Bison blowout: South Dakota Coyotes overpowered by North Dakota State

FARGO — South Dakota's bi-annual visit to the Fargodome got off to an uncomfortable start Saturday with the head official referring to the visitors as "South Dakota State" not once, but twice. 

That awkward blunder set the tone for an equally unpleasant afternoon for USD, which dropped a 49-14 decision to top-ranked North Dakota State.

The Coyotes appeared simply overmatched through most of their penultimate affair.

The offense was smothered, managing just 73 passing yards (Austin Simmons completed 11 of 19 passes) and 172 rushing yards (Kai Henry led the way with 58 yards and a score on eight carries).  They crossed midfield just three times over nine drives. 

Meanwhile, the USD defense was simply bullied by its abrasive hosts, who rolled up 700 total yards and began pulling their starters by the midway point of the third quarter. 

Quarterback Trey Lance needed just 12 completions to accumulate 249 yards and two touchdowns, while Ty Brooks averaged 10.4 yards per carry (104 yards) with a couple touchdowns. Teammate Adam Cofield logged 75 rushing yards and a score on 10 carries.

"We've struggled all year defensively, and obviously they took major advantage of that," USD coach Bob Nielson said.

The Coyotes' performance on defense was characterized by multiple instances of missed tackles and other would-be tacklers hanging on for dear life as the NDSU ball-carrier fought ahead for additional yards. 

"They have hard runners, (but) we didn't tackle well. We haven't tackled well all year," coach Bob Nielson said. "That was disappointing. I could probably pick seven or eight plays where we should've tackled the ball for no gain, and we missed those tackles. If you do that against high-level skill players, they're going to make you pay, and they did."

There was a brief glimmer of life from South Dakota during the second quarter. 

After the defense surrendered its fourth touchdown of the game, the offense embarked on a seven-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that featured an invigorating 38-yard run by Henry, who dove over the pile and into the end zone from a yard out five plays later.

After the defense forced its first — and only — 3-and-out of the game, the Coyotes' offense went back to work, reaching the NDSU 34 with an opportunity to cut into the 28-7 margin before half. But two negative rushes were followed by an incompletion on 3rd-and-13 — Falck appeared to maintain possession throughout the catch, but an official review overturned the call on the field — and USD was forced to punt. 

Asked about Falck's overturned reception, Nielson shook his head and said he "never really got a great explanation."

"It was definitely a catch," he continued. "I guess I can't understand why they would overturn it. I think they had it right on the field."

"I'm obviously not a rules expert, I'm just a player, but I thought he had full possession of the ball," Simmons added. "I don't know what the technical definition of a catch is, so I'll leave that to the refs and those people."

That controversial sequence effectively halted whatever momentum the visitors had built and on the first play after the break, Brooks cracked off a 48-yard run that ultimately led to another Bison touchdown.

"Obviously, that was a chance for us to get another score before half," Nielson said. "Not that it would have made any difference in the football game, but 28-14 going into half is a lot different than 28-7. But still, we had to stop them in the third quarter, and we couldn't stop them."

South Dakota will look to finish the season strong, hosting rival South Dakota State next Saturday. 

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.