South Dakota Upsets UND 45-7 in Rivalry Game
UND is now 1-2 on the season
VERMILLION, SD (UND Athletics) — No. 23 South Dakota delivered a decisive 45-7 victory over No. 10 North Dakota in a matchup of border rivals at the DakotaDome on Saturday. In the only matchup of FCS-ranked foes this weekend, the Coyotes (3-0) dominated from the onset as the Fighting Hawks (1-2) could never find a rhythm on either side of the ball.
“This is one of those games you really have to learn from,” UND head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “We can’t just flush this one way. Early on, it was penalties that cost us. We had third-and-two and third-and-three that turned into third-and-long situations. You just can’t do that.
“Then we couldn’t get stop their run game. We had chances to get them off the field and could not come up with a stop. That was the most disappointing part of it.”
South Dakota quarterback Chris Streveler showed early in the contest why he had won back-to-back Missouri Conference Offensive Player of the Week accolades to start the season. Behind their senior leader, the Coyotes built a 17-0 lead in the first quarter and added two more touchdowns in the second quarter to jump out a 31-0 lead at halftime.
Streveler had 49 rushing yards and a touchdown and went 17-for-23 through the air for 241 yards and a score before the break and finished with 352 yards of total offense and accounted for three of the Coyotes’ five touchdowns. True freshman Kai Henry matched Streveler’s two rushing scores and rushed for a team-high 80 yards on 12 carries.
UND managed just 103 yards of total offense in the first half and its best scoring chance came after a 66-yard kickoff return by John Santiago, but came up empty after a 41-yard field goal attempt by Reid Taubenheim sailed wide.
The Coyotes’ were stout defensively too as UND went just 1-for-12 on third-down conversions and came up empty on four fourth-down attempts.
The Fighting Hawks cracked the scoreboard midway through the third-quarter when Keaton Studsrud found Travis Toivonen from 10 yards out, but it was too late to mount the thrilling comeback UND put together a season ago in the 47-44 double-overtime win against the Coyotes in Grand Forks.
Santiago finished with 85 yards rushing to pace UND, who finished with just 102 total yards on the ground. Studsrud finished 11-for-22 in the passing department for 133 yards and the scoring strike to Toivonen.
Neither team turned the ball over in a contest that saw USD outgain UND by over 300 yards (575 to 257). The Coyotes were also 8-for-17 on third down and converted both of their fourth-down attempts. USD also held a 33-10 advantage in first downs.
Big Sky play is up next as the Fighting Hawks return home to take on Montana State next Saturday at the Alerus Center. Kickoff against the Bobcats is set for 2:30 p.m. CT.
