We have a lot of interesting road games on this year’s slate. We’ll need to win 1 or 2 of them. Youngstown State the week after Boise State will be very challenging. Finally winning in Brookings on Halloween night would be epic. The final game against Illinois State will likely have some major playoff ramifications.
For home games, only UND looks potentially intense on paper, but Eastern Washington could be entertaining. Although formidable, Southern Illinois just doesn’t evoke much raw emotion from me.
@captaincoyote I tend to agree with you on the SIU. That is a team that we have really kind of dominated over the last 5 years. Carbondale is a tough place to play for whatever reason but we kind of have had their number.
The UND game is probably the best one that I’m looking forward to at least.
Don’t care about how good people think SDSU is going to be, gotta get over that hump in Brookings.
Mine ranked home and away 1-6 on importance and 1-6 on difficulty. Have a little more weight to importance:
Away:
- sdsu -this is our most important game and most difficult every year, get used to it with NDSU gone
- YSU- travel will be hard
- ISUr – eh they might be average
- Boise St- most difficult, least important no injuries
- Murray – shutout
- unc- warmup
Home:
- UND – this is our second most important and difficult game every year, get used to it with NDSU gone
- SIU- dangerous
- EW- they weren’t that bad last year. Big Sky is a good conference and I don’t like any of them
- ISUb- important to beat these guys, not hard.
- CCSU- not important,won’t break our season. probably medium difficulty
- UNI – idk what they are right now except at the bottom of this list
Home Games:
1. Central Connecticut – first game for a new HC & QB. It should be a good test to see where the Yotes stand heading into the 2026 season. Central Connecticut has made a couple playoff appearances recently. USD cannot overlook this first game and come out flat-footed.
2. North Dakota – USD & UND have had some great games in the last 5-7 years. This old rival is looking to be a MVFC & national championship contender. This is the biggest home game for USD in 2026. Yote fans need to show up, or else UND will have a strong presence with their drive down I-29.
3. Southern Illinois – This game is critical. The Yotes need to be sharp for the Salukis (week after D-days). SIU has a very talented QB, and they believe they should be in the conversations as a front runner to win the MVFC. USD cannot come out flat-footed in this one.
4. Northern Iowa- I like their HC. The Panthers could be sneaky this year.
5. Eastern Washington – EWU has a rich tradition of winning. This could be a very fun game. I’m looking forward to this one!!!
6. Indiana State- D-DAYS game…. The Sycamores need to be taken seriously. They’ll want to spoil homecoming and get some early MVFC momentum.
Away Games:
1. N. Colorado- First road test of the year. The Yotes need to come out swinging and put UNC away early. USD can’t let the Bears hang around and take them into OT like last year.
2. sdsu – getting a win in Brookings would not only be huge for the MVFC standings, but also a good shot of energy to revitalize this storied rivalry.
3. Youngstown State – Doozy of a game. YSU is a tough place to play, but it’ll be a great early season test for the Yotes.
4. Illinois State – Who’s replacing Rittenhouse? USC Transfer Gage Roy? Or does ISU have a QB battle right now?…. Their defense will be tough, but TR created a lot of opportunities and magic for the Red Birds in 2025.
5. Murray State – Can’t let the Racers hang around. They’ve been improving.
6. Boise State – Yes, the objective is to get a win. But, in the grand scheme of things, these FCS/FBS games don’t mean much other than hopefully getting a win while receiving a nice check.
The Coyote Den
#GOYOTES
@tllama Totally agree with the top 3 away games. We have to find a way to get the Brookings monkey off our back like we have with YSU and UND the past few seasons. ISU as the final game should have MASSIVE playoff implications. UND and SIU are the only homes games that could make us uncomfortable in the friendly confines of the Dome. We seem to play about 10 points better at home imo. I expect to win all home games this year, but UND and SIU will be in the hunt at the time we play them.