2017 South Dakota Coyotes football team

2017 South Dakota Coyotes football
2017 South Dakota Coyotes football
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 42–54 vs. Sam Houston State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 15
FCS Coaches	No. 16
Record	8–5 (4–4 MVFC)
Head coach	Bob Nielson (2nd season);
Co-offensive coordinator	Ted Schlafke (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Bill O'Boyle (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Co-defensive coordinator	Atiba Bradley (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Tyler Yelk (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	DakotaDome
	Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^	7	–	1	14	–	1
No. 3 South Dakota State ^	6	–	2	11	–	3
No. 19 Northern Iowa ^	6	–	2	8	–	5
No. 13 Western Illinois ^	5	–	3	8	–	4
No. 15 South Dakota ^	4	–	4	8	–	5
Illinois State	4	–	4	6	–	5
Youngstown State	4	–	4	6	–	5
Southern Illinois	2	–	6	4	–	7
Missouri State	2	–	6	3	–	8
Indiana State	0	–	8	0	–	11

$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2017 South Dakota Coyotes football team represented the University of South Dakota in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Bob Nielson and played their home games in the DakotaDome. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.^[1] They finished the season 8–5, 4–4 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, which was the schools first ever FCS Playoff bid, where they defeated Nicholls State in the first round before losing to Sam Houston State in the second round.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	at Drake*		Drake Stadium Des Moines, IA	BV	W 77–7	3,332
September 9	5:00 p.m.	at Bowling Green*		Doyt Perry Stadium Bowling Green, OH	ESPN3	W 35–27	17,912
September 16	2:00 p.m.	No. 10 North Dakota*	No. 23	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (Sitting Bull Trophy)	ESPN3 Midco	W 45–7	9,645
September 30	3:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Western Illinois	No. 10	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3 MVC TV	W 38–33	5,631
October 7	2:00 p.m.	No. 3 Youngstown State	No. 7	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3 Midco	W 31–28	10,056
October 14	2:00 p.m.	Indiana State	No. 4	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3 Midco	W 56–6	8,390
October 21	2:00 p.m.	at No. 24 Illinois State	No. 4	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3 NBCS CH	L 21–37	12,113
October 28	3:00 p.m.	Southern Illinois	No. 6	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3 Midco	W 42–0	8,498
November 4	1:00 p.m.	at Northern Iowa	No. 6	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3 PSN	L 29–34	10,814
November 11	2:30 p.m.	at No. 5 North Dakota State	No. 10	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN3 NBC ND	L 14–49	18,623
November 18	2:00 p.m.	No. 6 South Dakota State	No. 15	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (rivalry)	ESPN3 Midco	L 28–31	10,147
November 25	3:00 p.m.	at Nicholls State*	No. 16	John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 38–31	9,612
December 2	2:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Sam Houston State*	No. 16	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 42–54	4,401
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS FCS at time of game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^ "Coyote football to open 2017 at Drake". University of South Dakota Athletics. December 9, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.

v t e South Dakota Coyotes football
Venues	Darwin Inman Memorial Stadium (1926–1978) DakotaDome (1979–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Sitting Bull Trophy (North Dakota) South Dakota State
Culture & lore	"Hail, South Dakota!" Charlie Coyote Dakota Days
People	Head coaches NFL draftees
Seasons	1889 1890–1893 1894 1895–1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e 2017 NCAA Division I FCS playoff participants
Central Arkansas Central Connecticut Elon Furman Jacksonville State James Madison Kennesaw State Lehigh Monmouth New Hampshire Nicholls State North Dakota State Northern Arizona Northern Iowa Sam Houston State Samford San Diego South Dakota South Dakota State Southern Utah Stony Brook Weber State Western Illinois Wofford
Champion – North Dakota State