VERMILLION — In one of the most memorable games in University of South Dakota football history, the Coyotes mounted a furious late fourth-quarter comeback to defeat North Dakota State 29-28 to clinch a share of the program’s first Missouri Valley Football Conference title. Despite falling behind 28-17 with under five minutes to play, the Coyotes showed why they’ve been one of the top teams in the country. Two touchdowns within three minutes gave USD a 29-28 advantage with 12 seconds left and a last-ditch lateral player fell short for the Bison on the final play of the day.
ADVERTISEMENT Aidan Bouman finished with 272 yards and two touchdowns on 18-for-30 passing on the day. Javion Phelps came up clutch late in the game with multiple game-saving catches, including the game-winning touchdown. He finished the day with 79 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Travis Theis was USD’s leading rusher with 66 yards and two touchdowns. With that, here are three observations from the game..
. The question surrounding this season had always been how good was USD really? The Coyotes took care of business against most weaker opponents and competed with better opponents like SDSU and even Wisconsin. But there was still one thing missing, a truly signature victory.
Saturday finally provided that victory. With NDSU ranked No. 1 in the country and seen as possibly the title favorite, this was the game for the Coyotes to prove to the rest of the FCS that they can be a formidable force in the .