Sep. 27—FARGO, N.D. — Behind a dominant performance on both sides of the ball, top-ranked North Dakota State defeated No. 17 South Dakota 51-13 in its Missouri Valley Football Conference opener inside the Fargodome.
The Bison wasted no time to settle into the game after coming off a bye week and pounced on the Coyotes 34-3 at the end of the first half.
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After back-to-back wins over Northern Colorado and Drake, South Dakota had zero answers on offense and defense against the defending FCS national champions.
Here are a few thoughts on the USD-NDSU matchup on Saturday:
Explosive plays were a big problem for the South Dakota defense to help contain the high-powered Bison offense, led by quarterback Cole Payton and star wide receiver Bryce Lance.
NDSU had seven explosive plays of 20-plus yards in the first half — six through the air and one on the ground. That included a long, third-down scramble from Payton to convert the first down. Lance had three long receptions of 41, 32 and 23 yards, concluding his receiving outing with four receptions, 98 yards and one 2-yard score.
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The Bison finished with 10 total explosive plays, three in the third quarter.
The Coyotes finished with four explosive plays of 20-plus yards, all coming in the second half and three in the final two drives with NDSU’s backup defenders getting some playing time.
The Coyotes found themselves in deep third-down situations in the first half on offense, which led to three 3-and-outs, four punts, and one 31-yard field goal from Will Leyland heading into the break. That left USD down 31 points at halftime and out of the game.
NDSU made South Dakota’s offense one-dimensional after stuffing the running game, leading to multiple third-and-long plays in obvious passing downs. The Bison were able to get off the field on third down defensively, as South Dakota concluded the game 2-of-9 on third-down conversions and 0-for-1 on fourth down.
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Overall, South Dakota’s offense was unable to get anything going on the ground with its leading rusher, L.J. Phillips Jr., and through the air from its veteran quarterback Aidan Bouman.
The offensive line gave Bouman time in the pocket, only allowing three quarterback hurries and three sacks but ultimately looked uncomfortable on most of his passes leading to multiple overthrows and missed targets throughout the game.
Its offense was nonexistent until the final drive of the half when North Dakota State played prevent defense and gave up three catch-and-runs to Phillips Jr. underneath to get them into field-goal range.
The main question from Saturday’s game, as ugly as it ended up, is whether this is a really bad day against the nation’s preeminent FCS dynasty. Or will this 2-3 start to the season snowball for the Coyotes?
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For North Dakota State, it was doing whatever it pleased on offense behind a South Dakota defense that took a giant step back after showing progress in the last three games. USD forced zero negative plays on defense, other than a few penalties, and allowed 547 total yards — its most allowed all season.
NDSU punted one time the entire game, coming in their final drive. In its first five offensive drives, NDSU had five red-zone trips and five touchdowns. In eight total drives, the Bison scored six touchdowns and one field goal.
But maybe NDSU is just that good.
In order for South Dakota to make any noise this season, it is going to need to flush this game as quickly as possible. They have lowly Murray State on the schedule next week for Dakota Days. That’s the perfect opponent to show this was a one-week issue. If it’s not, the other Missouri Valley powers on USD’s schedule will take the FCS playoffs off the table.
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Offensively, the passing game needs to find its groove in a hurry. Bouman seems to still not be on the same page with his pass catchers through these first five games. Opposing teams will make USD’s offense one-dimensional and key on the run, until Bouman can prove otherwise.
As for the defense, it needs to limit the explosive plays and catch teams in obvious passing downs. NDSU found itself in manageable third-down situations all game, keeping the Coyote defense guessing on what was next.
More consistency is needed on all fronts if the Coyotes are going to turn their season around.
