Gameday: USD closes season with matchup against No. 1 North Dakota State

NORTH DAKOTA STATE (10-1, 7-0 MVFC) AT SOUTH DAKOTA (8-2, 6-1 MVFC) 

WHEN/WHERE: 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23 at the DakotaDome in Vermillion

TV: Midco Sports

RADIO: KQSF-FM 95.7 (Sioux Falls), Coyote Sports Network

STREAMING: ESPN+

RECORD LAST YEAR: USD 10-3; NDSU 11-4

SERIES: NDSU leads 58-27-2

LAST TIME: NDSU won in Vermillion 45-17 in the 2023 FCS Playoffs

RANKINGS: USD ranked No. 4, NDSU ranked No. 1

COACHES: USD — Bob Nielson (ninth year, 50-47); NDSU — Tim Polasek (first year, 10-1)

It comes down to this. South Dakota football will finish its regular season with a chance at a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title on the line when No. 1 North Dakota State comes to Vermillion on Saturday.

The two teams enter the final week of the regular season fresh off road victories. The Coyotes vanquished demons of the past by defeating North Dakota in Grand Forks for the first time since 1985. USD fell behind 14-0 before going on a 42-7 run to take a 42-21 lead. However, the Fighting Hawks nearly overcame that as the final score was only 42-36. Nevertheless, USD prevailed.

Meanwhile, the Bison enter this week off a convincing 59-21 victory at Missouri State. Prior to the matchup, the Bears were undefeated in conference play and at this rate are still tied with USD and South Dakota State for second place in the conference standings.

Head coach Bob Nielson said a win is a win at this point in the season, but he expressed his pride in the team’s ability to fight back and finish the game despite trailing by two scores in the first half.

“It's been hard for us to win there over the last couple of decades,” Nielson said. “Interesting game, get behind, then build a big lead and then make it a little bit closer than possibly should have there at the end. But really proud of our guys for finding ways when we needed big drives. We made big drives when we needed stops there in the third quarter, got stops and put us in a position where we get a chance to play here at home Saturday for a chance to win a conference championship.”

Along with a conference title on the line, playoff seeding could shake up as a result of this game. If the Coyotes emerge victorious, it will likely depend on how well the defense contained Cam Miller.

Miller has been one of the best quarterbacks in the country this season and will likely been in most of the national Player of the Year conversations. He’s started every game for the Bison, thrown for 2,166 yards, two touchdowns and he’s also added a bit in the rushing game with 288 yards and six touchdowns. What may be even more impressive though is that Miller has only thrown a single interception all season.

Nielson said the defensive game plan starts in the trenches. If USD is going to contain Miller, pressure will be the name of the game.

“You’ve got to be able to put pressure on the quarterback in passing situations because if you let him stand back there, he's going to find receivers or he's going to take off with the ball,” Nielson said. “Certainly trying to keep him contained in the pocket is a part of that if you can get him into those third and off-schedule situations. We’ve got to change the looks up a little bit. Our defensive staff does a good job of that from our plan standpoint, but they’re still a team that wants to run the football.”