The South Dakota Coyotes (1-1) will visit the North Dakota Fighting Hawks (2-0) at Alerus Center in Grand Forks on Thursday.
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The game (6 p.m. ET start time) will be televised locally on MidCo SN, but if you don’t have that channel, anyone in the US can watch South Dakota vs North Dakota football live on ESPN+ right here:
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South Dakota vs North Dakota Preview
Both teams are coming off hard-earned wins that served as momentum builders for each. The Coyotes just emerged victorious from a game that saw them score 27 unanswered points in a thrilling 27-20 contest against Illinois State last weekend.
South Dakota managed to take the ball away seven times in the win (three forced fumbles and four interceptions), and they held the Redbirds to 5-14 on third down.
“We’ve been preaching trying to get a second guy on the football in a tackle and we forced a few of those against the run,” coach Bob Nielson said of his defense. “We did a good job of stripping a couple balls, then the interceptions, we have some guys who are playing really well in the secondary and they did a really good job today.”
On the other side, North Dakota is fresh from beating No. 3-ranked South Dakota State, 28-17, last weekend. Hawks quarterback Tommy Schuster went 20-32 for 184 yards, throwing a touchdown, and running back Otis Weah led the way with two rushing touchdowns and 88 yards on 17 carries.
“I was really proud of our guys responding in the game,” UND coach Bubba Schweigert told the media after the win. “We gave up some big plays we have to correct, but we were able to handle it emotionally. South Dakota State was what we expected — a big, physical team that was tough to move the ball against. We just made plays at key points to flip field position, and our special teams played a big part in our result, and we limited our penalties.”
North Dakota gave up two touchdowns early, but held South Dakota State to just three points from the second quarter on, and Schweigert was quick to credit his defense, who took the ball away three times.
“Defensively we made a few corrections,” the North Dakota coach added. “We thought our plan was good on offense and defense. We were able to get some turnovers again and finish out the game in the fourth quarter.”
Now, both teams will look to keep the momentum going, with the Fighting Hawks having the slightly hotter defense.