South Dakota football runs over UNC, but needs OT to beat the Bears 24-17

In the end, the University of Northern Colorado football team couldn’t stop South Dakota running back L.J. Phillips. The growing and gritty Bears took a tough loss for the second-straight week, falling to the nationally ranked Coyotes, 24-17, in overtime Saturday in Vermillion, South Dakota. UNC plays at Houston Christian next week in its final nonconference game. The Bears are a few plays from being 3-0 after starting the season with one win in the two previous years under third-year coach Ed Lamb. Instead, UNC sits at 1-2. It led Colorado State for most of the game last week in Fort Collins, appearing to score the game-winning touchdown with eight seconds to play only to see it overturned. (CSU hung on, 21-17). “It hurts in part because of the cumulative losses suffered, and to be so close to being 3-0 and being so close to winning the game,” Lamb said. UNC has scored 17 points in each of its three games. The Bears opened the season with a 17-3 win over Chadron State. Phillips, filling in for an injured teammate, ran for 301 yards on 35 carries — a massive 8.6 yards per carry — and two touchdowns in the Coyotes’ home opener. He ran for 25 yards on three straight runs with a touchdown on the Coyotes’ first possession in OT. USD (1-2) entered the game ranked 12th and 20th in two different Football Championship Series subdivision polls. The Coyotes, though, struggled to get separation from the Bears all day, despite outgaining UNC on the ground 307-91. Phillips ran for career-highs in the first half while playing for the heralded All America back Charles Pierre Jr. — a key piece of the Coyotes’ run to the FCS semifinals in December who was lost for the season last week in a loss at Lamar. Lamb said Phillips’ day on the ground, and the work of the Coyotes’ offensive line, started with the UNC defense. “We didn’t do a great job of getting off blocks and filling the gaps,” Lamb said. “It was about the defensive line getting hugged off blocks.” While Phillips handled USD’s ground game, UNC outgained the Coyotes in total yards — 427 to 406 — on the back of 336 passing yards from quarterback Eric Gibson Jr. A transfer from LSU and junior college, Gibson Jr. threw for 259 yards in the second half. Gibson Jr. came into the Bears offense in the opener against Chadron State after starter Peter Costelli went out with a broken collarbone. After running the ball early in the game, often using direct-snap plays for converted tight end Hank Gibbs, the Bears went to the air after halftime. Gibson Jr. ended up having his best day in his short time at UNC and the best day in recent years for a Bears’ QB. He finished 28-of-39 throwing with the 336 yards and a key touchdown pass to tight end Charles Garrison late in the fourth quarter. The 24-yard strike was clutch and part of an 8-play, 77-yard drive. Gibson Jr. finished off the series finding receiver Brayden Munroe for the two-point conversion and slashed USD’s lead to 17-14. Garrison was the guy for the Bears on the drive, catching three passes for 44 yards. He led all Bears’ receivers with seven catches for 112 yards. “He got open, and he’s a big target,” Lamb said of Garrison, a 6-foot-5, 260-pound graduate student from suburban New York City. “He’s catching the ball, and Eric is finding his target.” Cheeks caught three passes for 95 yards. Munroe caught four passes for 57 yards with the conversion catch coming after he was shaken up going for a high ball from Gibson Jr. early in the third quarter. Kicker Jacob Willig, a transfer from Fort Collins and CSU Pueblo, made three field goals for the Bears, including an 18-yarder with three seconds left to send the game to OT. The Bears’ fourth-quarter score followed a time-consuming, 99-yard drive by USD just 3 minutes before, allowing the Coyotes to add to their lead. USD went 14 plays over 8 minutes with a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Aidan Bouman to tight end Zach Witte. “We have to stop the run,” Lamb said. “We didn’t do that most of the game. We have to run the ball better. We fought to the end.”