2018 South Dakota Coyotes football team

The 2018 South Dakota Coyotes football team represented the University of South Dakota in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Bob Nielson and played their home games in the DakotaDome. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 4–7, 3–5 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place.

2018 South Dakota Coyotes football
ConferenceMissouri Valley Football Conference
2018 record4–7 (3–5 MVFC)
Head coachBob Nielson (3rd season)
Offensive coordinatorTed Schlafke (3rd season)
Co-defensive coordinatorBrian Mohnsen (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinatorAtiba Bradley (1st season)
Home stadiumDakotaDome
(Capacity: 10,000)
2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 1 North Dakota State $^  8 –0     15 –0  
No. 3 South Dakota State ^  6 –2     10 –3  
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^  5 –3     7 –6  
Indiana State  5 –3     7 –4  
Western Illinois  4 –4     5 –6  
Illinois State  3 –5     6 –5  
Youngstown State  3 –5     4 –7  
South Dakota  3 –5     4 –7  
Missouri State  2 –6     4 –7  
Southern Illinois  1 –7     2 –9  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Coyotes finished the 2017 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.

Preseason

Award watch lists
Award Player Position Year
Buck Buchanan Award[1] Darin Greenfield DE JR

Preseason MVFC poll

The MVFC released their preseason poll on July 29, 2018, with the Coyotes predicted to finish in sixth place.[2]

Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1North Dakota State390 (39)
2South Dakota State270
3Northern Iowa258
4Youngstown State248
5Illinois State248
6South Dakota206
7Western Illinois163
8Southern Illinois139
9Missouri State90
10Indiana State41

Preseason All-MVFC Teams

The Coyotes placed seven players on the preseason all-MVFC teams.[3]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 16:00 p.m.at Kansas State*
ESPN3L 24–2750,063
September 82:00 p.m.Northern Colorado*No. 23
ESPN+
Midco		W 43–289,143
September 157:00 p.m.at No. 11 Weber State*No. 22
KELOland
Pluto TV		L 10–278,455
September 296:00 p.m.at Southern Illinois
ESPN+W 31–248,546
October 62:00 p.m.No. 24 Missouri State
  • DakotaDome
  • Vermillion, SD
ESPN3W 35–2810,092
October 136:00 p.m.Northern IowaNo. 24
  • DakotaDome
  • Vermillion, SD
ESPN+
Midco		L 28–429,513
October 205:00 p.m.at Youngstown State
ESPN+L 17–2911,112
October 272:00 p.m.No. 1 North Dakota State
  • DakotaDome
  • Vermillion, SD
ESPN+
Midco		L 14–599,589
November 312:00 p.m.at Indiana State
ESPN+L 48–51 3OT5,816
November 101:00 p.m.Western Illinois
  • DakotaDome
  • Vermillion, SD
ESPN+
Midco		W 17–128,761
November 172:00 p.m.at No. 5 South Dakota State
ESPN+
Midco		L 27–498,517
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Game summaries

at Kansas State
1 2 3 4 Total
Coyotes 10 14 0 0 24
Wildcats 3 9 0 15 27
See also: 2018 Kansas State Wildcats football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
0–4 2015 KSU, 34–0

Kansas State's Isaiah Zuber was credited for saving the game with two key plays: an 85-yard punt return with South Dakota leading 24–12. Later in the game caught a touchdown pass from Skylar Thompson with 7:21 left to give K-State its first lead of the second half.

Kansas State scored all but seven of its points on field goals and special teams. Sophomore kicker Blake Lynch scored Kansas State’s first 12 points on field goals of 22, 24, 38 and 44 yards. Kansas State racked up 13 penalties for 129 yards, but maintained more control of the ball with 37:39 of offense compared to South Dakota's 22:21.[4] going over 100 years for the first time since 2016 against Florida Atlantic.[5]

South Dakota quarterback Austin Simmons threw for 257 yards and one touchdown, continually finding receiver Levi Falck (11 catches, 140 yards) open against top K-State cornerback Duke Shelley. The Coyotes led 24–12 at halftime.[6] ESPN reported "... one solid takeaway is how well the Coyotes were in control for much of the game. They did a great job limiting the Kansas State offense for three quarters and had many Kansas State fans, players and coaches frustrated throughout the night."[5]

Northern Colorado
1 2 3 4 Total
Bears 14 0 0 14 28
No. 23 Coyotes 14 20 0 9 43
See also: 2018 Northern Colorado Bears football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
13–19 2010 USD, 34–6

at Weber State
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 22 Coyotes 0 3 0 7 10
No. 11 Wildcats 11 7 3 6 27
See also: 2018 Weber State Wildcats football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
1–0–1 2016 USD, 52–49

at Southern Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
Coyotes 7 3 21 0 31
Salukis 14 3 0 7 24
See also: 2018 Southern Illinois Salukis football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
2–2 2017 USD, 42–0

Missouri State
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 24 Bears 7 14 7 0 28
Coyotes 14 3 10 8 35
See also: 2018 Missouri State Bears football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
2–2 2015 USD, 40–10

Northern Iowa
1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 0 21 7 14 42
No. 24 Coyotes 3 10 8 7 28
See also: 2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
19–28–1 2017 UNI, 34–29

at Youngstown State
1 2 3 4 Total
Coyotes 0 0 10 7 17
Penguins 19 3 0 7 29
See also: 2018 Weber State Wildcats football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
1–5 2017 USD, 31–28

North Dakota State
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 1 Bison 21 14 7 17 59
Coyotes 0 7 7 0 14
See also: 2018 North Dakota State Bison football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
25–52–3 2017 NDSU, 49–14

at Indiana State
1 2 3 4OT2OT3OT Total
Coyotes 7 7 7 10773 48
Sycamores 14 7 0 10776 51
See also: 2018 Indiana State Sycamores football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
3–1 2017 USD, 56–6

Western Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
Leathernecks 3 0 0 9 12
Coyotes 7 0 3 7 17
See also: 2018 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team
Overall record Last meeting Result
3–5 2017 USD, 38–33

at South Dakota State
1 2 3 4 Total
Coyotes 7 0 7 13 27
No. 5 Jackrabbits 28 7 7 7 49
See also: 2018 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team and South Dakota–South Dakota State football rivalry
Overall record Last meeting Result
51–55–7 2017 SDSU, 31–28

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 23 22 RV RV RV 24 RV NR NR NR NR NR  
Coaches RV RV 24 RV RV RV RV RV NR NR NR NR NR
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References
  1. "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced". August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  2. http://www.valley-football.org/news/2018/7/19/football-north-dakota-state-tabbed-as-favorite-to-win-2018-mvfc-title.aspx
  3. http://valley-football.org/documents/2018/7/31//2018_MVFC_Preseason_Team_and_Poll.pdf?id=41
  4. "South Dakota Coyotes vs Kansas State Wildcats (team stats)". ESPN. September 2, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  5. "Kansas State scores 2 late TDs, edges South Dakota 27–24". ESPN. September 2, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  6. Robinett, Kellis. "Kansas State survives against South Dakota 27–24 in season-opener". Wichita Eagle. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
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