​VERMILLION, S.D. (KELO) — South Dakota football earned its first top-25 win of the season Saturday, defeating Southern Illinois 31-10 in the DakotaDome.The Coyotes’ offense strung together another efficient outing, generating 486 yards of total offense and four touchdowns.”I feel like as an offense, we said we were going to get more of the run game going and that’s what we did,” Coyote running back Charles Pierre Jr. said. “Like I said, it started off right. They was making everything happen for me. And receivers down block and doing everything they got to do, so it was good for us.”On the other side of the ball, Wade Abrams led the defensive charge with 11 tackles, pushing him into the top spot for total tackles in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.South Dakota had ample opportunity to score in the first half but entered the break leading just 14-7. Finishing drives became even more critical in the second half for the Yotes to pull away.”Let’s make the adjustments. Let’s go out there and play our game,” South Dakota head coach Matt Vitzthum said. “I think Charles said it, offensively it didn’t feel like they were stopping us. Just did some things to ourselves to not finish some drives, and then in the second half we found a way to finish some drives. So again, just a complete game.”The Coyotes travel to face Murray State next weekend.Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KELOLAND.com.