After big upset win, Coyote football looks to prevent weekend letdown

The Coyote football team is hungry for another victory.

After one of the biggest wins for the Coyotes in recent memory, USD faces another Missouri Valley Conference opponent this weekend – Missouri State.

The Coyotes are coming off a great game from all corners of the team, with offense, defense and special teams all contributing to last weekend’s game upset over four-time national champion North Dakota State.

The all-around performance is a change from the recent games, assistant head coach Wesley Beschorner said.

“Either the offense would play really well and the defense would play OK, or the next week the offense would play poorly and the defense would play great,” Beschorner said.

The special teams have been led by reigning Missouri Valley Conference special teams player of the week junior Miles Bergner.

Bergner kicks and punts for the Coyotes and nailed the 33-yard game-winner against NDSU to seal the upset victory in Fargo. But it is not just the field goals that have made a name for Bergner. His punting has created great opportunities for the Coyote defense all year long.

“My favorite thing to do is punt. I love just going and kicking the ball as far as you possibly can. I’m glad I’m consistent now. I’m glad I can be reliable in that sector,” Bergner said.

After multiple disappointing seasons in a row, the Coyotes believe they have finally found a turning point.

“In the past, a lot of the problems on defense stem from guys not doing their job or trying to do more than they are supposed to,” senior linebacker Keyen Lage said. “This year, all the guys trust each other a lot more, and if we just do our jobs and do what were supposed to do, the rest handles itself.”

Lage is second on the team with total tackles on the season with 44. He has helped to lead the Coyote defense to being ranked fourth total defense and second in rushing defense rankings in the conference.

Despite the triumph over the weekend, the Coyote offense was hit with tough news – junior running back Trevor Bouma is out for the season with an injury to his forearm. The White Plains slip and fall attorneys say that such injuries are common in the game, but the after-effects would be disappointing to many.

Bouma was the Coyote’s leading rusher with 435 yards and six touchdowns. This is Bouma’s second consecutive season that has ended with an injury. The Coyotes know this loss won’t be an easy one to take.

“It’s a tough blow. The kid can’t catch a break. I feel bad for him because he had another great game for us,” junior quarterback Ryan Saeger said.

The Coyotes have had a week to get a game plan together without Bouma before the Missouri State game on Saturday.

“The effect has yet to be determined but as far as a person and his (Bouma’s) character, it’s tough. He’s one of the best, no doubt about it,” Beschorner said.

Missouri State is 1-5 overall (0-3 in conference) on the year. Despite their lowly-record, USD knows not to overlook anyone.

“There’s no overlooking for our team by any means. (Missouri State) beat us pretty good last year, so that would be silly for our players to overlook this team,” Beschorner said.

The Coyotes themselves know about having a lowly record. Their win against NDSU ended a 14-game conference win streak and was their first conference win since 2013. The Coyotes know the determination of a team gunning for an upset.

“Being a team that’s been in a situation where we’ve been thought of as the underdog and we’ve been thought of as kind of the dirt of the conference, we know that when a team like that comes in, we were trying to upset everybody as much as we could,” Lage said.

Just as USD upset NDSU, Missouri State is hoping for a similar story with their trip to the DakotaDome this Saturday when kickoff starts at 2 p.m.

“Obviously we’re not done yet,” Bergner said, “and I can’t wait to see what we’re going to do to finish the season out.”