Coyotes cruise past Missouri State 40-10
Last year Missouri State beat USD 31-12, but this year was a different story. The Coyotes cruised to a 40-10 win this past weekend and looked impressive on both sides of the ball.
“That same team put it on us a year ago, really good, but what a difference a year makes,” said Coyote head coach Joe Glenn. “We’ve grown up a little bit.”
One thing that has helped propel the Coyotes forward this season has been their defense.
USD is currently No. 2 in the Missouri Valley Conference in total defense, and it showed during this past Saturday’s game. The Coyotes limited Missouri State to 155 total yards.
Except for a Missouri State field goal in the fourth quarter, the defense did not allow a single score. The only MSU score came on a 100-yard kickoff return in the first quarter.
Redshirt first-year defensive lineman Andrew Van Ginkel and junior defensive back Tyson Graham led the dominant Coyote defense throughout the game. Van Ginkel totaled a team high six tackles, including two tackles for loss and a dramatic chase down to prevent a MSU touchdown. Graham accounted for five tackles, with one for loss, and an interception.
The Coyotes knew the importance of coming out strong the week after the big win over NDSU.
“Our coaches stressed all week that we need to keep going upward and not let last week get to us and prove it wasn’t a fluke,” Van Ginkel said. “I think the defense came out and showed we can play with any team in the Missouri Valley and we just have to keep working hard, going to the film and looking back at what we made mistakes on and fix them. We can always improve.”
Despite his first-year status, Van Ginkel has played a huge part in the Coyote offense. He said this is a big change for someone who spent the majority of his high school playing time at the quarterback position.
“After playing quarterback in high school, to come and be able to sack the quarterback is a great feeling. It’s great to not be sacked,” he said.
It was not just a big game for the defense, as both special teams and offense had strong showings as well.
Junior kicker Miles Bergner tied the school record for field goals in a game with four, and tied the school record for kicking points in a game with 16.
Junior quarterback Ryan Saeger threw for a career best 275 yards and, true first-year running back Michael Fredrick, starting his first game of his collegiate career, ran for a personal best of 129 yards.
“I knew I had big responsibilities to lead my team and run the ball,” Fredrick said. “That’s what coach Beschorner was really stressing in practice, we have to run the ball on them, we have to be able to run the ball successfully.”
Despite their victory, the Coyotes know they have work to do.
The offense had trouble at times with dropped passes and missed throws, and the special teams allowed a big kickoff return early on that could have changed the game.
Next week the Coyotes will face a tough road test against No. 22 Northern Iowa, who is coming off of a big win against South Dakota State.
Glenn knows the mistakes made in the Missouri State game could come back to haunt them against other opponents.
“Mistakes will get you in a close game and we can’t do it,” Glenn said. “So many penalties, we’re really lucky today we played a team we’re better than.”
