The University of South Dakota football team was on full 'letdown watch' as they hosted last place Missouri State in Missouri Valley Football Conference action last weekend. But, despite a few hiccups early, the Coyotes followed up their historic win at North Dakota State with a 40-10 blowout of the Bears in Vermillion.

Five USD first half drives ended on the MSU side of the 50-yard line, but the Coyotes could only manage one touchdown. Three of the drives led to Miles Bergner field goals, the other ended with an interception on the Bears' five.

The second half was a much different story with the Coyotes scoring three touchdowns on their first four drives - kicking a field goal on the other - all while keeping the Missouri State offense out of the end zone all day.

Quarterback Ryan Saeger threw for a career-high 275 yards, while running back Michael Fredrick, making his first collegiate start, ran for a career-high 129 yards.

Defensively, Andrew VanGinkel recorded six tackles, two for loss, as USD held MSU to just 155 yards of total offense. The Bears' lone touchdown came on a 100-yard kickoff return.

The Coyotes opponent this week is 18th ranked Northern Iowa.

The Panthers, winless after three weeks in the MVC, got their first conference victory last weekend, beating then #6 South Dakota State, 10-7 in Brookings.

UNI got five sacks from their defense, including three from Missouri Valley Conference defensive player of the week Karter Schult. Brett McMakin added ten tackles. The Panthers also notched 12 tackles for loss at SDSU, holding one of the top scoring teams in the country to just a touchdown. The defense secured the win late in the fourth quarter, stopping Jackrabbit running back Kyle Paris on fourth-and-one from the UNI 11-yard line.

Offensively, Northern Iowa only scored ten points, but did get a big day on the ground from quarterback Aaron Bailey, who ran for a career-high 169 yards.

The Panthers sacked USD quarterbacks seven times in a 27-16 win at the DakotaDome last season. The Coyotes won the last meeting in Cedar Falls, a triple overtime victory in 2013.

Kickoff is 1:00 PM at the UNI-Dome Saturday.

I talked with USD head coach Joe Glenn about Missouri State win and the match-up against Northern Iowa this weekend:

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