VERMILLION, S.D. — The No. 4-seeded University of South Dakota football team (10-2, 7-1 MVFC) make their second-straight appearance in the NCAA FCS Quarterfinals as they play host to No. 5-seeded UC Davis (11-2, 7-1 Big Sky) inside the DakotaDome on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff with Ted Emrich and Taylor McHargue on the call.
| Game 14 | No. 4-seed South Dakota (10-2, 7-1 MVFC) vs. No. 5-seed UC Davis (11-2, 7-1 Big Sky) | |
| Date | Time | Saturday, December 14 | 2:00 PM (CT) |
| Location | Vermillion, S.D. | The DakotaDome (9,100) |
| Fan Information | Tickets | Parking | Clear Bag Policy | A-to-Z Guide |
| Television | ESPN+ – Ted Emrich (PxP) & Taylor McHargue (Analyst) |
| Radio | Coyote Sports Network (John Thayer, Gary Culver, Jay Elsen) [KVHT 106.3 FM] |
| Live Stats | (South Dakota): SIDEARM | StatBroadcast |
| Game Notes | South Dakota | UC Davis | MVFC |
| Social Media | @SDCoyotesFB  | #GoYotes x #WeAreSouthDakota | @sdcoyotesfb  | Facebook  |
PROMOTIONS
- CorTrust Bank and Sanford Health are the South Dakota FCS Playoff sponsors.
- The South Dakota band will perform at halftime of the contest.
GAME STORYLINES
- South Dakota enters the FCS Playoffs with a share of the 2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) title for the first time in program history.
- Travis Theis also looks to become the second Coyote to rush for 1,000 yards this season, needing just 24 rushing yards.
- The Coyotes enter the Playoffs as the No. 4-seed, earning a top-4 seed for the second-straight season.
- It marks the fourth FCS Playoff appearance for the Coyotes and back-to-back trips to the FCS Quarterfinals.
- DEFENDING THE DOME: Since the 2021 season, South Dakota is 20-6 inside the DakotaDome.
- The home win-streak is now up to seven-straight games this season, sitting 7-0 in the Dome on the year.
- The Yotes ended the regular season at No. 3 (AFCA) and No. 4 (STATS Perform) in the polls.
- Seven Coyotes earned First Team All-MVFC honors this season.
- USD has had 77 chunk plays of 20 or more yards this season with 29 leading to touchdowns.
- The Coyote defense sits third the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 16.9 points per game.
- Furthermore, the passing defense is the second-best in the Valley, sitting at just 192.8 yards per game.
- The Coyote rushing attack sits fifth in the FCS (230.3 yards per game) after their fourth 300+ rushing yard game of the season at UND.
COYOTES IN THE FCS PLAYOFFS
- Saturday marks the fifth-straight home Playoff game for South Dakota.
- All four appearances have been under HC Bob Nielson.
- USD sits 3-3 all-time in FCS Playoff games, now with one win at home (Sacramento State, 2023; Tarleton State, 2024).
- Travis Theis (130 vs. Tarleton State, 2024) and Charles Pierre Jr. (123 vs. Sacramento State, 2023) are the only Coyotes to rush for 100+ yards in a Playoff game.
- Chris Streveler holds the all-time single-game passing yards record with 520 (at Sam Houston State, 2017).
- Defensively, 12 tackles is the single-game high done three times in program history.
- Mi’Quise Grace holds the record for most TFLs (2.0) and sacks (1.5) in a single playoff game (vs. Sacramento State, 2023).
- Dennis Shorter holds the single-game record for pass break-ups with three (vs. Sacramento State, 2023).
HEAD COACH BOB NIELSON
- HC Bob Nielson was named the 2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) Coach of the Year.
- He’s now won two MVFC Coach of the Year honors at USD (2023, 2024) and three total in his career (WIU, 2015).
- Nielson is also the first MVFC coach to win Coach of the Year at two different league schools.
- This season, Nielson picked up his 50th career win at South Dakota with the 42-36 win at North Dakota (Nov. 16).
- He has coached in 99 career games at South Dakota; coaching his 100th game as USD against UC Davis.
- With the win over Tarleton State last week, Nielson became the fourth winningest coach in program history (52 wins), passing Joe Salem (1966-74).
- Three more wins will move him into third all-time in program history (Ed Meierkort, 54 wins, 2004-11).
YOTES TO NOTE
- Aidan Bouman has thrown for at least 200 passing yards and one touchdown in eight games this season.
- Quaron Adams has been a spark in the wide receivers group, averaging an MVFC-best 28.6 yards per catch.
- The rushing attack of Charles Pierre Jr. (96.1) and Travis Theis (88.7) sit No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the Valley in rushing yards per game.
- Pierre Jr. sits second nationally in yards per carry (7.64) and ninth in rushing touchdowns (15), while Theis sits fourth in scoring (9.8ppg) and sixth in rushing scores (16).
- Gary Bryant III leads the defense with his 86.0 tackles per game.
- Dennis Shorter has a team-best two interceptions and is tied for the MVFC lead with his 12 pass break-ups.
- Mi’Quise Grace leads the MVFC in sacks, sitting at 9.5 on the season. Nick Gaes sits right behind him at No. 2 in the Valley at 8.0 sacks.
DOMINANT RUSHING GAME
- The run game continues to be a huge part of the Coyote offense, 230.3 rushing yards a game.
- It sits second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference and fifth nationally.
- The backfield of Theis & Pierre Jr. have combined for 10 100-yard rushing games (both did so against SIU and UND).
- Charles Pierre Jr. is the lone Coyote to have any 150-yard rushing games this season. He’s now done it three times, including in back-to-back weeks: 153 (at Youngstown State), 165 (vs. Indiana State), and 173 (at North Dakota).
- Pierre Jr. was one of two Valley rushers to have 1,000+ rushing yards on the season through the regular season, doing it in one less game than UNI’s Tye Edwards.
- He ended the regular season second in the Valley with his 15 rushing scores, though he led all running backs.
- Heading into the Quarterfinals, Travis Theis now holds the team lead with his 16 rushing touchdowns which sits sixth in the FCS.
STOUT DEFENSE
- The Yotes have made a name for themselves with a strong defensive unit so far this season.
- South Dakota has nine interceptions as a team with seven different Yotes having one, after three INTs in the win over Tarleton State.
- Dennis Shorter and Mike Reid sit tied for the team lead with two interceptions each.
- Shorter sits second in the MVFC with his 12 pass break-ups this season.
- LB Gary Bryant III leads the defense with his 78 tackles this season.
GETTING PRESSURE ON THE QUARTERBACK
- South Dakota sits 3rd in the MVFC in total sacks with 27 on the season.
- Mi’Quise Grace leads the Valley with his 9.5 sacks this season, earning him Defensive Player of the Year in the conference.
- Nick Gaes sits right behind Grace, second in the MVFC, with his 8.5 sacks on the season.
- The duo combines for 17.5 of the 27 sacks for the Yotes, or 65% of the team’s sacks.
INDIVIDUAL ACCOLADES & MILESTONES
- Charles Pierre Jr. cracked the program’s top-10 single season rushing touchdown list with his two scores at Youngstown State, sitting at No. 5 (tie) with his 15 rushing scores.
- As mentioned, he’s the first USD Division I FCS era rusher with 1,000 yards in a season which cracks the top-10 single-season list (No. 9, 1,082).
- Keyondray Jones-Logan is one of two FCS athletes to return two kickoffs back for touchdowns this season.
- Aidan Bouman became the sixth Coyote to record 5,000 passing yards in the win against Indiana State (Nov. 9).
- Against Southern Illinois (Sept. 28), he became the ninth Coyote to eclipse 4,000 career passing yards.
- In the win over NDSU, he cracked the single-season top-10 for passing yards for the second-straight year (No. 8, 2,257 yards).
- Travis Theis tied the USD all-time career rushing touchdown mark (37) with his three rushing scores against Tarleton State.
- Theis eclipsed the 3,000-career rushing yard mark in the Dakota Days win over UNI.
- Carter Bell set the new program record in career receptions with his five in the SDSU game (167 & counting) and the receiving yards record in the Indiana State game.
- He needs just three touchdown receptions to break the program’s all-time career record in his third different category.
MISC. NOTES
- USD has now won seven-straight regular season games inside the DakotaDome, dating back to last season.
- With the win over then No. 1-ranked NDSU to end the regular season, USD is now 2-6 since going Division I (2008 and on) against No. 1-ranked FCS teams.
- The Coyotes are 15-12 in ranked vs. ranked games and 4-7 in those games on the road.
- The Coyotes become the first Valley team to post two or more MVFC shutouts in the same season since NDSU did so in 2013.
- South Dakota has put up 500+ yards of offense in six of the last nine games, with 509 against Tarleton State last week.
- USD is 6-0 when leading at the half and 5-1 when they score first.
- The Yotes had six MVFC Players of the Week during the 2024 season.
- The Yotes are 1-0 outside of the Central Time Zone this season, though having two games scheduled outside the home time zone.
INSIDE THE UC DAVIS SERIES
- The Coyotes and the Aggies meet for the seventh time on the gridiron on Saturday.
- South Dakota leads the all-time series 4-2, sitting 2-1 at home inside the DakotaDome.
- The two teams first-ever meeting was in the 1986 NCAA Division II Playoffs with the Yotes pulling off the 26-23 victory.
- The Yotes are 1-0 against UC Davis as a ranked team, winning the 2011 meeting 27-24 in Vermillion ranked No. 19 nationally.
- Saturday marks the first time in series history both teams are ranked at the time of the contest; both teams ranked inside the top-5 in the final AFCA Coaches’ Poll.
UC DAVIS QUICK HITS
- UC Davis is led by first-year head coach Tim Plough and comes to Vermillion with an 11-2 (7-1 Big Sky) record after finishing second in the Big Sky this season.
- UCD only has one FCS loss this season to No. 1 FCS overall seed Montana State, falling 30-28 on Senior Day back on November 16.
- The Aggies defeated MVFC foe and No. 12-seeded Illinois State, 42-10, to earn a berth to the Quarterfinals.
- UC Davis relies on their passing offense that sits third nationally at 330.6 passing yards per game.
- QB Miles Hastings leads the FCS in passing yards (4,148) and passing touchdowns (35), while sitting second in passing yards per game (319.1).
- The Aggie offense puts up 471.2 yards per game, sitting fourth in the nation.
- LB David Meyer leads the defense with his 113 tackles this season to go along with four interceptions.