Game Preview: University of South Dakota

The Jackrabbits (8-3, 5-2) are coming off a big win to face their in-state rival the University of South Dakota Coyotes (4-7, 3-4).  The Coyotes have had a disappointing season but a lot of wrongs could be made right with a victory over the Jacks.  For their part, the Jackrabbits could lock-up a top 8 seed and a first-round bye with a victory. 

The Yotes are led by Bob Nielson who is now in his fourth year at the helm. There has been a lot of turnover in his assistant coaching staff in the past two years.  USD has a powerful offense but the defense has struggled mightily at times in 2019.    USD leads the conference in penalties and is hit with about 8 for 81 yards per game.  Furthermore, those who play USD, are also penalized at the highest rate in the conference.  Having watched a number of USD games this year as I've scouted other MVFC teams, the Yotes are chippy and they are good at baiting their opponents into dead ball penalties.  The Jacks will need to keep their composure and realize that they are playing for the postseason. 

Offense
The Coyote offense is dangerous.  They average 30.8 ppg and are successful both on the ground (192 ypg) and through the air (248.2 ypg).  They have plenty of weapons to stress defenses and still like to play at a quick pace.  Because of their tendency to favor the pass, they only possess the ball about 29 minutes per game. 

The quarterback is #3 Austin Simmons (6-1, 215) and he is the driving force behind the USD offense. His stats are phenomenal and he has gained 2,701 through the air and 541 on the ground to go with 30 total touchdowns.  Simmons has tossed 12 interceptions this year while completing 65% of his passes.  USD uses a quick-hitting passing game but can certainly hit on the deep ball as well.  Simmons is a good player and I'm glad he'll be graduating after this season!

The Coyote running game has three really good backs that Simmons can turn and handoff to. #2 Kai Henry (5-8, 200) is a good back who has 797 yards and 9 TD on a 5.9 ypc average.  He is also a threat catching passes out of the backfield where he has 13 receptions.  #25 Canaan Brooks (6-0, 205) has a nice combo of size and speed and has 468 yards and 4 TD.  #30 Ben Klett (6-1, 240) is a power back who has had to deal with injuries this season.  On 33 attempts he has 165 yards and a TD. USD does not use a FB.

The wide receiver room is loaded for the Coyotes. #13 Caleb Vander Esch (6-1, 200) is the leading receiver and has hauled in 44 receptions for 638 yards and 6 TD.  #1 Randy Baker (5-10, 170) is enjoying a solid senior season and has 27 receptions for 256 yards.  #88 Levi Falck (6-2, 205) missed the start of the season and is now back in the lineup and has contributed 8 receptions for 80 yards.  #15 Drew Greenhaw (5-11, 175) has 18 receptions for 242 yards and 2 TDs.  #82 Dakarai Allen (6-1, 180) has 26 receptions for 275 yards and 2 TD but did not play last week against NDSU.  #6 Kody Case had 23 receptions for 285 yards and 3 TD before being lost for the season.  In recent weeks redshirt freshmen #9 Wesley Eliodor (6-0, 200) and #11 Marquis Majors (6-0, 190 have seen some playing time in the offense and have a combined 12 receptions.

USD is also able to trot out a nice group of tight ends.  #87 Connor Herrmann (6-5, 220) has 21 receptions for 182 yards and 4 TD.  #81 Brett Samson (6-2, 240) has 20 receptions for 230 yards and 3 TD.  #83 Austin Goehring (6-4, 245) has chipped in with 8 receptions and 2 TD.  This group are pretty good blockers and dangerous in the passing game.  This will be a good challenge for our linebackers and safeties. 

The offensive line was a big question mark entering the season but they have really been pretty good.  From left to right they go #70 Alex Jensen (6-7, 260, So), #78 Austin Wallace (6-5, 310, So), #67 Kian Rexroat-Potts (6-7, 325, RFr), #72 Mason Scheidegger (6-5, 330, So), and #66 Isaac Erbes (6-5, 330, RFr). This group has allowed 27 sacks this season.

Defense
The USD defense has been inconsistent this year.  In the middle of the season, it appeared that they had really figured it out.  However, in the last few weeks, things have not looked good.  They have given up 49, 21, 38, 48, and 42 in the last five games.  This defense has forced 9 interceptions, recovered 6 fumbles and has sacked the quarterback 25 times.  USD's new defensive coordinator has brought in a style of "positionless" football but the Yotes primarily line up in a 3-4 defense.  They allow 33.5 ppg, 160 rushing ypg, and 297 passing yards per game.  Last week NDSU put up exactly 700 yards of total offense against this group.     

Upfront, the defensive line is led by #44 Darrin Greenfield (6-3, 235) who has 40 tackles, 5 sacks, 6 additional TFL and 7 QBHs.  He is a high motor guy who seems to get a little extra fired up for the rivalry game. The two defensive tackles are #92 Kameron Cline (6-4, 270) and #47 DeValon Whitcomb (6-3, 270).   Cline has 35 tackles and 3 sacks while Whitcomb has 29 tackles and 5 sacks.  #93 Luis Peguero (6-3, 275) has 11 tackles on the season, #90 Jackson Coker (6-2, 270) has 16 tackles, and #97 Brendan Webb (6-4, 235) has 10 tackles in reserve roles for the defense. 

The linebacking corp is led by #39 Jack Cochrane who has 95 total tackles, 2 sacks, 2 INT, 3 TD, and 2 forced fumbles.  He's a really good player and the Jacks will need to be aware of where he is at on the field.  #27 Jakari Starling is hyper-athletic and has 62 tackles, 1 sack and 4 PBU. #33 Jake Matthew has 48 stops of his own and 4 sacks.  #49 Brock Mogensen has 56 tackles on the season but did not play against NDSU.  In his place was #23 Jonathan Joanis who has 19 tackles.  #34 Stephen Hillis has appeared in every game this season and has 25 tackles and 2 sacks.

The secondary for USD has been picked on this season.  #4 Elijah Reed starts at strong safety where he is second on the team with 76 tackles.  He also has 1 INT and 7 PBU.  Next to him is #21 Phillip Powell who has 60 tackles of his own and 2 INT, 8 PBU, and 10 passes defended. #20 Cori Fant Jr. has 42 stops in a reserve role.  The corners for USD are #5 Cameron Tisdale and #24 Mark Collins.  They have both missed time this season due to injury but Tisdale has compiled 20 tackles while Collins has 18. This is a group that has been really crushed by injury throughout the season and has resulted in some of the high scoring games that opponents have had against them.

Special Teams
The USD special teams units are lead by a really good punter in #15 Brady Schutt.  On 50 attempts he has an average of 45 yards, has forced 12 to be fair caught, landed 13 inside the 20, and has booted 17 50+ yards.  The one downside is that he has 6 touchbacks on the season which still isn't horrible statistically.  Opponents are averaging just 5.7 yards per return on 23 attempts.   The kicking duties are handled by #31 Mason Lorber who has gone 8 of 12 on hhis field goal attempts with a long of 44 yards.  His misses have come from 33, 45, 42, and 25 yards.  The Yotes provide pretty good coverage on kickoff with their opponents having an average starting position of the 25-yard line.  Lorber has 18 TB on 64 attempts so that means that USD is providing pretty solid coverage. 

The return game for USD is handled primarily by #14 Carter Bell (5-10, 170).  On 5 punt returns, he averages 8 yard per return with a long of 14.  On kick returns on 5 attempts, he has an 18.6 ypc average.  The Yotes have had two returners quit during the season so that is why Bell's attempts are so low.  However, Bell is a true freshman and he has played in his 4 games already.  I'm curious to see if the Yotes burn his redshirt to return punts and kicks or will they bring in someone else to handle the duties. 

Prediction
Rivalry games are always so hard to predict.  USD's season has been miserable.  Injuries, player departures, being on the wrong end of upsets.  It has all happened to them this year.  Nothing would make them feel better than beating SDSU and knocking us out of the seed discussion.  They are playing at home and you know they are going to come out fired up.  It is important to not just weather the storm but to come out quickly and score early and often.  Make them dream about football being over.  Also, I think SDSU needs another convincing victory to prove to the committee that we are still legit contenders.  How high in the ranking can we get?

Jacks 38
Yotes 14

Go Jacks,
Matt