It's time to get down to brass tax. Who's going to win "State vs U" on Saturday?   On another Thirsty Thursday over beers at the Orion Pub, John Gaskins and Trent Singer tap into the scintillating storylines and matchups over some Miller High Life tap beer, then make their predictions of this Top 25 showdown.   Chase Mason. Other injuries. Aidan Bouman. Recent trends. Statistical breakdowns. The chess match. What's at stake? What type of game should we expect? What will it come down to? And... who will win?   Almost as importantly, should the two schools bring back the Little Brown Jug trophy that was created in 1927 but discontinued 75 years later when SDSU made the jump to Div. I?   Also, who will play for next week's Class 11AAA state championship? Sioux Falls Live preps writer Singer and Midwest Sports Plus HS play-by-play broadcaster Gaskins deep dive Lincoln-Jefferson and Brandon Valley-Harrisburg.    Then, it's time for conversation with a South Dakota football legend.   Bob Nielson retired last season after 35 years as a head coach at multiple levels, winning wherever he went and winning two Div. II national titles at Minnesota-Duluth. After a three-year run eating nails for breakfast and making Western Illinois an FCS playoffs team — a miracle in FCS terms — his last stop was a USD, where he turned the Coyotes into a national championship contender by his ninth and final season in 2024.  About a month after the Yotes fell 14 points short of reaching the FCS title game, Nielson retired, turning over the program to his accomplished defensive coordinator Travis Johansen. In a one-hour interview, Nielson — now living in Sioux City and working as a consultant for the American Football Coaches Association and as an FCS Oversight Committee member — describes the first year of adult life outside of coaching and athletic administration. The Iowa native discusses the major issues facing college football at all levels — yep, mostly NIL and the transfer portal and potential Div. I re-alignment — and where things might be headed. The conversation then turns to his observations of the 2025 USD squad under the leadership of Johansen.  How much do Bob and Travis talk? How much does Bob miss coaching, and what things does he miss most?  Then, a walk down memory lane of how Nielson slowly but surely turned the Coyotes from a program that struggled mightily in the MVFC before he arrived into the conference co-champion in his final season. Specifically, Nielson details the extent to which South Dakota State's success under John Stiegelmeier dicated if not inspired Nielson's own operation.  The interview ends on Nielson's favorite memory of USD's rivalry with SDSU during his time. Your first guest is likely correct. But it is still a fun story to hear from a usually reserved man who has an uptick in energy and tone in reminiscing about that moment.

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