South Dakota Looks to Rebound at Western Illinois Saturday

At first glance, South Dakota's 31-3 loss to #10 Youngstown State in the Missouri Valley Conference opener seemed to be a combination of issues on both sides of the ball for the Coyotes.

But upon further review, it was deficiencies on USD's offensive side of the ball that actually over shadowed a decent performance from the defense. The Coyote 'D' limited the Penguins to 300 yards of total offense, holding running back Jody Webb to 65 yards below his season average, while forcing a pair of turnovers.

The South Dakota offense couldn't convert those gifts into touchdowns, and committed three turnovers of their own, while managing seven fewer first downs than YSU and six fewer minutes of possession.

The loss stops USD's modest two-game winning streak.

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This week, the Coyotes head out on the road for the first time in the Missouri Valley Conference in 2015, when the play at Western Illinois Saturday.

The Leathernecks won their conference opener in dramatic fashion, beating Southern Illinois on a last second field 20-yard field goal from Nathan Knuffman, to down the Salukis 37-36.

WIU got big performances on both sides of the ball in Macomb. Quarterback Trenton Norvell threw for 333 yards and two scores, while running back Nikko Watson ran for a career high 174 yards. In last year's meeting with the Coyotes, Norvell threw for five touchdowns.

Defensively for the Leathernecks, linebacker Brett Taylor had 17 tackles and returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown.

I talked with USD Coach Joe Glenn about the Youngstown State loss and the Western Illinois match-up: