2017 South Dakota Coyotes football team

2017 South Dakota Coyotes football
FCS Playoffs Second Round, L 42–54 vs. Sam Houston State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 15
FCS Coaches	No. 16
Record	8–5 (4–4 MVFC)
Head coach	Bob Nielson (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Ted Schlafke (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Bill O'Boyle (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Atiba Bradley (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Tyler Yelk (2nd season)
Home stadium	DakotaDome

2017 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^		7	–	1					14	–	1
No. 3 South Dakota State ^		6	–	2					11	–	3
No. 19 Northern Iowa ^		6	–	2					8	–	5
No. 13 Western Illinois ^		5	–	3					8	–	4
No. 15 South Dakota ^		4	–	4					8	–	5
Illinois State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Youngstown State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Southern Illinois		2	–	6					4	–	7
Missouri State		2	–	6					3	–	8
Indiana State		0	–	8					0	–	11
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2017 South Dakota Coyotes football team represented the University of South Dakota in the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by second-year head coach Bob Nielson and played their home games in the DakotaDome. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 4–4 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS Playoffs, which was the schools first ever FCS Playoff bid, where they defeated Nicholls State in the first round before losing to Sam Houston State in the second round.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	at Drake*		Drake Stadium Des Moines, IA	BV	W 77–7	3,332
September 9	5:00 p.m.	at Bowling Green*		Doyt Perry Stadium Bowling Green, OH	ESPN3	W 35–27	17,912
September 16	2:00 p.m.	No. 10 North Dakota*	No. 23	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (Sitting Bull Trophy)	ESPN3 Midco	W 45–7	9,645
September 30	3:00 p.m.	at No. 13 Western Illinois	No. 10	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3 MVC TV	W 38–33	5,631
October 7	2:00 p.m.	No. 3 Youngstown State	No. 7	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3 Midco	W 31–28	10,056
October 14	2:00 p.m.	Indiana State	No. 4	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3 Midco	W 56–6	8,390
October 21	2:00 p.m.	at No. 24 Illinois State	No. 4	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3 NBCS CH	L 21–37	12,113
October 28	3:00 p.m.	Southern Illinois	No. 6	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD	ESPN3 Midco	W 42–0	8,498
November 4	1:00 p.m.	at Northern Iowa	No. 6	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3 PSN	L 29–34	10,814
November 11	2:30 p.m.	at No. 5 North Dakota State	No. 10	Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN3 NBC ND	L 14–49	18,623
November 18	2:00 p.m.	No. 6 South Dakota State	No. 15	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (rivalry)	ESPN3 Midco	L 28–31	10,147
November 25	3:00 p.m.	at Nicholls State*	No. 16	John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 38–31	9,612
December 2	2:00 p.m.	at No. 5 Sam Houston State*	No. 16	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 42–54	4,401
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS FCS at time of game Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV	RV	23	13	10	7	4	4	6	6	10	15	16	15
Coaches	RV	RV	23	14	10	6	4	4	7	6	10	16	18	16