Wide receiver Brooks Little and his 13th-ranked South Dakota Football teammates will host Augustana on Family Day at 2 p.m. in the DakotaDome this Saturday.

VERMILLION, S.D. -- The 13th-ranked South Dakota Football Team (6-1, 4-0 NCC) will put its 17-game home winning streak on the line when the Coyotes host Augustana (5-2, 3-2 NCC) in a crucial North Central Conference game on Saturday, Oct. 21 at the DakotaDome. The Family Day game between the U and Augustana is set to kickoff at 2 p.m. The two teams will play for the Silver Bedpan Trophy, which is awarded by Sioux Valley Hospital to the winner of the game.

USD and Augustana will jointly hold a fundraiser today for Mike Freidel, the USD assistant head football coach who was hurt in an accident this summer. Freidel was also a longtime Augustana assistant.

South Dakota, which moved from 14th to 13th in the American Football Coaches Association Poll, remained unbeaten at 4-0 in NCC play by rolling to a 42-10 decision over Western Washington (2-5, 1-4 NCC) in NCC play at Bellingham, Wash. The Coyotes moved into a tie with Nebraska-Omaha (5-1, 4-0 NCC) for first place atop the North Central Conference and recorded its fifth straight NCC win, dating back to the 2005 season finale (42-30 win over North Dakota). USD also won its second straight game this season. Two weeks ago, the Coyotes rallied for a 10-7 win over Central Washington before 10,255 at the Dakota Dome. Augustana improved to 3-2 in the NCC (third) with a come-from-behind 27-23 decision over St. Cloud State (2-5, 0-4 NCC) at Howard Wood Field on Saturday. The Coyotes are also ranked 10th by D2football.com and 11th by the Don Hansen Football Gazette. USD is sixth in the most recent NCAA Division II Northwest Regional Poll. Augustana is seventh in the region poll in which Nebraska-Omaha sits at No. 1, just ahead of unbeaten Grand Valley State, who is ranked No. 1 in both major polls.

About South Dakota Head Football Coach Ed Meierkort: Meierkort has an overall record of 24-5 (.828) in his third season at USD. He owns a 12-4 (.750) record in league play, including 4-0 in 2006. Meierkort is 79-60 (.568) in his collegiate coaching career of 13 seasons. A year ago, he directed USD to an NCC title (shared with three others), which was the Coyotes’ first crown since the 1978 season. He has led USD to back to back 9-2 seasons, which included consecutive 4-2 league records. He has led USD to back to back 9-2 seasons, which included consecutive 4-2 league records. USD finished second in the NCC in 2004. He has a 16-0 record at the DakotaDome. A year ago, Meierkort led USD to top-five national rankings and his team finished as the highest scoring team in the nation at 49 points per game while USD also led the nation in total offense at 583.3 yards per game. His football team has been ranked in the top 20 for the past 18 weeks, dating back to the start of the 2005 season. He was hired at USD in 2004. A 1982 graduate (B.A., business administration) of Dakota Wesleyan, Meierkort came to USD from Wisconsin-Stout where he had coached since 1993. He also has a M.A. (athletic administration) from South Dakota State. He also coached at Southwest Minnesota State and was a graduate assistant at SDSU. He is just one of two Coyote head coaches ever to win nine games as a first-year coach.

On Augustana Head Coach Brad Salem: Augustana head coach Brad Salem is in his second season at Augustana. Salem is 11-7 (5-6 NCC) overall. He is a former Coyote recruiting and passing game coordinator (three seasons). Last season Salem led Augustana to a 6-5 record, 2-4 in the NCC.

Quick Notes on Augustana: The Vikings are led on offense by senior quarterback Tommy Flyger, who leads the NCC in total offense at 294 yards per game. He has completed 119 of 210 passes for 1,759 yards with 14 TDs and eight interceptions. He also has 80 carries for 299 yards and four TDs rushing. On defense, linebacker Nick Ovenden leads the NCC with 64 tackles while Dustin Rice has 52 for third in the league. The Vikings average 27.7 points pr game (fourth in the NCC) and allow 23.1 (seventh in the league).

Series - USD vs. Augie: South Dakota leads the overall series with Augustana, 42-19, including the last four in a row. A year ago, USD took a 48-17 win at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, S.D. USD defeated Augie, 23-0, in 2004 at the DakotaDome. Augustana’s last win in the DakotaDome was a 45-14 win in 1989. In terms of winning streaks, USD has won seven in a row at the Dome. USD won eight in a row from 1948-55 and 1980-87. Augustana won three straight over USD from 1960-62 and 1965-67. The largest margin of victory for USD was an 86-0 decision in 1930, which is also the most points USD has ever scored in a single game. Augustana’s largest victory margin was a 43-0 win in 1965, although the Vikings’ highest point total was the 45 in 1989. USD won 11 of the first 12 games played in the series.

Last Time – USD 48 Augustana, 17 (Howard Wood Field): A year ago, South Dakota, ranked eighth in the nation, rolled to a 48-17 win over Augustana in NCC play at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, S.D. USD opened up a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and totaled 649 yards in total offense for the game. Travis Mlady rushed 117 yards on 20 carries and scored four TDs (1, 2, 3, 6). USD led, 48-10, in the fourth quarter to spoil the Vikings’ homecoming. USD had 337 yards rushing and 312 yards passing. Stefan Logan rushed for 178 yards and had 79 yards receiving for 257 all purpose yards. Augustana had 122 yards rushing and had 317 passing yards as Tommy Flyger completed 20-of-32 passes for 248 yards. Tommy Ellingsworth had 135 yards receiving.

Home Cooking: The Coyotes continued its winning ways at the DakotaDome with its 17th straight home win against Central Washington on Oct. 7. USD improved its overall mark at the Dome to 107-52 since beginning play at the facility in 1979. USD is 4-0 at home this season and 16-0 while head coach Ed Meierkort has been at South Dakota.

Behrens Scholarship Awarded to South Dakota Student-Athletes: Sioux Valley Hospital will award the 2006 Jeff Behrens Scholarship Awards to student-athletes at both USD and Augustana. Dustin Little of Castlewood, S.D., is the USD honoree while Daren and Dustin Randall of Platte, S.D., are the Augustana honorees. The scholarship is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Jeff Behrens.

USD/Augie Hold Joint Fundraising Effort for Coach Freidel: The University of South Dakota and Augustana College have held a joint fund-raising effort for Mike Freidel this week leading up to the Coyote-Vikings football game on Saturday, Oct. 21. All monies raised by this effort will be donated to the “Benefit Fund for Mike Freidel.” A featured component of this fund-raising drive was an online auction hosted on both school’s athletic websites (www.usdcoyotes.com and www.goaugie.com), as well as a separate silent auction at the DakotaDome today. Items available on the usdcoyotes.com site include two Coyote football jerseys, two signed USD game balls, a pair of “game day experience” packages, two “honorary captain” opportunities, an on-air chat t with “The Voice of the Coyotes,” Kevin Culhane, and a helmet and game tickets (NY Jets and Minnesota Vikings, Dec. 17, MetroDome) from former Coyote and NFL linebacker Matt Chatham. The honorary captains meanwhile will join the Augustana and South Dakota team captains and officials at midfield for the pre-game coin toss. In addition, former Coyote and three-time Super Bowl Champion Matt Chatham The DakotaDome concourse will also feature a special “game day-only” silent auction on Saturday, Oct. 21. Two additional USD football jerseys and game balls will be available for bidding, as well as items donated by former Coyote and current Arizona Cardinal A.J. Schable. An autographed Schable football will be on the block, as will a Schable Cardinals jersey. The “game day-only” silent auction will begin when the gates open at 12:30 p.m. and will run through the end of halftime. Winners of all the auction items will be announced at the break of the end of the third quarter. Also, a raffle for a pheasant hunt, which is being donated by Culhane Communications, will be another component of the fund-raising efforts. Tickets for the raffle will cost $5 apiece and will be sold on the day of the game through halftime of the contest today. The pheasant hunt itself will take place near Irene, S.D. Freidel suffered head trauma as well as injuries to his left eye and arm during an accident suffered this summer. He has spent five years at USD, including the past three as the assistant head coach/defensive coordinator, and prior to his arrival at The U spent 16 years at Augustana. Freidel is currently at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Neb., where he remains in treatment recovering from his accident. Those who wish make donations independent of this fund-raising effort are encouraged to still do so. Checks should be made payable to the “Benefit Fund for Mike Freidel” and can be donated at any Wells Fargo location.

CSN Expands Broadcast Network: South Dakota Football games will be broadcast on the Coyote Sports Network, which has added KELO-AM (1320), Sioux Falls, S.D.; KSQP 1450 AM, Pierre, S.D.; and KJRV 93.3 FM of Mitchell/Huron, S.D., to the broadcast radio network. The broadcast team will include the Voice of the Coyotes Kevin Culhane as play-by-play announcer and color analysts Jeff Culhane and Max Hawk. All Coyotes will be available on the internet at www.usdcoyotes.com or at www..kvht.com.

Reaching out to the Public: The Ed Meierkort Show can be heard every Wednesday at 6:05 p.m. on Sportsradio KVTK 1570 AM “The Ticket” in Yankton/Vermillion, S.D. Meierkort will also address a booster club each Monday at 7 p.m. (during the season) at C.J. Callaways in Sioux Falls, S.D., and another public session at Pro’s in Vermillion, S.D., every Wednesday at 7 p.m.

South Dakota Football Team Ranked Sixth in Regional Rankings: The 13th-ranked South Dakota Football Team is ranked sixth in the second NCAA Division II Northwest regional rankings, as released by the NCAA on Monday.

Scoring Differential: South Dakota has outscored opponents, 224-71, after six games of the 2006 season. The Coyotes are averaging an NCC-best 32 points per game while allowing an NCC-best 10.1 to its opposition. USD has outscored opponents, 132 to 40 in the first half and 92 to 31 in the second half. By quarter, USD owns a significant advantage, including first quarter, 56-20; second quarter, 76-20; third quarter, 51-17; and fourth quarter, 41-14. The Coyotes have allowed just 31 points in the second half all season.

Ground Tough: South Dakota’s defense has been ground tough on defense in 2006, leading the NCC in rushing defense. After seven games, the Coyotes have allowed just 44.6 yards per game or 1.7 yards per carry. The USD defense has not allowed any opponents more than 85 rushing yards in a game this season. Twice this season, the defense has limited its opponents to less than 10 yards rushing in a game, including Minnesota-Crookston, who had 25 carries for seven yards and Central Washington, who had 0 yards on 29 carries. In fact, Central Washington had minus yards until the final play of the game netted nine yards on a fumble recovery. The longest run against the defense this season was a 26-yard TD run by Russ Brown in the fourth quarter of a 24-0 loss to Central Arkansas and a 26-yard jaunt by Western Washington’s Calvin McCarty on Oct. 14. Central Washington managed just 18 yards on five second half possessions on Oct. 7. Western Washington finished with 58 yards on 23 carries but was held to a -2 yards rushing by USD in the first half.

Defense Ranks No. 1 in Nation against the Run: The South Dakota defense has been one of the best in the nation this season. Through seven games, the Coyotes rank first nationally by allowing just 44.6 rushing yards per game. USD is also fourth in scoring defense (10.1 ppg) and fifth in total defense (221.1 ypg) in Division II statistics released by the NCAA this week. The Coyotes run the ball effectively with All-American Stefan Logan lead a rushing attack that is third in the nation at 277.6 yards per game. USD also ranks second nationally in kickoff returns at 28.45 per return. Individually, Logan ranks third in all-purpose yards at 196 per game. He is ninth in average yards per game at 133.3 yards per game.

All-American Stefan Logan Leading the Offense: All-American running back Stefan Logan, a candidate for the Harlon Hill trophy (Division II Player of the Year), has totaled an NCC-best 933 rushing yards on 125 carries for an average of 7.5 yards per carry. He has nine overall TDs, including seven by rush. He is averaging an NCC-best 133.3 yards per game and owns an 88-yard run this season. Logan is averaging 196.0 all purpose yards per game, which ranks third in NCAA Division II and leads the NCC. Logan had 141 all purpose yards vs. Central Washington. He has six kickoff returns for 243 yards (40.5 yard average) including a 94-yard return for a TD. He also has eight punt returns for 137 yards or 17.1 yards per return. He also owns a 66-yard punt return for a TD. On Oct. 7, Logan became the 11th player in NCAA Division II history to surpass 5,000 yards rushing and 6,000 all purpose yards in his career. In his career, Logan has rushed for a school record 5,184 yards on 701 carries or 7.4 yards per carry. He had 149 yards vs. Western Washington as he recorded his 30th career 100-yard rushing game. He has rushed for 100 yards in 22 of his last 24 games. Logan owns a school-record 6,571 all purpose yards in his career. He surpassed the 6,000 all-purpose yard mark in USD’s 20-10 win over St. Cloud State on Sept. 23.

Logan Moves into DII’s Top-25 in Rushing, All Purpose Yards: All American Stefan Logan continues to move up the NCAA Division II charts in rushing and all purpose yards. He has 6,571 career all purpose yards and has moved into 20th place all-time in NCAA Division II. He recently passed Mike Smith of Nebraska-Kearney, who generated 6,510 yards from 1994-97. He now needs 49 yards to move pass Richard Huntley of Winston-Salem (6,619, 1992-95) and with 191 yards, he can moved into 16th place all-time. Ahead of Logan, includes Steve Roberts, Butler, 18th, 6,674, 1986-89; Johnny Cox, Fort Lewis, 17th, 6,694, 1990-93; Damian Beane, Shepherd, 16th, 6,762, 1996-99; and Eddie Acosta, Bemidji State, 15th, 6,811. To move into the top 10, Logan will need 7,217 yards (Roger Graham, New Haven, 1991-94). Logan needs 645 yards to pass Graham. Logan’s 2005 total of 2,353 yards ranks 20th on the NCAA Division II all purpose yards list for a career.

Logan’s current total of 5,184 yards career rushing yards places him 16th on the all-time DII list (Logan needs 750 total carries or 53 more totes to qualify by NCAA requirements). Just ahead of Logan is Danny Woodhead of Chadron State, who has 5,215 yards (currently leads Division II in rushing in 2006). In 14th place is Chris Washington of Concordia St. Paul, who had 5,288 yards from 2000-03. Logan needs 105 yards to move past Washington. Logan is averaging 7.44 yards per rush and 133.05 rushing yards per game in his career, which ranks 21st all-time in Division II. He moves into the top 20 if he finishes with an average of 136.8 (Philip Moore, North Dakota, 136.7 yards per game, 1995-98).

Little Moves up Career Receiving Chart: With two receptions (22 yards) against Western Washington, junior wide receiver Brooks Little of Castlewood, S.D., sits fifth on the all-time receiving chart at USD. He now has 93 career receptions for 1,303 yards. Little, who has 21 catches for 256 yards and a TD in 2006, needs five more receptions to move into fourth place, which is currently held by Mark Neuman, who had 97 receptions for 1,432 yards and six TDs from 1973-76. The top receivers at USD all-time includes Chris Mikkelsen, first, 150 receptions for 2,279 yards and 16 TDs, 2001-04; Rod Tweet, second, 140 receptions for 2,557 yards, 16 TDs, 1983-85; Phillip Meehan, third, 108 receptions for 1,153 yards, nine TDs, 1995-98 and Neuman, fourth.

Shepard Shines in First Career Start: Noah Shepard, a redshirt freshman from Thornton, Colo., put his name into Coyote lore with his pitch and catch to Brooks Little that resulted in the game-winning TD by the Coyotes over Central Washington on Oct. 7, which was Dakota Days. Shepard’s play helped South Dakota win a school record sixth straight homecoming game. Shepard made his first career start memorable by completing 11-of-15 passes for 204 yards and a TD in a 42-10 win on the road against Western Washington on Oct. 14. He also rushed for 59 yards on 12 carries and had an eight-yard TD scamper. Shepard’s TD pass was 28 yards to Jordan Murphy, who made his first career TD reception against WWU. Shepard has completed 42-of-71 passes (59.2 pct.) for 723 yards with seven TDs and three interceptions. He leads the NCC with a pass efficiency rating of 168.78 In addition, Shepard has rushed 32 times for 170 yards or 5.3 yards per carry. Against Central Washington (Oct. 7), he had a career high 69 yards on seven carries.

Rushing Attack Leads Offense: The Coyotes lead the NCC in total offense, scoring offense and rank second in rushing yards. USD is averaging 32.0 points per game as the squad is totaling 427.4 yards in total offense each game. The Coyotes average 7.4 yards per play and have 2,992 yards in total offense. Breaking it down, USD average 277.6 yards rushing per game. The Coyotes have 1,943 yards rushing on 278 attempts for an average of 7.0 per carry. Through the air, USD has totaled 1,049 yards, completing 76-of-129 passes with nine TDs and six interceptions. USD is averaging 149.9 yards passing each game. The Coyotes also own time of possession over its opponents, 30:12 to 29:48. USD has converted 36-of-77 third downs or 47 percent and 6-of-13 fourth down tries. The USD offensive line has been solid, permitting an NCC-best four sacks in seven games.

Hojer Leading Defense: Sophomore linebacker Blake Hojer is leading a balanced and fast defense, which will rank as one of the best in school history. Hojer of Lake Preston, S.D., has 40 total tackles, including 26 solo stops. He has a team-high 6.5 tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks, and a fumble recovery. Ryan Hedden, a senior linebacker from Fairmont, Neb., has 34 tackles, including 3.0 TFLs, a quarterback sack and a fumble recovery. John Barker, a senior defensive tackle from Sioux City, Iowa, has 28 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, three quarterback sacks and two forced fumbles. Overall, the defense leads the NCC in rushing yards (44.6 per game), total defense (221.1 yards per game and scoring defense (10.1 per game). USD ranks first in the nation in rushing defense, fourth in scoring defense and fifth in total defense. USD has 19 sacks (-134 yards), 60 tackles for loss (-252 yards), eight interceptions, six fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks.