Western Illinois forced a fumble at the goal line, drove 80 yards for a go-ahead touchdown, and survived South Dakota’s long field goal attempt at the horn to pull out a 35-34 win against the Coyotes Saturday inside the DakotaDome.
It was the first top-25 matchup inside the DakotaDome since 2011. South Dakota (4-4, 3-2 MVFC), new to the polls this week at No. 25, had its three-game winning streak come to an end. The 15th-ranked Leathernecks (6-2, 3-2) beat South Dakota for the fifth straight year and bounced back from last week’s loss to defending national champion North Dakota State.
South Dakota led 31-14 at the half and 34-28 with the ball at the Western Illinois 1-yard line with 4:35 remaining. On the ensuing play, Leatherneck cornerback Josh Smith forced a fumble on USD ball carrier Trevor Bouma and linebacker Brett Taylor recovered inside the end zone for a touchback. It was the first fumble by Bouma in 249 touches dating back to game two of last season and his first lost fumble in 376 touches dating back to the 2014 season opener at Oregon.
But the fumble, USD’s only turnover of the game, left work to do and Leatherneck quarterback Sean McGuire carried the load. He completed 6 of 9 passes on the game-winning drive for 73 yards, including a 28-yard pass to Jaelon Acklin on 4th-and-10 from midfield with two minutes left. His 8-yard quarterback draw from the USD 10 set up 3rd-and-goal at the 2 with 36 seconds left, and on the next play he hit Joey Borsellino across the middle of the end zone for the tying score. Nathan Knuffman’s extra point made it 35-34 with 32 ticks remaining.
Following a touchback, USD quarterback Chris Streveler threw a 12-yard out to tight end Aaron Ramsey and hit Trystn Ducker across the middle on catches of 10 and 11 yards to reach the Western Illinois 42. An offsides penalty moved the ball to the 37 with 12 seconds left. The Coyotes’ threw two incomplete passes before sending Miles Bergner out to attempt what would have been a career-long, 54-yarder. The kick missed just short to the left for Bergner’s third miss in his last 27 attempts dating back to last season.
