South Dakota beats Eastern Washington 41-23

Team pages: Eastern Washington · South Dakota

Eastern Washington1-223
South Dakota3-041Final
Sat, Sep 12 · DakotaDome, Vermillion, S.D. · Crowd 7,535Midco Sports Net

South Dakota beat Eastern Washington 41-23.

We had South Dakota favored. It won.

Next: Eastern Washington lost to Washington 48-16, Sat Sep 19

Next: South Dakota lost to Boise State 38-24, Sat Sep 19

How it swung

Before kickoff, our ratings gave South Dakota an 84% chance, and the closing betting line (South Dakota was a 15.5-point favorite) put it at 89%.

Favored the whole way: South Dakota never fell below 84%.

Eastern Washington never had better than a 16% chance.

FinalSouth Dakota 41-23 Eastern WashingtonSouth Dakota wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.
50%75%90%Q1Q2Q3Q4South DakotaWon41-23Scores
50%75%90%Q1Q2Q3Q4South DakotaWon41-23Scores
50%10%25%Q1Q2Q3Q4South DakotaLowest 0%Lost23-41Scores
50%10%25%Q1Q2Q3Q4South DakotaLowest 0%Lost23-41Scores

No single play moved the chance by 20 points.

No single play moved the chance by 20 points.

South Dakota’s chance to win after every play.
How to read this chartStarts from the pregame line (South Dakota -15.5), at 89% for South Dakota (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores.

Every drive

South Dakota scored on 7 of its 12 drives; Eastern Washington on 4 of its 13.

South Dakota’s drives are teal, Eastern Washington’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

own goalgoal lineQ1Eastern Washington: Punt, from 75 yards out to 68PuntSouth Dakota: Touchdown, from 83 yards out to 0TouchdownEastern Washington: Punt, from 75 yards out to 58PuntSouth Dakota: Field goal, from 82 yards out to 13Field goalQ2Eastern Washington: Fumble, from 85 yards out to 46FumbleSouth Dakota: Interception, from 54 yards out to 5InterceptionEastern Washington: Punt, from 80 yards out to 77PuntSouth Dakota: Punt, from 67 yards out to 67PuntEastern Washington: Field goal, from 55 yards out to 23Field goalSouth Dakota: Touchdown, from 66 yards out to 0TouchdownEastern Washington: End of half, from 62 yards out to 62End of halfQ3South Dakota: Touchdown, from 85 yards out to 0TouchdownEastern Washington: Punt, from 82 yards out to 74PuntSouth Dakota: Touchdown, from 60 yards out to 0TouchdownEastern Washington: Punt, from 88 yards out to 85PuntSouth Dakota: Punt, from 63 yards out to 40PuntEastern Washington: Touchdown, from 91 yards out to 0TouchdownEastern Washington: Interception, from 65 yards out to 65InterceptionSouth Dakota: Touchdown, from 4 yards out to 0TouchdownQ4Eastern Washington: Touchdown, from 63 yards out to 0TouchdownSouth Dakota: Field goal, from 75 yards out to 18Field goalEastern Washington: Touchdown, from 68 yards out to 0TouchdownSouth Dakota: Punt, from 42 yards out to 45PuntEastern Washington: Punt, from 80 yards out to 84PuntSouth Dakota: End of game, from 58 yards out to 59End of game

Box score

South Dakota 41, Eastern Washington 23

South Dakota covered −15.5 by 2.5. The total, 64, went over 61.5.

Eastern Washington leaders

  • Passing Nate Bell 20 of 36, 217 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
  • Rushing Malik Dotson 12 for 52 yds, 1 TD; Nate Bell 16 for 47 yds
  • Receiving Wesley Garrett 7 for 109 yds, 1 TD; Rylin Lang 5 for 54 yds

South Dakota leaders

  • Passing Austyn Modrzewski 16 of 24, 245 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT
  • Rushing Charles Pierre Jr. 15 for 138 yds, 2 TD; Jackson Proctor 5 for 50 yds
  • Receiving Tennel Bryant 3 for 120 yds, 2 TD; Tysen Boze 2 for 44 yds

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last two games

Eastern Washington · 1-1

Rated 186th in our preseason ratings, 186th now.

1-1 in its last two — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.

W 34-24 vs Northern Iowa #182 of 668

won by 10 as a 7-point favorite

Eastern Washington won 34-24 vs Northern Iowa. Chance to win started at 74%, low 42%, high better than 99%.

L 27-34 @ Northern Arizona #152 of 668

lost by 7 as a 5.5-point underdog

Eastern Washington lost 27-34 at Northern Arizona. Chance to win started at 23%, low 2%, high 91%.

Last two games

South Dakota · 2-0

Rated 121st in our preseason ratings, 125th now.

Two straight wins — but still hunting a ranked opponent.

W 38-23 @ Northern Colorado #254 of 668

won by 15 as a 20.5-point favorite

South Dakota won 38-23 at Northern Colorado. Chance to win started at 88%, low 72%, high better than 99%.

W 59-20 vs Central Connecticut #189 of 668

won by 39 as a 20.5-point favorite

Week by week

South Dakota

Wk 1: W 59-20 vs Central Connecticut▲39Central ConnecticutWk 1: W 38-23 at Northern Colorado▲15Northern Colorado
  • Wk 1Wvs Central Connecticut59-20
  • Wk 1Wat Northern Colorado38-23

Eastern Washington

Wk 1: L 27-34 at Northern Arizona▼7Northern ArizonaWk 1: W 34-24 vs Northern Iowa▲10Northern Iowa
  • Wk 1Lat Northern Arizona27-34
  • Wk 1Wvs Northern Iowa34-24

The series

South Dakota leads the series 1-0

1 meeting since 2011 · South Dakota won the last meeting

  • 2011South Dakota 30-17

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Our model and the betting line don’t fully agree on South Dakota’s chances here.

50-50Model 84% · Line 89%Eastern WashingtonSouth Dakota

South Dakota favored by 15.5 · Total 61.5

How games like this usually go

South Dakota by 15.5, and it went to form

50%90%Q1Q2Q3Q450%90%Q1Q2Q3Q4

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 251 games since 2025 with a favorite of 14.5 to 21.5 points.

The market

The spread moved 1 point toward Eastern Washington.

opened −16.5now −15.5

The total rose 3 points.

opened 58.5now 61.5

Spread: −16.5 → −15.5 · Total: 58.5 → 61.5

The books’ cut: 5.3%, the margin built into the odds

Home field

South Dakota is worth +4.9 points (±9.4) more at home than on the road since 2018 — middle of FBS, 64th percentile.

57% at home, 14% on the road against FBS opponents (4-3 home, 2-12 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads +6.0 at home vs. away over 57 games — inside the ±7.0 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

Indoors — dome hosts have beaten the number by about a point and a half more than outdoor ones, on a small sample. The visitors travel about 1,054 miles to get here.

Where next