USD football loses 21-40 to Western Illinois

After trading touchdowns on opening drives, Western Illinois left USD in the dust as they outscored the Coyotes 33-14 on a run for the final three quarters of Saturday’s game in Macomb, Ill to win the game 40-21.

The game started evenly when Western Illinois completed a 75-yard drive capped off with a four yard touchdown run to get the first points on the board. The Coyotes were able to equalize, as they ripped off an 80 yard drive and then finished off with a three yard Trevor Bouma run for a touchdown. From there Western Illinois scored 12 unanswered points to end the first half at 19-7.

The Coyotes came out strong in the second half with another long drive of 75 yards ended with a Shamar Jackson 10 yard rushing touchdown. From there Western Illinois seized momentum and ran with it, as they scored 21 unanswered points to increase their lead to 40-14. USD would not go away, however, as they capped off a 50 yard drive with a Ryan Saeger to Brandt Van Roekel 10 yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 40-21. Western Illinois then ran out the final 6:13 off the game clock to shut down any hopes of a Coyote comeback.

The game was as much as a battle through the air as it was on the ground. Western Illinois quarterback Trenton Norvell threw for 288 yards and three touchdowns and Ryan Saeger, the junior quarterback for USD, threw for 197 yards and one touchdown. First-year running back Michael Fredrick received the bulk of the carries for USD, carrying 19 times for 90 yards. Western Illinois dominated the game with 514 total yards of offense to USD’s 345 yards.

The Coyotes face another tough test next Saturday, when they travel to Fargo to take on North Dakota State University.