South Dakota football's season shouldn't be defined by its final two games

South Dakota football head coach Bob Nielson said the locker room after USD's FCS 22-10 playoff opening-round loss to Southern Illinois was completely silent.

As Nielson sat on the podium, he looked to be on the verge of tears. The last two games, South Dakota had not played its best football. Not really even close to it. The end didn't begin to mirror the "special" 2021 season.

The Coyotes transcended what success looks like in Vermillion. A home playoff game for the first time since 1986. A second trip to the FCS playoffs in their program’s history. A senior group that leaves with both of them and nurtured future success for the youthful team below them.

"That senior group, they were in two playoffs in four years," Nielson said. "There are a lot of FCS programs in the country that would take that in a heartbeat."

It’s easy to look at the profound loss. Those same seniors who reinvented what a game was in the DakotaDome should look like are moving on. But the end of the season should also mark the end of any questions this particular team left unanswered. South Dakota might as well take the film from the last two games of the season, and throw it out. That wasn’t USD. The Coyotes are a winning program. And this year suggested they will likely be that for a while.

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Six days before their careers ended on a sour note, seniors linebacker Jack Cochrane and wide receiver Caleb Vander Esch sat in front of gathered media with wide grins and still-thumping chests. The FCS playoff selection show had made them wait until the very final entry to see their names on the bracket. That was somewhat unfair — the Coyotes were a lock.

Early in the season, the close losses to Kansas and Missouri State looked like the mark of a program that couldn’t catch a break. In hindsight, USD was just a few plays away from potentially earning a first-round bye.

After they were selected, Cochrane discussed how he was glad his career got extended at least another week, but the conversation quickly turned to the players who weren’t there. Roughly four years ago, Cochrane, Vander Esch and others were in the same position as freshmen quarterback Carson Camp, running backs Nate Thomas and Travis Theis, defensive backs Myles Harden and Da’Raun McKinney.

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They made the playoffs. But when they did it, it was the first time. The three years that followed created questions as to when they would make it back again. This year, however, it looks like something that could become routine. Almost 90% of USD’s stat-producing offensive players are underclassmen. That’s in addition to 81% of their stat-producing defensive players.

The Coyotes are young, deep and already have a foundation for success laid out. In four years, the 2021 senior group turned a playoff team into a team that hosted a playoff game. If that success translates, who knows how far USD will climb.

To get the true feeling of the 2021 season, you’d have to flash back to when Nielson was back sitting on the podium, cross-armed unpacking just as everyone else was celebrating after the Hail Mary win over South Dakota State. It was a win that gave national attention to a team that deserved it. Yet when asked about where it ranks among wins in his tenure, Nielson laughed and scratched his left cheek.

“Quite frankly, it puts us in a position where we get to play for a conference championship next week,” Nielson said. “That was one of the goals that this football team had right in the beginning of the year, and to be in that position going into the final game is exactly where you want to be.”

Flash forward. The Coyotes, now looking at the big picture, are still there: Exactly where they want to be.

Follow Sioux Falls Argus Leader reporter Michael McCleary on Twitter @mikejmccleary.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: USD football's season shouldn't be defined by losses, FCS playoff game