South Dakota’s Joe Glenn on UC Davis Win, Kansas Game

It's been about 50 weeks since the University of South Dakota football team has prepared for a game after winning the week before, but that's the case in Vermillion this week, as the Coyotes bask in the glow of a 10-7 victory over UC Davis last Saturday, a victory that head coach Joe Glenn says lifted a huge weight off of this program, which had lost nine straight:

Early on Saturday there was some cause for concern, when the Coyote defense forced a Davis fumble just three plays in, but USD failed to take advantage, missing a 30-yard field goal and coming away with no points.  It was missed opportunities like that that plagued this team last season, but Coach Glenn saw something different from this year's team:

On defense, with Davis keying heavily on all-conference linebacker Tyler Starr, it was another linebacker, Keyen Lage, who stepped up and led the Coyotes with eight tackles, a sack, and some other big plays to keep his team in it:

It was a little bit of everything for the USD special teams, and freshman kicker Mile Bergner, Saturday. There was a botched snap on a punt and a missed 30-yard field goal, but there were also three punts inside the Davis 20, and the game winning 39-yard field goal in the 4th quarter, helping Bergner secure Missouri Valley Conference Special Teams Play of the Week honors:

Offensively, newcomers Trevor Bouma and Jordan Roberts calmed any fears of a lack of a running game for USD, as the duo, filling in for the injured Jasper Sanders, combined for 161 yards on 27 rushes, averaging close to six yards a carry.

That took some of the pressure off of quarterback Josh Vander Maten, who only managed 35 yards of running and 914 yards of passing, but could have used some help from his receivers:

Some of Vander Maten's biggest plays came on the game's final drive, when the Coyotes, up by three with about four minutes left, strung together a seven play drive, including three first downs, to run out the clock and seal the victory:

Even though USD has a tough test coming up at Kansas Saturday night, Coach Glenn says he's not done enjoying last weekend's victory just yet:

As for Coach Charlie Weis' Jayhawks team, they can relate to what South Dakota went through in 2012, as Kansas won just one time and are riding an 11-game losing streak.

Coach Glenn says his team, after last week's win, and victories by FCS teams North Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Northern Illinois, Eastern Washington over FBS schools, is heading to Lawrence in the right frame of mind:

The Coyotes and Jayhawks kickoff at 6:00pm Saturday night.