Dec. 14—VERMILLION — For the first time in program history, University of South Dakota football is bound for the FCS semifinals.
Behind six forced turnovers, USD downed fifth-seeded UC Davis 35-21 on Saturday in the DakotaDome in the quarterfinal round.
The Coyotes picked off UC Davis quarterback Miles Hastings four times and also recovered a fumble on the day. Those takeaways were all the more important as well because the Coyotes turned the ball over three times themselves.
Head coach Bob Nielson said USD was able to force the turnover party for multiple reasons, both of which began right at the defensive line.
“I think we made him uncomfortable in the pocket at times, which forced him to throw the football and forced the football into places that our guys were able to make some interceptions,” Nielson said. “Then we got our hands on a couple of balls and tipped a couple of balls up. You don’t often get an interception by a defensive tackle, but those are the kinds of plays that football teams that are playing hard make once in a while.”
USD (11-2) advances for a date with undefeated Montana State in Bozeman next Saturday, Dec. 21, with a spot in Frisco, Texas and the national championship on the line. UC Davis ends its season with an 11-3 mark
Following a three-and-out from the offense, the defense picked up right where it left off last week with an interception from Josiah Ganues. A few plays later, JJ Galbreath, in his first game since South Dakota State, nabbed an eight-yard touchdown to give USD a 7-0 lead. However, the Aggies responded with a nine-play, 75-yard drive to tie things up a few minutes later.
It only took three plays for the Coyotes to re-take the lead. Following a 71-yard reception from Quaron Adams, Travis Theis punched it in two plays later to break the all-time program rushing touchdown record and put USD back in front 14-7. After forcing a punt, the Coyotes scored yet again and it was Galbreath who hauled in his second score of the day to make it 21-7 with 12:45 left in the first half.
USD grabbed another interception, one from Gabriel Hardman that denied a UC Davis touchdown. However, Aidan Bouman threw an interception and the Aggies made use of it with a touchdown to make it 21-14 with 3:11 left in the half. In the final few minutes of the half, both teams threw an interception, however, USD’s was more impactful as it occurred in the end zone with only 12 seconds left. The two went into half with USD leading 21-14.
Following two punts to start the half, USD forced yet another turnover. This time it came off a broken play that was meant to see the receiver throw the ball. However, he fumbled it after a lateral and Gary Bryant picked it up for the Coyotes. But, USD would falter again near the goal line when Charles Pierre fumbled a toss handoff which the Aggies recovered.
The USD defense responded with yet another interception, the fourth of the day, and scored a touchdown a few plays later to go up 28-14 near the end of the third quarter.
On the ensuing drive though, UC Davis converted multiple fourth downs that included a goal-to-go situation and cut the lead in half with a touchdown. Despite the score, the Coyotes still held a 28-21 lead with 7:47 left in the game.
The dagger came from USD on the next drive though. The Coyotes embarked on a seven-play, 75-yard drive that took over four minutes off the clock. Theis punched it in for his second score of the day and USD led 35-21 with 3:21 to go. The Aggies drove down near the goal line again before Bryant picked off Hastings for a sixth time. USD ran the clock from there.
For USD, Bouman finished the day with 253 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Theis finished with 86 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Galbreath finished with 45 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Bryant led the team with 15 total tackles, the fumble recovery and the interception.
With one game standing in between them and a spot in Frisco, Nielson said this team is playing with some swagger with one collective goal in mind.
“You could say grit. I just think it’s a team that, they’ve got a level of confidence,” Nielson said. “We’ve talked from the very beginning of this year that this team’s goal, this team’s mission, was to win a championship. The conference championship, we were able to find a way to win that and we immediately set course on this next opportunity and said it was going to take four weeks and four wins. We’ve got two of those under our belt and now we’ve got to go out of the Dome and find a way to win on the road.
