VERMILLION, S.D. -- In a one-score game with under eight minutes to play, the University of South Dakota football team got the ball wanting to accomplish two things: add to the lead and run time off the clock.
The Coyotes did both, and are in the NCAA FCS semifinals for the first time ever.
No. 4-seeded South Dakota used seven plays to drive 75 yards and used up over half of the remaining clock to eventually see Travis Theis dive into the end zone for the second time against No. 5-seeded UC Davis to put the finishing touches on a 35-21 win for the Coyotes on Saturday at the DakotaDome in Vermillion.
"Playoff games don't often go the way you think they'll go," said USD head coach Bob Nielson. "This one certainly didn't. Our defense did a great job of generating some really good possessions for our offense, and even though we squandered a couple of scoring opportunities, I thought our offense showed a lot of character. That was a tremendous drive in the fourth quarter after (UC Davis) got it back to a one-score game.
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"We beat a really good football team today."
Next up, the Coyotes (11-2) will head West to take on top-seeded Montana State (14-0). That game will be Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and be televised nationally on ABC.
Theis, a senior, went for 86 yards on 18 carries and the pair of touchdowns while redshirt junior quarterback Aidan Bouman completed 14 of 22 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns for the Coyotes against the Aggies (11-3).
Bouman also threw two interceptions and the game saw a grand total of nine turnovers between the two teams. The USD defense went for six takeaways.
"We felt like we needed prove ourselves after what (the Tarleton State offense did) last week," said USD senior Blake Holden. "So the goal coming into this one was to create turnovers and play like our hair was on fire. That's what you saw, it was a bunch of guys flying around trying to make plays and the ball bounced our way a few times.
"It worked out for us. It was a lot of fun. We're playing for another week or practice at this point. We want to be around each other for as long as possible because this is a special group of guys. And guys like me who have a lot more football behind them than ahead of them, it means a lot to keep this thing going."
But Bouman also found tight end JJ Galbreath for two scores as Galbreath returned to action for the first time in two months to finish with six catches for 45 yards.
The USD defense ended the game with five interceptions and a fumble recovery.
Twice South Dakota turned it over inside the UC Davis 5-yard line.
But the Coyotes leaned on its defense, which came through and gave the offense a chance to ice it with the late Theis score.
Bouman found Galbreath for an eight-yard score to start the game's scoring to put USD up 7-0 with just over 10 minutes left in the first quarter.
"(JJ) adds another aspect to our offense that we didn't have," Bouman said. "We didn't take care of the ball all that great today overall offensively, we had some adversity, but guys stepped up and made plays when we needed them."
UC Davis evened it at sevens with a Miles Hastings TD pass to Chaz Davis with six minutes remaining in the opening frame.
Theis first score from two yards out put USD back up, 14-7 with less than five minutes remaining in the first.
Bouman's second scoring connection with Galbreath came within the first three minutes of the second quarter as USD made it 21-7.
Hastings found Matteo Perez from 10 yards out just before halftime as UC Davis closed the USD lead to 21-14 at halftime, but the Coyotes scored first in the second half on a Bouman-to-Carter Bell touchdown from 17 yards out as South Dakota went out front, 28-14.
Hastings kept the Aggies alive with a four-yard touchdown throw to Trent Tompkins to pull UC Davis to within seven with 7 minutes, 47 seconds left in the fourth, but that would prove to be the final score for the visiting side as Theis capped off the USD game-sealing drive.
"We executed well (on the last drive) and played with a great deal of confidence," Nielson said.
Midway through the third, the teams exchanged fumble recoveries. After USD's takeaway, UC Davis got it back at its own 5-yard line.
On the ensuing drive, the Aggies converted a fake punt on 4th-and-4, but saw a screen pass intercepted by USD defensive lineman Mosai Newsom, which was the fourth interception hauled in by the Coyote defense.
"I give a lot of credit to our coaches, they do a great job with the game plan to put us in a position to make plays on the field," Gary Bryant III said, who finished with a game-high 15 total tackles -- a school single-game postseason record -- and added a fumble recovery and pick.
Teven McKelvey, Josiah Ganues and Gabriel Hardman all had interceptions for USD as well.
UC Davis' Hastings ended 39 of 52 passing for 345 yards, three TDs and five interceptions.
"We're not a pat-on-the-nack program," said UC Davis head coach Tim Plough. "I didn't want to be here (as the losing team), but South Dakota deserves it. They're an outstanding team. They're tough in all three phases and really well coached. They played better than we did today."
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