 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	RV	23	13	10	7	4	4	6	6	10	15	16	15
Coaches	RV	RV	23	14	10	6	4	4	7	6	10	16	18	16

References

1. "Coyote football to open 2017 at Drake". University of South Dakota Athletics. December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.