BleedGopher
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http://www.startribune.com/sports/g...EyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUgOy9cP3DieyckcUsI
It must be so tempting to just assume Saturday's game will be a walkover. South Dakota is a
FCS team that lost to Central Florida 38-7 last week, that gained fewer than half as many yards or first downs as UCF, that forced only one punt all day.
Too bad for the Coyotes -- they've drawn one of the few major programs that understands how dangerous these games can be.
"With our history? We know better," said senior cornerback Ryan Collado, who can recite the ugliness from memory. "We lost to North Dakota State. South Dakota State gave us a tough game (16-13) last year. You just can't take these games lightly."
Teams do anyway, though, and a few glaring examples -- Jacksonville State over Ole Miss, North Dakota State over Kansas -- stand out each year. Collado doesn't want to join them again. "It's kind of hard when you've got teams like USC and Ohio State on your schedule, but we have to focus on making sure we're not looking ahead," Collado said. "We're really emphasizing film study this week, so we're not caught by surprise."
Still, he understands what sort of energy the Coyotes will be feeling.
"This is their big game. A lot of these guys are from Minnesota, and they like coming back here and playing in their home state," he said. "They're very motivated, but that should just make us that much more focused."
Coach Tim Brewster has emphasized individual improvement this week, making sure every player does his job a little better than he did against Middle Tennessee State last week. If that happens, the Gophers should win easily.
Go Gophers!!
It must be so tempting to just assume Saturday's game will be a walkover. South Dakota is a
FCS team that lost to Central Florida 38-7 last week, that gained fewer than half as many yards or first downs as UCF, that forced only one punt all day.
Too bad for the Coyotes -- they've drawn one of the few major programs that understands how dangerous these games can be.
"With our history? We know better," said senior cornerback Ryan Collado, who can recite the ugliness from memory. "We lost to North Dakota State. South Dakota State gave us a tough game (16-13) last year. You just can't take these games lightly."
Teams do anyway, though, and a few glaring examples -- Jacksonville State over Ole Miss, North Dakota State over Kansas -- stand out each year. Collado doesn't want to join them again. "It's kind of hard when you've got teams like USC and Ohio State on your schedule, but we have to focus on making sure we're not looking ahead," Collado said. "We're really emphasizing film study this week, so we're not caught by surprise."
Still, he understands what sort of energy the Coyotes will be feeling.
"This is their big game. A lot of these guys are from Minnesota, and they like coming back here and playing in their home state," he said. "They're very motivated, but that should just make us that much more focused."
Coach Tim Brewster has emphasized individual improvement this week, making sure every player does his job a little better than he did against Middle Tennessee State last week. If that happens, the Gophers should win easily.
Go Gophers!!
