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
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
2018 record	4–7 (3–5 MVFC)
Head coach	Bob Nielson (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Ted Schlafke (3rd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Brian Mohnsen (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Atiba Bradley (1st season)
Home stadium	DakotaDome (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)
1	North Dakota State	390 (39)
2	South Dakota State	270
3	Northern Iowa	258
4	Youngstown State	248
5	Illinois State	248
6	South Dakota	206
7	Western Illinois	163
8	Southern Illinois	139
9	Missouri State	90
10	Indiana State	41

Preseason All-MVFC Teams

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

Offense 1st team Shamar Jackson – WR 2nd team Tyler Ciurej – OL Nick Jensen – OL Mason Scheidegger — OL

Defense 1st team Darin Greenfield – DL Andrew Gray – DB 2nd team Brady Schutt – P

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	at Kansas State*		Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium Manhattan, KS	ESPN3	L 24–27	50,063
September 8	2:00 p.m.	Northern Colorado*	No. 23	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN+ Midco	W 43–28	9,143
September 15	7:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Weber State*	No. 22	Stewart Stadium Ogden, UT	KELOland Pluto TV	L 10–27	8,455
September 29	6:00 p.m.	at Southern Illinois		Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN+	W 31–24	8,546
October 6	2:00 p.m.	No. 24 Missouri State		DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3	W 35–28	10,092
October 13	6:00 p.m.	Northern Iowa	No. 24	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN+ Midco	L 28–42	9,513
October 20	5:00 p.m.	at Youngstown State		Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	L 17–29	11,112
October 27	2:00 p.m.	No. 1 North Dakota State		DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN+ Midco	L 14–59	9,589
November 3	12:00 p.m.	at Indiana State		Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN+	L 48–51 ^3OT	5,816
November 10	1:00 p.m.	Western Illinois		DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN+ Midco	W 17–12	8,761
November 17	2:00 p.m.	at No. 5 South Dakota State		Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (South Dakota Showdown Series)	ESPN+ Midco	L 27–49	8,517
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

• Source: Schedule

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	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
Coyotes	7	7	7	10	7	7	3	48
Sycamores	14	7	0	10	7	7	6	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

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.