USD faces off against the the big dogs

Two weeks ago, USD faced off against three teams in two separate sports; Boise State in football, and Washington and Minnesota in volleyball. 

Although USD lost all three of these games, the important jurisdiction is that all of these teams are a part of major conferences and higher subdivisions; Boise State is a part of the Football Bowl Subdivision in the PAC-12 conference, and both Washington and Minnesota are a part of the Big 10 conference.

In football, USD has won two games against an FBS opponent since they have been in NCAA Division I; The first of which happened in 2010, in which they won against Minnesota (who went 3-9 that year) 41-38. 

The other win happened seven years later in 2017, when they won against Bowling Green (who went 2-10 that year) 35-27.

Although USD didn’t beat Boise State, they were equal throughout a majority of the game. USD scored the 1st touchdown seven minutes in the 1st quarter, and up until the 4th quarter, were no more than 2 touchdowns away from taking the lead. 

USD also had more individual passing yards than Boise State, with USD quarterback Austyn Modrzewski getting 243 passing yards against Boise State’s quarterback Maddux Madsen which had 208 passing yards.

Focusing on volleyball, there is no Division I subdivision split like there is in football, so volleyball is mainly split between major conferences and mid-major conferences. USD plays in the mid-major conference The Summit League.

USD volleyball has seen a lot more success in its match-ups against power-conference teams compared to football. 

In 2024, they defeated SEC team Missouri three to one in the NKU Invitational series, and later on defeated Big 12 conference team Iowa State 3-1 in the South Dakota Classic series. 

In 2022, they reached the NCAA Volleyball Tournament, defeating Missouri 3-2, and Big 12 member West Virgina three to one on the way.

Going to 2026, USD had two difficult match-ups; 14th ranked Minnesota, and currently undefeated Washington. 

USD notched one match against Minnesota 26 points to 24, but lost the other three sets; they had more combined blocks, with 11 blocks to eight, but the Golden Gophers held the Coyotes to less than .150% average hitting percentage.

Although on paper it looks like the Coyotes got swept in three straight sets against the Washington Huskies, the box score tells a different story. 

USD put up 10 more points against Washington than they did against Minnesota, as well as more combined aces, with five aces to four.

Currently, both USD football and volleyball have winning records, with volleyball having seven wins and fives losses, and football having three wins and two losses heading into the Dakota Days game against Indiana State. 

With positive performances on the field and court against dominant teams, only time will tell how that will transfer to in-conference play. 

Photo Credit: Audrey Martin