VERMILLION —The University of South Dakota football team needed a bit of second-half magic to pick up a victory for the second straight game.
With a quarterfinal berth at stake, USD once again mounted a comeback, this time against upset-minded Tarleton State 42-31.
Running the run-pass option offense with great effect, Tarleton State was nearly unstoppable on offense for the first three quarters.
However, three second-half interceptions on defense and 31 second-half points were the difference as the Coyotes scored the final 14 points of the matchup to advance. Aidan Bouman was efficient with 213 yards and two touchdowns on 18-of-22. Travis Theis posted 130 rushing yards and three touchdowns to tie the program’s all-time rushing touchdown record. Carter Bell also hauled in 98 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” said head coach Bob Nielson. “We got behind and really struggled in the first half stopping their offense. But we kept battling and made plays in the second half. We talk all the time about turnover margin. Ended up with three interceptions that took them out of drives, a big fourth down stop and then offensively made some big plays in the second half."
Tarleton State set the tone early. The Texans converted a fourth-down on their first drive of the game and it eventually led to the opening score to put them in front 7-0. But the Coyotes responded with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that nearly took 10 minutes off the clock. Theis punched in the touchdown to tie things up at 7-7.
But Tarleton State had a response. The Texans went on a long drive of their own to the tune of seven plays and 80 yards. It was capped off by a deep 43-yard touchdown pass to Cody Jackson to put Tarleton State in front 14-7. The Coyotes responded in kind with another touchdown from Theis to finish off another 75-yard drive to tie it again at 14-14.
However, the Texans would have the final say in the first half. What had worked all day continued to pay dividends for Tarleton State. The offense ran a delayed RPO where the quarterback and running back would wait a second or more before the play began to develop. This delay gave the Coyote defense problems all day. With 38 seconds, the Texans found the end zone again to go in front 21-14.
The Coyotes had a field goal attempt right before halftime, but Zeke Mata missed the 48-yard attempt as USD went into the locker room trailing 21-14.
Despite going three and out to start the half, the Coyotes would get another chance on offense. Shahid Barros nabbed his first interception of the year to stop the Texan offense for the first time all day. USD drove down near the goal line before tying things up with a touchdown reception from Keyondray Jones-Logan, who caught it off a drop by tight end Hayden Erickson.
However, the interception appeared to be an outlier for the Coyote defense. The Texans went 75 yards right down the field in only five plays to almost immediately go back in front 28-21 with 4:15 left in the third quarter.
After going three and out again, USD would grab its second turnover of the day. This time, Mike Reid nabbed an interception off a tipped ball to give the offense possession at midfield near the end of the third quarter. Again, the Coyotes scored off the turnover with Theis punching in his third score of the day to even things up at 28-all with 14:09 to go.
Tarleton State was held to a field goal on the ensuing series, despite driving inside the 10-yard line. With a chance to take the lead, the Coyotes took advantage with a go-ahead touchdown from a Carter Bell touchdown reception to go in front for the first time all day 35-31 with 9:36 remaining.
Despite driving again into Coyote territory, the defense came up with another big takeaway. This time, Tim White picked off the pass for USD’s third interception of the second half. And again, the Coyotes would find the end zone off a 70-yard jet-sweep handoff to Quaron Adams to make it 42-31 with just over 5 minutes to go.
"We got pretty predictable there," said Tarleton State head coach Todd Whitten about the interceptions. "At some point, we continued to try and run the ball. I thought that was important for the pace of the game and not to let South Dakota tee their pass rush up more than they already were."
After a forced turnover on downs, the Coyotes were able to run the clock down to advance to the quarterfinals.
USD (10-2) will welcome the winner of UC Davis and Illinois State to the DakotaDome next week for a quarterfinal matchup, while Tarleton State finished the season 10-4.
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