South Dakota’s Joe Glenn on Western Illinois Loss, Missouri State Game

The South Dakota Coyotes are looking for answers after their 9th straight Missouri Valley Conference loss and 18th straight road loss, following a 24-10 setback at Western Illinois last Saturday.

Head Coach Joe Glenn told me it's not just the loss, but how his team played that has him troubled these days:

A couple of all too familiar issues for USD were on display Saturday in Macomb.

The first, another in a long line of bad snaps for the Coyote punting unit, this one going for a Western Illinois touchdown:

The other issue for USD continues to be third down conversions.  The Coyotes were just 1-of-16 in the game Saturday, on the season 14-of-58 (24%):

The passing game really struggled early for the Coyotes Saturday.  Quarterback Josh Vander Maten attempted just five passes in the first half, completing just one.  Part of the problem was the weather, part was execution.

Eventually Vander Maten was lifted for backup Kevin Earl, leaving the starting job up in the air for the Missouri State game this weekend:

Missouri State notched their first win of the season last weekend, upsetting #24 Illinois State 37-10 at home.

A week after giving up 221 yards on the ground to Western Illinois, USD's run defense will be tested against a Bears team that picked up 272 against Illinois State.

The Bears defense also came up big against the Redbirds, forcing five second half turnovers:

This weekend's Dakota Days homecoming game for USD will not only provide a big crowd, but it will also give the Coyotes a chance to do something they haven't done in more than a month - play a game at home:

Kickoff is 2:00pm Saturday afternoon in Vermillion.