VERMILLION – Countless football coaches across the country use the phrase “statistics don’t tell the whole story.”
No, the box score may not be a completely accurate representation of a team’s season or match, but analyzing the numbers can certainly be interesting. With USD off this week ahead of the final three games of the season, it’s a good time to look back at some notable numbers from the first eight games of the season.
Let’s take a look at the interesting, record-breaking and even incredible five-stat stats from South Dakota’s first eight games of the season.
For starters, the Coyotes have the best fourth-down conversion rate not only in the conference, but in the entire country. They miraculously converted every fourth down attempt they’ve had all season. There’s just one small caveat to that figure: the USD has only gone ahead of it in fourth place twice.
That’s right, USD has only attempted two fourth-down conversions all season. The first came against Southern Illinois after a goal-to-go situation on the one-yard line that resulted in a Travis Theis touchdown. The other came against Youngstown State on a fourth-and-1 attempt that was converted thanks to a two-yard run by Aidan Bouman.
Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Darryl Peterson (17) tackles South Dakota Coyotes quarterback Aidan Bouman (2) in the fourth quarter during a college football game on Saturday, September 7, 2024 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.
Jeff Hanisch / Imagn Images
What’s even more amazing is that not only are the two fourth-down attempts the fewest in the FCS, but they are also literally the fewest of any other college football team. You read that correctly. There is no team in the FBS, Division II, Division III, NAIA or junior college that has finished fourth place fewer times than USD.
Some might look at this and say the offense hasn’t been aggressive enough. I don’t agree with that. I think this is a better reflection of how the Coyotes have played. They haven’t been in many situations where a fourth-down conversion wasn’t necessary because of the score or because of the distance needed. The USD hasn’t been incredibly aggressive, but it hasn’t necessarily needed to be.
Enter the history books
So this won’t exactly be a single statistic, but it’s certainly worth mentioning. Something that has been overlooked this season is how two offensive Coyotes have steadily moved up the history books. Travis Theis and Carter Bell have both been with the program for six seasons and now hold or are nearing the top individual records in USD history.
Let’s start with Bell, because he’s already broken one all-time record and is about to break a new one. After last week’s game against SDSU, Bell became the all-time receptions leader. He eclipsed Brooks Little’s record of 165 and now stands alone at the top with 167 career receptions. He is also 26 yards away from breaking Rod Tweet’s all-time receiving yards record (2,557), a record that has stood since 1985.
In terms of receiving touchdowns, Bell is currently tied for fifth with five other Coyotes with 16. However, he could easily move up that list into the top three and potentially chase Will Powell’s top 21 scores by the end of the match ends. season is going well.
South Dakota running back Travis Theis carries the football during the Interstate Series college football game on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings.
Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic
If he moves on to Theis, he probably won’t finish his career at the top of the major rushing categories, but he’s already cemented himself in the top three in most categories. He currently ranks third all-time in rushing yards with 3,090. He is 337 meters behind Chul Schwanke for second place, which is an achievable milestone. However, he won’t come close to Stefan Logan’s career-best 5,958 rushing yards.
In terms of touchdowns, Theis’ 30 scores tie with Jared Schwenn and Carl Johnson for third all-time. One more touchdown would give him sole possession of third place, and if he were to score six more this season, he would tie Noah Shepard for second all-time. Another seven touchdowns would put him in a tie for first with Scott Jones with 37.
In rushing attempts, he is already firmly in second place with 640, 75 ahead of Chris Ganious in second place. He won’t overtake Stefan Logan as first with 808 attempts, but he can widen the gap between him and Ganious.
USD has been very safe with the ball this season. The offense has been so secure with the ball that they have one of the best lost turnover numbers not only in the conference but in the entire FCS.
The Coyotes have turned the ball over just five times this season. Three of those were interceptions and two were fumbles. These five lost turnovers rank sixth in the FCS and second in the Valley. The only team in the conference that has fewer is North Dakota State with just two turnovers, which also happens to be the best mark in the country.
South Dakota quarterback Aidan Bouman (2) throws a pass against South Dakota State during the Interstate Series rivalry college football game on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings.
Landon Dierks / Mitchell Republic
However, two of USD’s interceptions were not even made by Bouman. In fact, he’s only thrown one interception all season. He is just one of two quarterbacks to have just one interception, along with Eastern Washington quarterback Kekoa Visperas. Only two quarterbacks in the FCS have thrown no interceptions in Montana State’s Tommy Mellott and NDSU’s Cam Miller.
The lack of turnovers has certainly been a huge positive for the offense. If ball security remains efficient, it will be a big key in the latter part of the regular season and into the playoffs.
If you’ve been following the Coyotes closely this season, it’s become pretty clear that the first half is the better of the two. And the numbers seem to support that too.
USD has outscored its opponents 170-71 in the first half through the first eight games of the season. That’s mainly because USD has done a great job of jumping on most of their opponents early and often. The Coyotes have only played three games this season where they haven’t taken a lead at halftime. Those games were against Wisconsin, Youngstown State and most recently SDSU.
More than half of the Coyotes’ total points came in the first half. They’ve scored a total of 287 points, do the math and that’s only 117 in the second half. The first two quarters haven’t been as kind to the Coyotes over the past three games, but it would be a big boost to finish the season. to close if they could return to the dominant first halves that have already happened in several matches.
USD’s defense is one of the best units in the country. They are the top scoring defense in the FCS with an average of just 12.5 points allowed, they allowed just 100 points total, which is second in the FCS and will likely feature several all-conference players. However, if there’s one category where the defense doesn’t stand out, it’s defensive touchdowns.
As dominant as the Coyote defense is, they have only scored one defensive touchdown. And it should be fresh in fans’ minds because it happened last week against SDSU. It came on a forced fumble by Dennis Shorter and a subsequent recovery by Mi’Quise Grace, who traveled the ball 15 yards for a score.
South Dakota State quarterback Chase Mason (with ball) is taken down near the goal line by several South Dakota defenders, including Josiah Ganues (6) and Gary Bryant III (10) during the Interstate Series rivalry college football game on Saturday, Oct. 1. January 26, 2024 at Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings.
Landon Dierks / Mitchell Republic
This was one that even surprised me because the defense has been so good all season. Typically, defensive touchdowns are a statistic that usually comes with one of the best defenses in the country. But in this case, the Coyotes’ defense was one of the best, even without much defensive scoring.