VERMILLION, S.D. (USD) — The University of South Dakota football put a well-rounded effort on display Saturday afternoon from the DakotaDome with a safety and an 80-yard scoop-and-score as the Coyotes handed No. 8 North Dakota their first MVFC loss of the season in a 26-21 victory in front of the home fans.
 
South Dakota improves to 6-4 (4-2 MVFC) and picks up their fourth win in front of the home crowd on Saturday. North Dakota picks up their first loss in Valley play, dropping to 6-3 (4-1 MVFC).

On the afternoon, Aidan Bouman was 14-for-20 for 173 yards and one touchdown. The performance against the Fighting Hawks also saw Bouman become just the second Coyote in program history to throw for 8,000 yards in their career. He also moves into a tie with Chris Streveler, throwing his 54^th career touchdown pass, to move into fourth-place all-time.
 
It was a wild first half inside the DakotaDome for the two Dakota flagship institutions. The first 30 minutes saw a blocked punt safety, a 60+ yard kickoff return, and a pair of Coyote interceptions as South Dakota completely dominated the first half of play with a 16-7 halftime lead.
 
The defense came strong on the opening North Dakota drive, forcing the Fighting Hawks to punt. It marked the fifth-straight game a South Dakota opponent punted on their opening drive. South Dakota would utilize the pass game as Bouman found Larenzo Fenner deep for 40 yards to spark the offense. South Dakota would push the ball to the goal line but the UND defense held firm and stopped the Yotes on fourth and one from the one-yard line.
 
The defense, playing with continued urgency, would not allow North Dakota to get passed their own 10-yard line on their second drive. As on fourth-and-seven, the Coyotes would bring the heat with a punt block with freshman Jaden Brown charging off the edge and getting his hands on the Fighting Hawk punt for a USD safety to make it 2-0 early. The USD offense would then use the ensuing kick and drive the ball for a seven-play touchdown as L.J. Phillips Jr. punched it in from one-yard out to make it 9-0 Yotes early in the second quarter.
 
The Fighting Hawks would put together a drive of their own, going 75 yards on just eight plays to cut into the lead and tamper some of South Dakota’s momentum. UND running back Sawyer Seidl would cap of the drive with a tough six-yard touchdown run.
 
With under a minute remaining in the half, Bouman would find Fenner for the second time. Finding him on the near sideline, Fenner would make a slew of Fighting Hawk defenders miss as he had 20+ yards from the reception into the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown grab. South Dakota would take the 16-7 lead into the locker room.
 
The South Dakota defense would hold North Dakota running back Sawyer Seidl, who has had three-straight 100-yard games, to just 36 rushing yards in the first half.
 
On the first possession of the second half, the Coyotes would march into Fighting Hawk territory. A 10-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a field goal by Will Leyland 36-yard field goal. For Leyland, it’s his 34^th career made field goal and moves him into a tie for sixth-place all-time. The Yotes extended their lead to 19-7 with 10 minutes to play in the third.
 
The next drive, North Dakota would move the ball 40 yards in six plays before the series came to a crashing – and game defining moment. Seidl would get the handoff up the middle and defensive tackle Chris Dixon immediately made contact and popped the ball loose. In the scramble, it would be DeJuan Lewis who came free with the ball and won the foot race 80 yards to the house to make it 26-7 midway through the third quarter and marked the first defensive touchdown of the season for the Yotes.

North Dakota would be the final team to score on the contest, ultimately making it a one possession game at the final whistle. Before the end of the third quareter, UND cut it to 26-14 with an 11-yard touchdown run from Kaminski.
 
Early in the fourth quarter, Seidl would break off a 41-yard touchdown run right up the middle to make it a one score game with 12 minutes to play. The South Dakota defense would buckle down on the final two Fighting Hawk drives of the day, forcing turnover on downs on both of them to secure the top-10 win with a 26-21 victory inside the DakotaDome to hand UND their first conference loss and snap a five-game win streak.
 
North Dakota outgained South Dakota in total yards 382-266 on the day with nearly equal time of possession (USD, 30:42). Bouman was 14-for-20 with 173 yards and the one touchdown, while Phillips Jr. had his sixth 100-yard rushing game this season with 106 yards on 24 carries with one touchdown. Fenner had his two receptions for 83 yards and touchdown, while Jesse Miller had a team-best four receptions for 35 yards.
 
Defensively, Nate Ewell posted his third 100-yard game of the season with his team-best 10 tackles. Dixon forced the fumble and Roman Tillmon had a tackle for loss on the day. Gabriel Hardman, Mikey Munn, and RJ Stewart all had a break-up in the victory.
 
Up Next: The homestand concludes next week with the annual Interstate Series clash with No. 4-ranked South Dakota State coming to the DakotaDome for a 3 p.m. kickoff on ESPNU. The Coyotes will also celebrate Senior Day inside the Dome.

With its low unemployment rate and ample job opportunities, South Dakota is one of the best states in the country to find a job, according to a new report from WalletHub.

To determine the best states to find a job, the personal finance website looked at a range of different metrics in two broad categories: the job market and economic environment. It gave more weight to the former, though, with particular consideration for the factors that influence job seekers to relocate for employment.

“Living in one of the best states for jobs can provide stable conditions for the long-term, helping you ride out the fluctuations that the economy will experience in the future,” said Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst. “The best states for jobs make it easier for residents to find and retain jobs, and employers in these states also offer very competitive compensation and benefits.”

Here’s what sets South Dakota apart from other states.

Oct. 30-Nov. 2, those in need can ask for the ‘Community Special’ at area Taco John’s

What makes South Dakota one of the best states to find a job, according to WalletHub?

In August, South Dakota’s unemployment rate was 1.9%, the lowest in the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That same month, North Dakota’s unemployment rate was 2.5%, tied for second-lowest with Vermont.

South Dakota is the state where workers spend the least amount of time commuting, WalletHub’s report says, and it also ranks fourth-highest for job opportunities.

What are the best states to find a job, according to WalletHub?

These are the 10 best states to find a job, according to WalletHub.

1. Massachusetts
2. Connecticut
3. Minnesota
4. Vermont
5. New Hampshire
6. South Dakota
7. Texas
8. North Dakota
9. Maine
10. Rhode Island

While North Dakota’s workforce shortage is serious, it’s also the kind of problem that UND can and will help solve, as today’s Special Edition of UND Today makes clear

By Tom Dennis
Editor, UND Today

We are so lucky to live in North Dakota.

True, there’s a distinct lack of oceanfront views, and even the state Tourism Department once sponsored a tongue-in-cheek billboard that read, “North Dakota Mountain Removal Project completed.” But while North Dakotans know all about their state’s comparative weaknesses in scenery, they’re also aware — and rightly proud — of its exceptional strengths.

Here’s one:

Problems have solutions here. That very much includes the state’s workforce shortage, the issue that Gov. Kelly Armstrong campaigned on and ranks among the top concerns of the state Legislature.

And with that in mind, this Special Edition of UND Today is dedicated to the proposition expressed in the headline: UND is on the case.

Don’t misunderstand; the workforce shortage is an extremely serious issue. Earlier this year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released its Worker Shortage Index, an interactive map that “shows which states are suffering the most.”

In two and only two of the states, the crisis is listed as “Most Severe.” They are North Dakota and South Dakota, and while North Dakota’s index of 0.47 is slightly better than South Dakota’s 0.43, it still means North Dakota has only 47 available workers for every 100 open jobs.

In other words, ours is the second-worst workforce-shortage in America.

But think of it this way: Compared with high crime rates, poorly performing schools, frightful levels of homelessness and similar modern complaints, a workforce shortage is an enviable problem for a state to have. That’s because it’s much less intractable than those other concerns — and smart policymaking can make a difference.

That’s already happening, and UND is proud to be playing a part. For example, and as one of the stories in today’s Special Edition reports, the new STEM Complex and proposed Health Professions Collaborative Facility are designed to not only increase the number of graduates in those essential fields but also boost those graduates’ effectiveness and productivity once the new pros are on the job.

Elsewhere on campus, UND students already are being prepared to meet real-world challenges and bolster North Dakota’s STEM workforce development, as another of today’s stories reports. A third story describes North Dakota 85, the School of Medicine & Health Science’s initiative to raise to 85 percent the number of North Dakota residents enrolled in the school’s physician and physician-assistant programs.

And our story today about UND’s extensive online programs describes how, as the story puts it, “distance learning has long been a strategic tool for strengthening North Dakota’s workforce, extending UND’s reach and generating economic benefits statewide.”

As mentioned, UND is on the case.

In September, we published a Special Edition of UND Today titled, “Ten Years Later: The University’s Road to Record Recovery.” UND is enjoying record enrollment at the moment, the series noted. How did that growth come about?

In particular, what were the decisions — some of them very difficult, involving budget cuts and program closures — during the state’s financial crunch in 2016-17, that helped set UND up for its current enrollment success? How have state support, infrastructure improvements, research spending and other recent trends factored in?

Today, we’re extending that outlook to offer thoughts about the next 10 years. And because the state’s workforce shortage is top-of-mind for the elected leaders of North Dakota, it’s top-of-mind at the University of North Dakota, too.

The stories in today’s Special Edition explain how.

Thank you for reading UND Today, and your interest in and support of UND! Feel free to contact me at tom.dennis@UND.edu with any comments or questions.

Don’t miss the full series …

>> UND is on the case. While North Dakota’s workforce shortage is serious, it’s also the kind of problem that UND can and will help solve.

>> The North Dakota magnet of online education. UND’s online programs keep North Dakotans rooted and thriving in-state, while drawing people and positive attention from far and wide.

>> STEM U: New buildings promise to engineer student success. How UND’s STEM Complex and proposed Health Professions Collaborative Facility will grow key components of the state’s workforce.

>> STEM U: How UND educates the workforce of the future. Workforce preparation takes place in labs, classrooms and the Alaskan Arctic, among other locations across UND and beyond.

>> Growing our own physicians and physician assistants. With ND85, UND hopes to raise the number of North Dakota residents enrolled in M.D., P.A. programs at its School of Medicine & Health Sciences.

>> VIDEO: How UND is leading the way in STEM. The deans of UND’s College of Engineering & Mines and College of Arts & Sciences join President Andy Armacost for a conversation about STEM training.

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Tom Dennis
is the editor of UND Today and the associate director of communications for UND. A graduate of Williams College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Dennis served for 20 years as the Grand Forks Herald’s editorial-page editor before coming to UND.