# 2018 South Dakota Coyotes football team

The 2018 South Dakota Coyotes football team represented the University of South Dakota in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Bob Nielson and played their home games in the DakotaDome. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 4–7, 3–5 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Buck Buchanan Award | Darin Greenfield | DE | JR |

### Preseason MVFC poll

The MVFC released their preseason poll on July 29, 2018, with the Coyotes predicted to finish in sixth place.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | North Dakota State | 390 (39) |
| 2 | South Dakota State | 270 |
| 3 | Northern Iowa | 258 |
| 4 | Youngstown State | 248 |
| 5 | Illinois State | 248 |
| 6 | South Dakota | 206 |
| 7 | Western Illinois | 163 |
| 8 | Southern Illinois | 139 |
| 9 | Missouri State | 90 |
| 10 | Indiana State | 41 |

### Preseason All-MVFC Teams

The Coyotes placed seven players on the preseason all-MVFC teams.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 6:00 p.m. | at Kansas State* | | Bill Snyder Family Football StadiumManhattan, KS | ESPN3 | L 24–27 | 50,063 |
| September 8 | 2:00 p.m. | Northern Colorado* | No. 23 | DakotaDomeVermillion, SD | ESPN+ Midco | W 43–28 | 9,143 |
| September 15 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 11 Weber State* | No. 22 | Stewart StadiumOgden, UT | KELOland Pluto TV | L 10–27 | 8,455 |
| September 29 | 6:00 p.m. | at Southern Illinois | | Saluki StadiumCarbondale, IL | ESPN+ | W 31–24 | 8,546 |
| October 6 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 24 Missouri State | | DakotaDomeVermillion, SD | ESPN3 | W 35–28 | 10,092 |
| October 13 | 6:00 p.m. | Northern Iowa | No. 24 | DakotaDomeVermillion, SD | ESPN+ Midco | L 28–42 | 9,513 |
| October 20 | 5:00 p.m. | at Youngstown State | | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN+ | L 17–29 | 11,112 |
| October 27 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 1 North Dakota State | | DakotaDomeVermillion, SD | ESPN+ Midco | L 14–59 | 9,589 |
| November 3 | 12:00 p.m. | at Indiana State | | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN+ | L 48–51 $^{3OT}$ | 5,816 |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | Western Illinois | | DakotaDomeVermillion, SD | ESPN+ Midco | W 17–12 | 8,761 |
| November 17 | 2:00 p.m. | at No. 5 South Dakota State | | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD (rivalry) | ESPN+ Midco | L 27–49 | 8,517 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Kansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Coyotes | 10 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Wildcats | 3 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 27 |
Kansas State's Isaiah Zuber was credited for saving the game with two key plays: an 85-yard punt return with South Dakota leading 24–12. Later in the game caught a touchdown pass from Skylar Thompson with 7:21 left to give K-State its first lead of the second half.
Kansas State scored all but seven of its points on field goals and special teams. Sophomore kicker Blake Lynch scored Kansas State’s first 12 points on field goals of 22, 24, 38 and 44 yards. Kansas State racked up 13 penalties for 129 yards, but maintained more control of the ball with 37:39 of offense compared to South Dakota's 22:21. going over 100 years for the first time since 2016 against Florida Atlantic.
South Dakota quarterback Austin Simmons threw for 257 yards and one touchdown, continually finding receiver Levi Falck (11 catches, 140 yards) open against top K-State cornerback Duke Shelley. The Coyotes led 24–12 at halftime. ESPN reported "... one solid takeaway is how well the Coyotes were in control for much of the game. They did a great job limiting the Kansas State offense for three quarters and had many Kansas State fans, players and coaches frustrated throughout the night."

### Northern Colorado

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| No. 23 Coyotes | 14 | 20 | 0 | 9 | 43 |

### At Weber State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 22 Coyotes | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| No. 11 Wildcats | 11 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 27 |

### At Southern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Coyotes | 7 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 31 |
| Salukis | 14 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 24 |

### Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 24 Bears | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
| Coyotes | 14 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 35 |

### Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 0 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 42 |
| No. 24 Coyotes | 3 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 28 |

### At Youngstown State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Coyotes | 0 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 17 |
| Penguins | 19 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 29 |

### North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Bison | 21 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 59 |
| Coyotes | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |

### At Indiana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | 2OT | 3OT | Total |
| Coyotes | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 48 |
| Sycamores | 14 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 51 |

### Western Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Leathernecks | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 12 |
| Coyotes | 7 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 17 |

### At South Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Coyotes | 7 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 27 |
| No. 5 Jackrabbits | 28 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 49 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | RV | 23 | 22 | RV | RV | RV | 24 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Coaches | RV | RV | 24 | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | |