South Dakota visits Missoula this week in what will be the toughest non-conference test the Griz will receive this year.
The Coyotes are a ways up from where they were in 2019, when Montana visited the DakotaDome and left with a closer-than-expected 31-17 win. That was in the midst of three straight losing seasons for South Dakota. The ‘Yotes went 7-5 last season, beat rival and eventual national semifinalist South Dakota State on an instantly famous Hail Mary, and got to the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
They’re once again expected to be middle-of-the-road in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which in that conference, means they could be sniffing the playoffs again if a couple things go right. South Dakota opened its season by being outgained 392-270 in a 34-0 loss at Kansas State.
Nickname: Coyotes
Location: Vermillion, South Dakota
Founded: 1862
Enrollment: 9,464
Stadium: The DakotaDome. Ironically located on North Dakota St. in Vermillion, the DakotaDome seats 9,100 and opened in 1979.
Famous Alumni: Tom Brokaw, news anchor; Joe Foss, AFL commissioner; Joe Robbie, former Miami Dolphins owner
THE COACH
Bob Nielson (seventh season, 29-35, 215-115-1 overall)
Nielson has been a college head coach every year since 1989, except for a short four-year break from 2004 to 2007. Most of that time has been spent at small schools in the upper Midwest, starting with D-III programs (Ripon, his alma mater Wartburg, Wisconsin-Eau Claire) and then moving up to D-II at Minnesota Duluth, where he coached for five years, took that aforementioned break to serve as athletic director, and then returned to the sidelines to win D-II national titles in 2008 and 2010.
His first D-I head coaching job was at Western Illinois, where he spent three years and took the Leathernecks to the playoffs in 2015 before taking the South Dakota job the next year.
He went 4-7 in his first season with the Coyotes but went to the playoffs and won a playoff game the year after. South Dakota then didn’t finish above .500 for three seasons before going 7-4 in the fall 2021 season. That, plus a huge win over South Dakota State, got them a playoff berth, where they lost 22-10 to Southern Illinois in the first round.
PLAYERS TO WATCH – OFFENSE
QB Carson Camp, 6-3, 210, So.
Camp has started all 17 games since he came onto campus in 2020. In his first full season in the fall of 2021, he completed just over 65 percent of his passes for 2,252 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Camp is not much of a runner, compiling just 97 yards in the fall, and he struggled against Kansas State in the season opener, throwing for 139 yards and an interception.
WR Carter Bell, 5-10, 175, So.
Bell started just three games a year ago but led the ‘Yotes with 41 catches, 673 yards and five touchdowns. He was named preseason all-MVFC at two positions — first team as an all-purpose back and second team as a receiver. Bell is also dangerous as a punt returner, averaging nearly 10 yards a try with one touchdown last year.
PLAYERS TO WATCH – DEFENSE
LB Brock Mogensen, 6-2, 230, Jr.
Mogensen was the Coyotes’ only preseason first-team all-MVFC pick on defense after he had 86 tackles and six TFLs a year ago. None of South Dakota’s other top four tacklers from last year are back, so Mogensen has some slack to pick up. He started well with 12 tackles in the season opener against Kansas State.
Michael Scott, 6-2, 240, Sr.
Sophomore defensive lineman Nick Gaes was a second-team all-conference pick before the season after putting up seven sacks a year ago, but we’re spotlighting Scott instead after the well-traveled senior had two sacks and three TFLs in the season opener last week against Kansas State. Scott redshirted for a year at Tulane, dropped back to Iowa Western CC for a year, and was at Akron before transferring into South Dakota this season.
