Coyote football ready to change reputation
It’s been two long, tumultuous season in the Missouri Valley Football Conference for the University of South Dakota Coyotes. There’s been peaks, such as the 38-31 double overtime victory over Northern Iowa last year. Then there’s the valleys — last year’s five-game losing streak to end the season.
The two-year sample size the Coyotes have shown in the MVFC hasn’t exactly screamed “team to be reckoned with.” But this year the players are carrying a different vibe.
Junior linebacker Keyen Lage said a big reason for the positive attitudes is many of the leaders are now head coach Joe Glenn’s recruits with no affiliation to the former coach Ed Meierkort regime.
“The two philosophies of each coach was very different, so in the past we butted heads a little bit,” Lage said. “But those guys have kind of filtered out of the system, and now I guess you can say the Glenn era is leading the pack.”
The first year of the Joe Glenn era on paper looked like a dud. The team won one game—zero in the MVFC— and had nowhere to go but up.
Last year you could, at times, start to see the light at the end of tunnel. The team had a three-game win streak in the middle of the season and if it wasn’t for some late game falters, could’ve finished near .500 on the season.Last year the team started wearing team-matching bracelets, representing a brotherhood between the seemingly new tightly knit bond of guys.
Senior right tackle Andrew Schofield agreed with Lage, saying the biggest reason year three of the Glenn era will continue the upward trajectory is due to the improved team chemistry.
“As an offensive line, I can definitely say we are closer,” Schofield said. “And looking at it team-wise, we cut out some bad eggs. We’re a lot more of a team now.”
“We all hang out together; we all get along. We all joke around with each other. On the practice field we can get heated, but once we’re back in the locker room it’s back to all being friends. We’re having more fun and that’s important.”
Since summer ended for the players, the team has had over 20 practices. Year three for a coach is a year where you can see if it’s clicking or not. Head coach Joe Glenn said this offseason was crucial for every player if the team wanted to show they’re improved.
“We look bigger. We look faster. We look stronger. And we have more depth. So I feel very good about this team this year,” Glenn said.
The Coyotes have spent the last few weeks preparing for likely the toughest challenge in school history — No. 3 ranked Oregon Ducks tonight in Eugene, Ore.
Lage said team has looked sharp and everyone is ready to get the season underway.
“All of our practices have been going really well. The intensity is up from last year,” Lage said. “What’s really been big is we have a much better scout team. We’re just excited to be able to hit another team’s players.”
Besides losing the school’s all-time sack leader, Tyler Starr, to the NFL, the biggest question mark for the Coyote defense will be how the team replaces its entire secondary. The Coyotes were the second best pass defense in the FCS last year, but all four starters graduated.
Four players in the secondary making their first collegiate starts will get thrown right into the fire, facing off versus Heisman-hopeful Marcus Mariota. In his two years at Oregon, Mariota has thrown for 63 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions.
Lage realizes the difficultly their first opponent will bring, but believes the team, this season, can overcome the loss if they take care of business up front.
“Besides (Tyler) Starr, we’re returning our entire front seven,” Lage said. “We have a lot of leadership on this defense.”
Lage said the secondary features some guys that some people might not know right now, but once they get some reps, there won’t be much to worry about.
He also applauded the athleticism of sophomore safeties Zeke Lewis and Jacob Warner and said they have the ability to play upfront and fill the hole as well as play deep in a centerfield type role.
Kevin Earl is another big reason (literally) why the arrow is pointing up for the Coyotes.
The 6’6” junior quarterback gave the offense a jolt in the final eight games of the year this past season. Earl passed for 228 yards per game during that span, compared to the 137 that former quarterback Josh Vander Maten threw for per game in his 15 starts over the past two years.
“(Kevin) has looked great so far,” Schofield said. “His mindset is completely different. He knows he’s the starter and his confidence shows that. He seems more comfortable in the pocket and seems just more comfortable with the offense as a whole.”
Besides Earl, the offense is returning nearly all of their skill players, with one of those being QB-turned-wide receiver, Vander Maten, who got all summer to work on the wide receiver position.
The team also returns it’s top two running backs from last year, Trevor Bouma and Jordan Roberts, as well as senior captain Jasper Sanders. The captain redshirted last year after having knee surgery.
On top of all of that, they also have top receiver, sophomore Riley Donovan back and ready to roll.
Being the team-player he is, Vander Maten said it’s not so bad playing wide receiver.
“I get to touch the ball in open space and run around a little more now,” Vander Maten said. “I do like that. It’s fun catching passes from (Kevin) because he’s a great quarterback.”
By the looks of it, many players have taken the ever so important, team-oriented character type role to heart early this year. Only time will tell if that can help lead to more wins for the 2014-15 Coyote football team.
