VERMILLION, S.D. — The matchup against Southern Illinois was supposed to be South Dakota football’s first real test of the 2024 season.

The Coyotes dominated in both of their wins over Northern State and Drake, and even put up a fight against Wisconsin in Week 2, but a matchup against a conference opponent would really show where USD stands.

And what Saturday’s game showed is that the No. 17 Salukis were no match for No. 5 South Dakota as the Coyotes defeated Southern Illinois, 42-13.

“I’m getting up there where I don’t necessarily celebrate birthdays much, because I’ve had too many of them, but that’s great way to celebrate one right there,” South Dakota football coach Bob Nielson said. “That’s a tremendous win against a really good team where all three phases of the game went out and executed at a high level. So we’re really proud of (how) our team played today, and excited to keep building forward here”

USD pounced on the Salukis from the jump, scoring 14 in the first while holding SIU scoreless through the first frame. South Dakota added another 21 points in the second and gave up just one touchdown on a quick pass play to go into halftime in firm control, leading 35-7.

Senior quarterback Aidan Bouman had one of his best games of the season throwing for 247 yards and two touchdowns. The run game also looked impressive, especially in the first quarter. Travis Theis paced the running back room with 147 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries.

South Dakota was also strong defensively, particularly when it came to stopping Southern Illinois on third down in the first half. They only allowed the Salukis to convert on four of 11 third-down attempts.

Here are a few takeaways from South Dakota’s first conference win of the season.

All South Dakota early 

Last week’s 42-3 win over Drake was the most complete the USD offense had looked, until this week anyway. And this week’s game being the first against a conference opponent makes the performance that much more impressive.

South Dakota took clear control of the game early, scoring on five of their first seven drives while only allowing one touchdown. The Coyotes took a comfortable 35-7 lead into halftime and really weren’t threatened in the second half.

“We were super efficient in the first half,” Nielson said. “Scoring 35 points in a half against a Missouri Valley defense is something pretty special.”

The run game decided this one

Nielson issued a challenge to his team early in the week heading into the matchup against Southern Illinois. He wanted them to play with a high level of physicality. They were going to need it in their first game against Missouri Valley competition.

The Coyotes on the offensive and defensive line answered the call.

South Dakota’s offensive lineman opened up significant gaps for their explosive backs to get through. USD’s run game got going early against the 27th-best run defense in the FCS. Theis rushed for 45 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter while the other half to his dynamic duo, Charles Pierre Jr., added 22 yards and another touchdown. Theis ended the night with 106 rushing yards while Pierre Jr. ran for 84.

The Salukis allowed only 112.8 rushing yards per game entering Saturday’s contest, but USD surpassed that, rushing for 302 yards against Southern Illinois.

“That sounds like Coyote offense,” Theis said postgame when told the team’s rushing stats. “I think we have a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, punch, really. It can be anybody.”

On the other side of the ball the defensive linemen exerted pressure and limited the Salukis’ rushing attack. The Coyotes held Southern Illinois to just 60 rushing yards in the entire game.

“That was one of the things going in. You know, whichever team is going to make the other one more one dimensional is going to have a chance to win the game,” Nielson said. “Offensively we were very balanced, defensively we wouldn’t let them run the football.”

USD’s passing offense came to life in the second quarter

The second quarter was all Coyotes but their approach was a little different than in the first quarter. Because the run game dominated in the first, Southern Illinois focused their coverage on stopping the run, opening up the passing game.

After throwing for just 37 yards in the first quarter, Bouman ended the first half with 220 yards and two touchdowns. A couple of highlight plays accounted for the majority of that yardage. The first was an 80-yard touchdown pass from Bouman to JJ Galbreath and the second was a 61-yard touchdown pass to Quaron Adams.

“They know we’re a really good running team, so we took advantage early of our matchups outside,” Bouman said postgame. “We have a lot of skill and a lot of speed out there, and it’s my job to let them make a play, and they did a great job of that today.”

This performance from Bouman was a great sign for a team that has been talking about wanting to be more explosive offensively. The senior quarterback finished the game with 247 passing yards and two touchdowns, completing 11 of his 17 passes.

Up next

South Dakota will travel to Murray, Ky. to face Murray State on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.

Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at@JFERN31