Most teams will tell you, when they turn the ball over four times in a game, they don't like their chances of winning.

But while the South Dakota offense and special teams attempted, at times, to be generous hosts to Indiana State last Saturday in Vermillion, the Coyote defense wasn't in a giving mood, as they shut down the Sycamores time and time again, securing a 17-14 USD win.

USD Defense vs Indiana St
Aaron Packard/University of South Dakota
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Indiana State came into Saturday’s game with the #1 passing attack in the Missouri Valley Conference, but South Dakota's defense was tops in the nation in pass defense, and they showed why, limiting the Sycamores to just 82 yards through the air, while sacking ISU quarterbacks five times.

The Coyotes did it without all-conference linebacker Tyler Starr, who sat out the first half as part of as suspension for targeting against Missouri State the week before.  In his absence Keyen Lage from Sioux Falls stepped in nicely.

USD head coach Joe Glenn told me he was impressed with his young linebacker from Washington High School:

Trevor Bouma (21) vs Indiana St
Aaron Packard/University of South Dakota
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Offensively for the Coyotes, it was another strong day on the ground for running back Trevor Bouma, as the redshirt freshman from LeMars, Iowa put it in the end zone twice and amassed 145 yards rushing on the day.

Those numbers earned him Missouri Valley Confence Newcomer of the Week honors:

Things don't get any easier for the Coyotes this weekend, as they make the trip to Cedar Falls to play Northern Iowa.

The Panthers had been a Top Five team in the national polls before a pair of tough losses - a last second defeat at #1 North Dakota State and an overtime loss last weekend against Southern Illinois - dropped them to 13th this week.

Sawyer Kollmorgen (17)
Photo by UNI Athletics Communications
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UNI is led on offense by sophomore quarterback Sawyer Kollmorgen, who's hitting on 63% of his passes this season with 10 touchdowns and just 1 interception.  It'll be another tough test for the USD pass defense:

Collin Albrecht (92)
Photo by UNI Athletics Communications
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The Panthers' real strength is on defense where they rank in the Top Ten in the nation in fewest points allowed (16 per game) and sacks (20).  The leader of the defense is senior lineman Collin Albrecht, who has seven of those sacks himself:

Kickoff is 4:00pm Saturday afternoon at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls.

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