Coyotes look to Indiana State after Dakota Days win

The University of Northern Iowa Panthers came into the DakotaDome ranked 11th in the country on Dakota Days, but left with their tails between their legs.

Junior quarterback Chris Streveler led the Coyotes to a 28-25 win. This came as the first win in Missouri Valley conference play for USD.

“It was a good win. Proud of our guys and the way they played,” said head coach Bob Nielson. “I think they demonstrated improvement in a lot of different areas and it was great to do it in front of a big crowd that was into the game from start to the end.”

After mistakes hamstrung the team in previous weeks, against UNI the offense was able to find its groove.

“Offensively we put a good game together. Still a lot of things we’ve got to work on and correct. It wasn’t a perfect game,” Streveler said. “Definitely wasn’t mistake-free. Definitely stuff we’ve got to work on and get better at, it’s nice to have a few big plays in there. We’ve got a lot of things in practice this week we want to try and clean up and get better at.”

Streveler was the x-factor for the Coyotes. Early in the first quarter he broke for a 69-yard touchdown run to put USD on the board first. With the rocking D-Days crowd at their back and a pair of touchdown throws to sophomore wideout Tacari Carpenter the Coyotes came out ahead against the nationally ranked UNI.

Carpenter was Streveler’s main target, they connected for 109 yards and two touchdowns including a 75-yard connection that put the Coyotes ahead in the second quarter. Streveler threw for a game high 182 yards on 8-12 passing for two touchdowns, he also threw one interception. He ran for a game high 128 yards for one touchdown. Senior running back Trevor Bouma also notched a rushing touchdown and had 72 yards on the ground.

For his efforts Streveler was awarded the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week. This is his second Newcomer of the Week award of the year.

Despite some hiccups, the Coyotes played much better football than they have in weeks past, something Nielson took note of.

“We did a better job of playing closer to the best and that’s what we have to do to eliminate some of the big mistakes that have haunted us over the prior weeks and turnovers and not just turnovers but turnovers that generated good ball possession,” Nielson said. “We did a good job of taking care of field position and some of the little things that make a big difference.”

For the transfer Streveler, the D-Days crowd was a much appreciated addition to the DakotaDome.

“It was a big crowd and they were definitely into the game,” Streveler said. “Made a huge difference in the game, getting loud, especially towards the end there when they were trying to put a drive together and it was rocking in here.”

The Coyotes now prepare to take on Indiana State. The Sycamores are 3-3 on the season (1-2 in Missouri Valley play). This will be the first time since the 2013-14 season that the Coyotes meet Indiana State. In their last matchup in Verm=illion the Coyotes came out on top 17-14. Nielson knows the Sycamores will test the Coyotes on both sides of the ball.

“They’re a very good football team. They’re very well-coached, they do things very well. Athletically they’re very good on the offensive perimeter and they’re going to make you defend the field from sideline to sideline,” Nielson said. “Defensively they’re quite multiple and play a little different style of defense than what we see from some of the other opponents we play.”

For Streveler, a native of Crystal Lake, Illinois, the trip to Terre Haute means his family will get to attend.

“They’re a good team, they play hard,” Streveler said. “They’ve had some tough games this season and just excited about going there, got a lot of family coming to the game and it’s going to be fun playing them.”

USD will be hoping they can keep their momentum going forward. Now that they have a win in conference play, they just want more.

“We’re going to keep the momentum going because we really like the feeling of winning. We hate losing, everybody’s moping around and the attitude’s different. The atmosphere at the university is so much better when you win, so we have to win,” Carpenter said. “It’s not something that we want to do, it’s something that we have to do and it’s something that we’re going to do throughout the season.”

This sentiment is shared amongst the team. The Coyotes have a taste for winning. They want more.

“You get that first win you just want to continue to push even harder to get another one. Once you get the taste of winning in your mouth it’s kind of addictive. You don’t want to go back to that losing taste. It’s pretty sour,” Streveler said. “I think that’s how we overcome it, we’ve got a little taste of victory and winning now we just want to keep tasting it and keep going and just continue to push hard in practice. It’s something we stressed last week and need to continue to work on and keep going with.”

The Coyotes travel to Terre Haute, Indiana this Saturday to take on Indiana State at 2 p.m.

“(The win) let us know that we’re capable of beating the rest of them,” Carpenter said. “We’re going to beat the rest of them. I feel like we’ve got a good thing going, we’ve just got to keep rolling.”