VERMILLION — Back in action coming off a bye week, the University of South Dakota football team had little trouble with Indiana State on Saturday.
Behind dominant defense and a 600-yard offensive outburst, the Coyotes brushed aside the Sycamores 49-0 inside the DakotaDome to keep pace one game off the lead near the top of the Missouri Valley Football Conference standings.
“That was a really good win,” said USD head coach Bob Nielson. “Indiana State came in with a lot of momentum as a team off of two good wins in the league, so we knew we were going to have to play well.”
But the plucky Sycamores squad that came in with a 3-2 MVFC record and fresh off a 35-31 home upset of then-No. 15 North Dakota last week in Terre Haute was nowhere to be found.
USD (7-2, 5-1 MVFC) set the tone for the afternoon just two snaps and 47 seconds into the contest, as a wide-open Quaron Adams ran under a rainbow pass from Aidan Bouman for a 66-yard touchdown. With the Coyotes’ defense notching a second conference shutout of the season, the avalanche of points to come later was something of a formality.
Indiana State (4-6, 3-3 MVFC) finished with 129 total yards of offense (2.4 yards per play) and gained just five first downs. The Sycamores had minus-three rushing yards for the game when factoring in five Coyote sacks, and a 6-yard quarterback keeper stood as the longest carry of the afternoon.
“In the last two games, (Indiana State) came out and ran the ball really well,” said USD defensive lineman Blake Holden, who had five tackles and 1.5 sacks. “The point of emphasis this week for us was to stop the run. That's a point of emphasis every game, and I think we did a great job.”
Though the USD offense stalled on three straight drives following its explosive open, a 1-yard Travis Theis plunge midway through the second quarter and a 5-play, 90-yard drive capped by a 45-yard scoring connection between Bouman and Carter Bell with 12 seconds before halftime put the Coyotes ahead 21-0 at the break.
In the third quarter, MVFC leading rusher Charles Pierre Jr. broke loose for touchdown runs of 23 and 83 yards to widen the advantage, as he finished with 165 rushing yards on 11 attempts. With starters removed in the fourth quarter, Keyondray Jones-Logan became the third USD back with a rushing touchdown, this time from 13 yards out, and Adams hauled in a 67-yard score Nevan Cremascoli for the exclamation point.
“They're a pressure team, and they caught us a couple times on third-and-short situations that we didn't convert, but when you're under pressure, you're going to give up some opportunities to make big plays,” Nielson said of his offenses big day. “... Quaron (Adams) got behind their coverage a couple of times and Carter Bell made a couple of big plays on the perimeter. Even Charles’ (Pierre Jr.) run; if they’re going to play everybody in the box and you get through the first level like that run did, then it's just a foot race.”
USD’s final tally was 622 total yards, with 322 on the ground and 305 through the air, at a clip of 10.2 yards per play. Bouman, who went 14-of-20 for 238 yards, became the sixth Coyote quarterback to surpass 5,000 passing yards in their career on his first completion (the 66-yard touchdown to Adams). Meanwhile, Bell, who posted six receptions for 115 yards, became the program’s career receiving yards leader (2,647 after Saturday) on a 43-yard catch-and-run late in the first quarter. He broke the career receptions record in the Coyotes’ last game at South Dakota State and is fourth in career receiving touchdowns.
Defensively, Mi'Quise Grace added 1.5 sacks, while MVFC sack leader Nick Gaes and Nyle Dickel recorded one sack apiece. Gary Bryant III had a team-high seven tackles.
Nielson said the commanding performance was a welcomed boost as the Coyotes gear up for a road trip to face North Dakota in Grand Forks on Nov. 16. After that, USD returns home for a date with No. 1-ranked North Dakota State in the regular-season finale.
“We're going to play a really good football team (North Dakota) this week, a team that's well-coached, and a team that's going to play hard at home,” Nielson said. “You want to go in there with some momentum, and I think this certainly is a performance that generates some momentum on each side of the football.”
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