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College Football About To Begin

College Football is just days from getting underway for schools in South Dakota. Most of the games begin this Saturday. The University of South Dakota and South Dakota State University each have home games to open their 2013 campaigns.

The Coyotes of the University of South Dakota host U-C Davis on Saturday while the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State host Butler. Both teams are looking to start the season with wins. USD Coach Joe Glenn says this first game for the Coyotes is expected to be a tough one.

"They’re going to have a good football team I guarantee you that, it’s a great university. They’ve been really strong over the years and they’ll bring; I think they’ve played South Dakota maybe three or four times in the last six or seven years and every game has gone down to the buzzer," Glenn says.

Glenn says he hopes to have significant home field advantage at the Dakota Dome this weekend.

"All home fields are an advantage, your fans, your music, your comfort zone and your own families really," Glenn says.

South Dakota State Coach John Stiegelmeier says he is excited for this upcoming season. He says Junior quarterback Austin Sumner is healthy.

"We expect great things out of him, we really do and he has the demeanor and the confidence to be able to do great things," Stiegelmeier says.

Coach says Sumner is also being nominated by the team as a captain. Stiegelmeier says he doesn't want to get caught up in the hype of rankings this season as SDSU is ranked sixth in FCS D-1 football.

"I don’t think being ranked six or seventh matters right now but you can kind of verify that if you start off and play a really good football game right out of the shoot. It’ll allow so many positives things to happen for your program," Stiegelmeier says.

SDSU opens with an evening game against Butler and USD kicks off against UC Davis at two on Saturday afternoon  Last season U-S-D finished with a 1-10 record while SDSU finished 8-3 and a small play off run. Both teams are looking to improve this season.

Nate Wek is currently the sports content producer and sports and rec beat reporter for South Dakota Public Broadcasting. He is a graduate of South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism Broadcasting and a minor in Leadership. From 2010-2013 Nate was the Director of Gameday Media for the Sioux Falls Storm (Indoor Football League) football team. He also spent 2012 and 2013 as the News and Sports Director of KSDJ Radio in Brookings, SD. Nate, his wife Sarah, and two kids Braxan and Jordy, live in Canton, SD.