Swaffar: Three observations from USD's 42-36 win over UND

GRAND FORKS, N.D. — For the first time since 1985, the University of South Dakota football team departs Grand Forks with a game in the victory column.

USD exorcised those demons with a 42-36 victory over the University of North Dakota on Saturday. It didn’t come easy for the Coyotes with the Fighting Hawks dominating the opening stages of the game. They ran out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter, but the Coyotes (8-2) finished the game in a 42-14 run in the final three quarters to pick up a victory in the last road game of the regular season.

Aidan Bouman finished with his first three-touchdown day of the season to go along with 190 yards passing. Charles Pierre was dominant with 173 rushing yards, 75 receiving yards and two total touchdowns. Travis Theis had a big game too with 130 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.

With that, here are three observations from the game …

The Coyotes have made a name for themselves this season as a dominating team. Most games this season have been USD running out to a big lead and controlling the rest of the game. But, there have been a few exceptions against Wisconsin, Youngstown State and South Dakota State. Against the Penguins and Jacks though, the Coyotes showed a lot of grit and nearly pulled away with two victories in those games.

Saturday was another one of those games. UND jumped out to a 14-0 lead and was making USD sweat a bit. The Fighting Hawks were dominating the trenches on both sides of the ball with big gains on the ground offensively and putting pressure in the face of Bouman defensively. Not to mention the Coyote rush attack, the heart of the offense, was struggling to begin as well.

However, the Coyotes completely flipped the script as the game progressed. The defense was especially impressive in the second half with multiple periods of straight domination. The offense also went to work, especially in the run game with Travis Theis and Charles Pierre Jr. (More on that in a moment.)

Even when the Fighting Hawks staged a late comeback attempt, the Coyotes closed things out before it got out of hand. For a team that usually doesn’t have to sweat games out late into games, another showing of resilience from the Coyotes is encouraging. Especially considering that more than likely, every game from now until the end of the season will probably be one- or two-score games.

Last week, Pierre absolutely went off for a big performance. Against Indiana State, he finished the day with a season-high 165 rushing yards and two touchdowns in USD’s 49-0 victory. It was one of his best performances of the season after rushing for a season-low two yards on three carries against South Dakota State in the previous game.

But for the second-straight week, he went off for an enormous performance. In the usual rush attack, Pierre was using his skill set perfectly. He was breaking tackles, juking defenders and using his breakaway speed in the open field. He finished the day with 173 rushing yards on 15 attempts and averaged 11.5 yards per rush with one touchdown.

But, he was just as big of a weapon in the passing game on Saturday. His biggest play without a doubt came in the third quarter. Pierre turned what would have been a short-yardage reception in the middle of the field into a staggering 53-yard touchdown. He really showed off his open-field speed as he breezed by multiple defenders immediately and had nobody near him by the time he was in the end zone. He finished 75 receiving yards and one touchdown.  

With his big day, Pierre became the first USD 1,000-yard rusher since the program moved up to the Division I ranks. It’s been a monster season for Pierre in his second season as one of the featured backs and he’ll need to continue this hot stretch heading into the playoffs.

The second quarter has been USD’s friend this season. Coming into Saturday’s game against the Fighting Hawks, the Coyotes had outscored opponents 111-33 in the second quarter, averaged 12.3 for the quarter each game and scored more than 14 points six times in nine games. After falling behind 14-0 against UND on Saturday, USD once again used a big second quarter to its advantage.

The opening 15 minutes of the game were a struggle for the Coyotes. They gained 61 total yards on offense, turned the ball over and the Fighting Hawks had amassed 111 yards on offense by the time the second quarter came. However, USD completely flipped the game with 154 yards of offense, zero turnovers and held UND to 50 yards of offense in the second quarter.

Landon Dierks / Mitchell Republic

So, what was the difference? Anytime an opposing team scores on the first possession of the game, it can change a few things. UND scored first and was throwing looks at the Coyote offense that was really giving them trouble. It didn’t help that Zeke Mata missed a 49-yard field goal on the first offensive possession for USD. But eventually, the Coyotes found a groove on both sides of the ball and settled into the game.

It felt a lot like what happened last month against Youngstown State when USD fell behind 14-0 and trailed by one possession at halftime. The Coyotes went on to win that game just like they did against the Fighting Hawks. It’s been a good sign that even when the start of games don’t go the Coyotes’ way, they’ve been able to make up for it with big second quarters.