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PRESS & DAKOTAN / PLAIN TALK FALL SPORTS 2012 PAGE 15 Football | Missouri Valley Conference Preview Coyotes Look To Change The Game South Dakota Takes Underdog Mentality Into First Season In Mo. Valley Football Conference BY JEREMY HOECK jeremy.hoeck@yankton.net VERMILLION Ask Tyler Starr about joining a new conference and here is the response you will get: We want to change the game. No, it s not a reference to a wacky new offensive style or a state-of-the-art defensive scheme. Starr, the junior linebacker on the University of South Dakota football team, is instead talking about his squad s expectations as it begins play in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) this fall. The 10-team league is a significant step forward in competition level for the Coyotes, who spent the last four seasons in the far-flung Great West Conference. It s all about the confidence that our team has; we ve got players just as good as the teams we re going against, Starr said. I have faith in my teammates to succeed with the plan. We have a goal, so if we just keep at it every SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES: Tyler Starr (11) day, success will become a habit. Ultimately, that is the immediate plan for USD. The Coyotes, 6-5 overall a year ago, were only 6-9 in their time in the Great West, but have found success against high-caliber teams highlighted by a 2010 win at Minnesota and an upset last season over FCS topranked Eastern Washington. Can those brief spurts translate to the Missouri Valley, one of the top FCS leagues in the country? It s a powerhouse league, USD senior punter Cole Zwiefelhofer said. The Missouri Valley and Big Sky (Conference) are the big ones at our level. It s not that 1 .........................North Dakota State big of a difference from FBS to where we are. Those good teams 2.................................Northern Iowa are as good as the big schools. 3 ............................Youngstown State You have to be prepared 4 ....................................Illinois State physically and mentally going into those places, because if you 5 ..................................Indiana State get shook up, they ll have a field 6 .........................South Dakota State SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS: Tyrel Kool (2) day on you. 7 ..............................Southern Illinois Helping to aid the transition 8 .........................South Dakota KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYbetween leagues, USD hired alum ERS: Sam Ojuri (RB, 1105 yds, 11 Joe Glenn to lead the program. 9................................Western Illinois LAST YEAR: 2-9 (2-6 MVFC) TD), Brock Jensen (QB, 1853 yds, The three-time national cham10 ...............................Missouri State RETURNING STARTERS: 14 TD), Ryan Smith (PR, 262 yds, pion compares the Missouri Val14 (9 defense, 5 offense) 1 TD) ley to the old North Central KEY OFFENSIVE KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYConference which boasts KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYPLAYER: Matt Thayer (TE, 20 ERS: Marcus Williams (DB, 7 many of the same names. rec., 247 yds, 3 TD) INT, 3 TD), Colton Heagle (DB, 82 ERS: Garrett Scott (DB, 105 tck., After seeing some film of the 4, INT, 1 sack), Varmah Sonie (DB, other teams, it reminds me of KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYtck., 2 sacks), Christian Dudzik 70 tck., 3 INT) ERS: Andrew Beisel (LB, 84 tck., (CB, 72 tck., 1 INT) that league, Glenn said. It s very NON-CONFERENCE: at 2.5 sacks), Mike Crutcher (S, 83 NON-CONFERENCE: vs. physical, top to bottom. Anyone tck., 1 INT) Robert Morris, at Colorado State, Wisconsin, vs. Central State, at in the league can step up and Iowa NON-CONFERENCE: at vs. Prairie View A&M thump up and bite you. You have NOTES: Lost 6 starters on Kansas State, at Louisville, vs. NOTES: Bison led the MVFC to prove you can be a man. defense...Panthers lost to MonMurray State in defense (12.7 ppg) last That s the style we want to NOTES: The Bears played year...NDSU had 21 interceptions, tana 48-10 in last year's FCS play- be. offs...Sievertsen ranked second two top-15 FBS teams last sea5 for TD, in 2011...Bison enters This fall marks the first year nationally with a 90 percent kick- that USD will be eligible for the son...Started 0-7 in 2011...Wooden the season No. 2 in The Sports ing accuracy. led the conference in total ofNetwork FCS poll. FCS playoffs, and the Coyotes fense per game (242 yds), but have their eyes on following a was kicked off the team in May path that was first started by rifor violations...Bears return just LAST YEAR: 5-6 (4-4 MVFC) vals South Dakota State and LAST YEAR: 10-3 (7-1 7.7 percent of its total offensive RETURNING STARTERS: North Dakota State. MVFC), FCS playoffs production from 2011. NDSU and SDSU both joined 16 (9 offense, 6 defense) RETURNING STARTERS: the league in 2008. Since then, KEY OFFENSIVE PLAY14 (7 offense, 5 defense) the Bison are 17-15 and the ERS: Austin Sumner (QB, 2382 KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYyds, 16 TD), Aaron Rollin (WR, 61 Jackrabbits are 21-11 in conferLAST YEAR: 14-1 (7-1 ERS: Tyler Sievertsen (PK, 18-20 ence play. Each program has MVFC), FCS champion field goals, 39-39 PAT), David reached the playoffs in that time, RETURNING STARTERS: Johnson (RB, 822 rush yds, 9 TD, MVFC | PAGE 17 the Bison twice including last 13 422 rec. yds, 3 TD) year s FCS national champi- A Look At The Other Teams In The MVFC Illinois State LAST YEAR: 7-4 (5-3 MVFC) RETURNING STARTERS: Not listed KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYERS: Matt Brown (QB, 2187 yds, 18 TD), Tyrone Walker (WR, 64 rec., 787 yds, 8 TD), Lechein Neblett (WR, 39 rec., 358 yds) KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYERS: Nate Palmer (DL, 46 tck., 9.5 sacks), Evan Frierson (LB, 66 tck., 6.5 sacks), Colton Underwood (DL, 38 tck., 6 sacks) NON-CONFERENCE: vs. Dayton, at Eastern Michigan, vs. Eastern Illinois NOTES: Illinois State led the conference in total defense (294.8 yds/game) last year...The Redbirds added four FBS transfers in receiver Anthony Williams (Illinois), Marlion Barnett (Washington), defensive back Dominic Clarke (Ohio State) and offensive lineman Jermaine Barto (Miami). Indiana State LAST YEAR: 6-5 (4-4 MVFC) RETURNING STARTERS: 14 (6 offense, 6 defense) KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYERS: Shakir Bell (RB, 1670 yds, 14 TD), F.N. Lutz (OL), Alex Jones (WR, 23 rec., 501 yds, 4 TD) KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYERS: Ben Obaseki (DL, 69 tck., 9 sacks), Aaron Archie (LB, 122 tck., 3 sacks), Jacolby Washington (LB, 120 tck., 3 sacks), Lucas Hileman (P, 42.7 avg.) NON-CONFERENCE: at Indiana, vs. Quincy, vs. Drake NOTES: Bell led the league in rushing yards and all purpose yards per game last season...Obaseki was a first team All-American by the Associate Press last year...Sycamores have had winning records in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1995-96. Preseason Poll Missouri State South Dakota State Northern Iowa North Dakota State Gary s Repair & Towing 1901 Hastings Drive Yankton, SD 665-1115 900 Ferdig St. Yankton, SD 665-6500 www.gehl.com Light, Medium & Heavy Duty Towing Let us Brighten your way! B E Yankton rightway lectric LLC 2100 SD Hwy 314 Yankton Locally owned * Proudly Serving South Dakota and Nebraska. Licensed Insured Warrantied Work Residential Commercial Service 665-4351 Mike Suing 605-760-3505 Rod McNatt 605-661-9594 *Bucket Truck Available* 1803 Broadway Yankton, SD Ph. 605-665-7183 Carpet and Hard Surface Flooring KOLETZKY LAW OFFICE #1483 Sherri J. Koletzky Attorney at Law Save Money. Live Better. 231 Broadway Ave., Ste.1 Yankton, SD 57078 (605) 260-5000 skoletzkylaw@iw.net Licensed in South Dakota and Nebraska 3001 Broadway Ave. Yankton, SD 605-665-1425 You can follow Jeremy Hoeck on Twitter at twitter.com/ jhoeck JB DAVE STEVENS CONSTRUCTION LLC 1906 E. Hwy 50 665-1280 Agriculture, Residential, Commercial 605-664-4590 or 605-661-9571 Auto Body Stewart Carpet Center Established 1958 onship and the Jacks once (2009). A MVFC team has reached the semifinals in 12 of the past 16 years, a span that includes three national champions Youngstown State (1997), Western Kentucky (2002) and North Dakota State (2011). South Dakota State earned a post-season bid in 2009, but lost a first-round game at Montana. The Bison also qualified for the FCS playoffs in 2010, losing in the quarterfinals. Naturally, seeing a league rival go on to win a national title like NDSU did last season is more motivation to want to do it yourself, according to USD senior center Tim Ross. Last year, I don t think a whole lot of people were talking about North Dakota State for a national title. Just like they re not talking about us, Ross said. It s that underdog mentality. Anybody could have a good year and hit a groove. It just takes the right team getting on the right roll. The Coyotes do have recent experience facing Missouri Valley teams, though each time, they came up short. USD lost at Illinois State last season, 28-3, and in 2010, lost at North Dakota State, 38-16, and were beaten at home by Northern Iowa, 19-14. We haven t had the greatest success against Missouri Valley teams, but we can look at it and say, We stuck with North Dakota State, we held our own against Northern Iowa, Ross said. There s a lot of confidence going in. Rather then playing a 4-game league schedule like it did in the Great West, USD will play eight conference games in the Missouri Valley. The only team the Coyotes will not face this fall will be Southern Illinois. USD opens conference play Sept. 29 at home against Illinois State, and will also host Western Illinois (Oct. 6) and Northern Iowa (Nov. 10). An Oct. 20 matchup with North Dakota State was moved from the DakotaDome to Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls. Either way, make no mistake, the players realize what s in front of them. The competition is going ot be tough, we all know that, senior running back Marcus Sims said. You have to be ready every week. We ve proven that we can play with the best; we showed that with Eastern Washington. We re more than ready. With the days of not having an opportunity to play for a postseason bid, the Coyotes are anxious for what goes into fighting for a conference championship, Starr said. You try not to think about it, because you can t let something like that dictate how you play and how you prepare, he said. It does add a little more fuel to the fire, though. Any mistake you make could alter the outcome of your goals. 2504 Fox Run Parkway 3 blocks south of Wal-Mart Yankton, SD, 665-4433 =========DS========= Quality Concrete Work in Yankton Before or after you see your team... Come feed your hunger with our *NEW* Team at KFC/Taco Bell 10% OFF Your Order Expires 10/15/2012 Limit one coupon per person. Not good with other special offers. Have you been ? Go to spotted.yankton.net to see & purchase our photos !
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PRESS & DAKOTAN / PLAIN TALK FALL SPORTS 2012 PAGE 15 Football | Missouri Valley Conference Preview Coyotes Look To Change The Game South Dakota Takes Underdog Mentality Into First Season In Mo. Valley Football Conference BY JEREMY HOECK jeremy.hoeck@yankton.net VERMILLION Ask Tyler Starr about joining a new conference and here is the response you will get: We want to change the game. No, it s not a reference to a wacky new offensive style or a state-of-the-art defensive scheme. Starr, the junior linebacker on the University of South Dakota football team, is instead talking about his squad s expectations as it begins play in the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) this fall. The 10-team league is a significant step forward in competition level for the Coyotes, who spent the last four seasons in the far-flung Great West Conference. It s all about the confidence that our team has; we ve got players just as good as the teams we re going against, Starr said. I have faith in my teammates to succeed with the plan. We have a goal, so if we just keep at it every SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES: Tyler Starr (11) day, success will become a habit. Ultimately, that is the immediate plan for USD. The Coyotes, 6-5 overall a year ago, were only 6-9 in their time in the Great West, but have found success against high-caliber teams highlighted by a 2010 win at Minnesota and an upset last season over FCS topranked Eastern Washington. Can those brief spurts translate to the Missouri Valley, one of the top FCS leagues in the country? It s a powerhouse league, USD senior punter Cole Zwiefelhofer said. The Missouri Valley and Big Sky (Conference) are the big ones at our level. It s not that 1 .........................North Dakota State big of a difference from FBS to where we are. Those good teams 2.................................Northern Iowa are as good as the big schools. 3 ............................Youngstown State You have to be prepared 4 ....................................Illinois State physically and mentally going into those places, because if you 5 ..................................Indiana State get shook up, they ll have a field 6 .........................South Dakota State SOUTH DAKOTA STATE JACKRABBITS: Tyrel Kool (2) day on you. 7 ..............................Southern Illinois Helping to aid the transition 8 .........................South Dakota KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYbetween leagues, USD hired alum ERS: Sam Ojuri (RB, 1105 yds, 11 Joe Glenn to lead the program. 9................................Western Illinois LAST YEAR: 2-9 (2-6 MVFC) TD), Brock Jensen (QB, 1853 yds, The three-time national cham10 ...............................Missouri State RETURNING STARTERS: 14 TD), Ryan Smith (PR, 262 yds, pion compares the Missouri Val14 (9 defense, 5 offense) 1 TD) ley to the old North Central KEY OFFENSIVE KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYConference which boasts KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYPLAYER: Matt Thayer (TE, 20 ERS: Marcus Williams (DB, 7 many of the same names. rec., 247 yds, 3 TD) INT, 3 TD), Colton Heagle (DB, 82 ERS: Garrett Scott (DB, 105 tck., After seeing some film of the 4, INT, 1 sack), Varmah Sonie (DB, other teams, it reminds me of KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYtck., 2 sacks), Christian Dudzik 70 tck., 3 INT) ERS: Andrew Beisel (LB, 84 tck., (CB, 72 tck., 1 INT) that league, Glenn said. It s very NON-CONFERENCE: at 2.5 sacks), Mike Crutcher (S, 83 NON-CONFERENCE: vs. physical, top to bottom. Anyone tck., 1 INT) Robert Morris, at Colorado State, Wisconsin, vs. Central State, at in the league can step up and Iowa NON-CONFERENCE: at vs. Prairie View A&M thump up and bite you. You have NOTES: Lost 6 starters on Kansas State, at Louisville, vs. NOTES: Bison led the MVFC to prove you can be a man. defense...Panthers lost to MonMurray State in defense (12.7 ppg) last That s the style we want to NOTES: The Bears played year...NDSU had 21 interceptions, tana 48-10 in last year's FCS play- be. offs...Sievertsen ranked second two top-15 FBS teams last sea5 for TD, in 2011...Bison enters This fall marks the first year nationally with a 90 percent kick- that USD will be eligible for the son...Started 0-7 in 2011...Wooden the season No. 2 in The Sports ing accuracy. led the conference in total ofNetwork FCS poll. FCS playoffs, and the Coyotes fense per game (242 yds), but have their eyes on following a was kicked off the team in May path that was first started by rifor violations...Bears return just LAST YEAR: 5-6 (4-4 MVFC) vals South Dakota State and LAST YEAR: 10-3 (7-1 7.7 percent of its total offensive RETURNING STARTERS: North Dakota State. MVFC), FCS playoffs production from 2011. NDSU and SDSU both joined 16 (9 offense, 6 defense) RETURNING STARTERS: the league in 2008. Since then, KEY OFFENSIVE PLAY14 (7 offense, 5 defense) the Bison are 17-15 and the ERS: Austin Sumner (QB, 2382 KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYyds, 16 TD), Aaron Rollin (WR, 61 Jackrabbits are 21-11 in conferLAST YEAR: 14-1 (7-1 ERS: Tyler Sievertsen (PK, 18-20 ence play. Each program has MVFC), FCS champion field goals, 39-39 PAT), David reached the playoffs in that time, RETURNING STARTERS: Johnson (RB, 822 rush yds, 9 TD, MVFC | PAGE 17 the Bison twice including last 13 422 rec. yds, 3 TD) year s FCS national champi- A Look At The Other Teams In The MVFC Illinois State LAST YEAR: 7-4 (5-3 MVFC) RETURNING STARTERS: Not listed KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYERS: Matt Brown (QB, 2187 yds, 18 TD), Tyrone Walker (WR, 64 rec., 787 yds, 8 TD), Lechein Neblett (WR, 39 rec., 358 yds) KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYERS: Nate Palmer (DL, 46 tck., 9.5 sacks), Evan Frierson (LB, 66 tck., 6.5 sacks), Colton Underwood (DL, 38 tck., 6 sacks) NON-CONFERENCE: vs. Dayton, at Eastern Michigan, vs. Eastern Illinois NOTES: Illinois State led the conference in total defense (294.8 yds/game) last year...The Redbirds added four FBS transfers in receiver Anthony Williams (Illinois), Marlion Barnett (Washington), defensive back Dominic Clarke (Ohio State) and offensive lineman Jermaine Barto (Miami). Indiana State LAST YEAR: 6-5 (4-4 MVFC) RETURNING STARTERS: 14 (6 offense, 6 defense) KEY OFFENSIVE PLAYERS: Shakir Bell (RB, 1670 yds, 14 TD), F.N. Lutz (OL), Alex Jones (WR, 23 rec., 501 yds, 4 TD) KEY DEFENSIVE PLAYERS: Ben Obaseki (DL, 69 tck., 9 sacks), Aaron Archie (LB, 122 tck., 3 sacks), Jacolby Washington (LB, 120 tck., 3 sacks), Lucas Hileman (P, 42.7 avg.) NON-CONFERENCE: at Indiana, vs. Quincy, vs. Drake NOTES: Bell led the league in rushing yards and all purpose yards per game last season...Obaseki was a first team All-American by the Associate Press last year...Sycamores have had winning records in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1995-96. Preseason Poll Missouri State South Dakota State Northern Iowa North Dakota State Gary s Repair & Towing 1901 Hastings Drive Yankton, SD 665-1115 900 Ferdig St. Yankton, SD 665-6500 www.gehl.com Light, Medium & Heavy Duty Towing Let us Brighten your way! B E Yankton rightway lectric LLC 2100 SD Hwy 314 Yankton Locally owned * Proudly Serving South Dakota and Nebraska. Licensed Insured Warrantied Work Residential Commercial Service 665-4351 Mike Suing 605-760-3505 Rod McNatt 605-661-9594 *Bucket Truck Available* 1803 Broadway Yankton, SD Ph. 605-665-7183 Carpet and Hard Surface Flooring KOLETZKY LAW OFFICE #1483 Sherri J. Koletzky Attorney at Law Save Money. Live Better. 231 Broadway Ave., Ste.1 Yankton, SD 57078 (605) 260-5000 skoletzkylaw@iw.net Licensed in South Dakota and Nebraska 3001 Broadway Ave. Yankton, SD 605-665-1425 You can follow Jeremy Hoeck on Twitter at twitter.com/ jhoeck JB DAVE STEVENS CONSTRUCTION LLC 1906 E. Hwy 50 665-1280 Agriculture, Residential, Commercial 605-664-4590 or 605-661-9571 Auto Body Stewart Carpet Center Established 1958 onship and the Jacks once (2009). A MVFC team has reached the semifinals in 12 of the past 16 years, a span that includes three national champions Youngstown State (1997), Western Kentucky (2002) and North Dakota State (2011). South Dakota State earned a post-season bid in 2009, but lost a first-round game at Montana. The Bison also qualified for the FCS playoffs in 2010, losing in the quarterfinals. Naturally, seeing a league rival go on to win a national title like NDSU did last season is more motivation to want to do it yourself, according to USD senior center Tim Ross. Last year, I don t think a whole lot of people were talking about North Dakota State for a national title. Just like they re not talking about us, Ross said. It s that underdog mentality. Anybody could have a good year and hit a groove. It just takes the right team getting on the right roll. The Coyotes do have recent experience facing Missouri Valley teams, though each time, they came up short. USD lost at Illinois State last season, 28-3, and in 2010, lost at North Dakota State, 38-16, and were beaten at home by Northern Iowa, 19-14. We haven t had the greatest success against Missouri Valley teams, but we can look at it and say, We stuck with North Dakota State, we held our own against Northern Iowa, Ross said. There s a lot of confidence going in. Rather then playing a 4-game league schedule like it did in the Great West, USD will play eight conference games in the Missouri Valley. The only team the Coyotes will not face this fall will be Southern Illinois. USD opens conference play Sept. 29 at home against Illinois State, and will also host Western Illinois (Oct. 6) and Northern Iowa (Nov. 10). An Oct. 20 matchup with North Dakota State was moved from the DakotaDome to Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls. Either way, make no mistake, the players realize what s in front of them. The competition is going ot be tough, we all know that, senior running back Marcus Sims said. You have to be ready every week. We ve proven that we can play with the best; we showed that with Eastern Washington. We re more than ready. With the days of not having an opportunity to play for a postseason bid, the Coyotes are anxious for what goes into fighting for a conference championship, Starr said. You try not to think about it, because you can t let something like that dictate how you play and how you prepare, he said. It does add a little more fuel to the fire, though. Any mistake you make could alter the outcome of your goals. 2504 Fox Run Parkway 3 blocks south of Wal-Mart Yankton, SD, 665-4433 =========DS========= Quality Concrete Work in Yankton Before or after you see your team... Come feed your hunger with our *NEW* Team at KFC/Taco Bell 10% OFF Your Order Expires 10/15/2012 Limit one coupon per person. Not good with other special offers. Have you been ? Go to spotted.yankton.net to see & purchase our photos !