2021 South Dakota Coyotes football team

2021 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
	$ – Conference champion; ^ – FCS playoff participant; Rankings from STATS Poll

2021 South Dakota Coyotes football
2021 South Dakota Coyotes football
FCS Playoffs First Round, L 10–22 vs. Southern Illinois
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 18
FCS Coaches	No. 20
2021 record	7–5 (5–3 MVFC)
Head coach	Bob Nielson (6th season);
Offensive coordinator	Ted Schlafke (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Travis Johansen (3rd season)
Home stadium	DakotaDome; (Capacity: 9,100)
	Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

The 2021 South Dakota Coyotes football team represented the University of South Dakota in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Coyotes competed as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and were led by sixth-year head coach Bob Nielson. They played their home games at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, South Dakota.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:00 p.m.	at Kansas*		David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	ESPN+	L 14–17	26,103
September 11	1:00 p.m.	Northern Arizona*		DakotaDome Vermillion, SD		W 34–7	5,247
September 18	7:00 p.m.	at Cal Poly*		Alex G. Spanos Stadium San Luis Obispo, CA		W 48–14	11,075
September 25	7:00 p.m.	at No. 18 Missouri State		Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO		L 23–31	12,738
October 2	2:00 p.m.	Indiana State		DakotaDome Vermillion, SD		W 38–10	6,267
October 9	2:00 p.m.	No. 13 North Dakota		DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN+	W 20–13	5,304
October 16	4:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Northern Iowa	No. 21	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA		W 34–21	7,202
October 23	1:00 p.m.	Illinois State	No. 15	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN+	L 14–20	5,415
November 6	12:00 p.m.	at Western Illinois	No. 23	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	W 42–21	1,972
November 13	1:00 p.m.	No. 4 South Dakota State	No. 19	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD		W 23–20	9,068
November 20	2:30 p.m.	at No. 4 North Dakota State	No. 16	Fargodome Fargo, ND		L 24–52	16,252
November 27	5:00 p.m.	No. 21 Southern Illinois*	No. 17	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (FCS Playoffs – First Round)	ESPN+	L 10–22	3,597
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

South Dakota Coyotes (0–0) vs. Kansas Jayhawks (0–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
South Dakota	0	0	7	7	14
Kansas	0	7	3	7	17

Game information

(0:24) KAN – Lawrence Arnold 8 yard pass from Jason Bean, Jacob Borcila kick (Drive: 7 plays, 37 yards, 3:18; KAN 7–0)

(6:57) KAN – Jacob Borcila 30 yard field goal (Drive: 13 plays, 50 yards, 6:10; KAN 10–0)
(3:31) SD – Shomari Lawrence 29 yard rush, Mason Lorber kick (Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 3:23, KAN 10–7)

(5:13) SD – Travis Theis 25 yard rush, Mason Lorber kick (Drive: 3 plays, 46 yards, 1:01; SD 14–10)
(1:10) KAN – Lawrence Arnold 16 yard pass from Jason Bean, Jacob Borcila kick (Drive: 11 plays, 64 yards, 3:56; KAN 17–14)

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
South Dakota	Passing	Carson Camp	10–22, 98 yards
	Rushing	Travis Theis	18 carries, 96 yards
	Receiving	Kody Case	2 receptions, 37 yards
Kansas	Passing	Jason Bean	17–26, 163 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Jason Bean	15 carries, 54 yards
	Receiving	Mason Fairchild	4 receptions, 58 yards

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v t South Dakota Coyotes football
Venues	(1926–1978) DakotaDome (1979–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Sitting Bull Trophy (North Dakota) South Dakota State
Culture & lore	"Hail, South Dakota!"
People	NFL draftees
	1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1902 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 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 1975 1977 1979 1980 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

2021 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^		7	–	1		14	–	1
No. 14 Missouri State ^		6	–	2		8	–	4
No. 16 Southern Illinois ^		5	–	3		8	–	5
No. 18 South Dakota ^		5	–	3		7	–	5
No. 4 South Dakota State ^		5	–	3		11	–	4
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^		4	–	4		6	–	6
Indiana State		3	–	5		5	–	6
North Dakota		3	–	5		5	–	6
Western Illinois		2	–	6		2	–	9
Illinois State		2	–	6		4	–	7
Youngstown State		2	–	6		3	–	7

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

v t 2021 NCAA Division I FCS playoff participants
Davidson East Tennessee State Eastern Washington Florida A&M Holy Cross Incarnate Word James Madison Kennesaw State Missouri State Montana Montana State North Dakota State Northern Iowa Sacramento State Sacred Heart Sam Houston State South Dakota South Dakota State Southeastern Louisiana Southern Illinois Stephen F. Austin UC Davis UT Martin Villanova
Champion – North Dakota State