Jacks open league slate in Illinois

The South Dakota State University football team will attempt to end a two-game losing streak as it opens Missouri Valley Football Conference play Saturday night at Illinois State.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Hancock Stadium on the Illinois State campus in Normal.
Both teams enter the matchup with 1-2 overall records. The Jackrabbits held on to win their season opener, 29-28 over Southern Utah, before suffering through a pair of lopsided road losses at Illinois and Cal Poly the past two weeks. Saturday's game ends a three-game road swing for the Jackrabbits, who haven't played at home since the Sept. 3 season opener.
Illinois State, meanwhile, already has a conference game under its belt, opening the league slate Sept. 17 with a 34-27 loss at Youngstown State. The Redbirds began the 2011 season with a 33-26 loss at in-state rival Eastern Illinois, followed by a 52-21 win in their home opener against Morehead State (Ky.).

ONLINE COVERAGE: Audio coverage of Saturday's game is scheduled to be available via the Jackrabbit Extra subscription service at GoJacks.com, the official website of SDSU athletics. Monthly subscriptions for the Jackrabbit Extra, which includes live audio and video streaming are available for $11.95 per month or $99.95 for an entire year of coverage.
Video coverage will be available at GoRedbirds.com.
Local radio coverage Saturday begins on Jackrabbit Sports Network flagship station WNAX 570 AM at 4:30 p.m., with an expanded pre-game show. Tyler Merriam will call the play-by-play, with former Jackrabbit player Mike Struck providing color commentary and Scotty Kwas providing sideline updates.
Coverage across the Jackrabbit Sports Network begins at 5:30 p.m. Network affiliates include:
* KJJQ 910 AM-Brookings
* KRKI 99.1 FM-Rapid City
* KGFX 1060 AM-Pierre
* KOLY 1300 AM-Mobridge
* KBFS 1450 AM-Belle Fourche
* KSDR 1480 AM-Watertown

THE SERIES: Saturday's game will mark the fourth meeting on the gridiron between South Dakota State and Illinois State. The series dates back to the 2008 season, when the Jackrabbits joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference, with SDSU holding a 2-1 series advantage. The Jackrabbits won the first two meetings before Illinois State claimed a 24-14 victory at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium last season.
Following are the results from the three previous matchups:
2008: South Dakota State 52, Illinois State 21 (at Brookings, S.D.)
2009: South Dakota State 38, Illinois State 17 (at Normal, Ill.)
2010: Illinois State 24, South Dakota State 14 (at Brookings, S.D.)

COACH TO CURE MD: South Dakota State University head coach John Stiegelmeier and his coaching staff will join college football coaches from around the country in the fight against a common opponent - Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy - when the Jackrabbits play at Illinois State on Saturday night
By wearing an armband with the Coach to Cure MD insignia, coaches will show their support for Coach to Cure MD, the American Football Coaches Association's (AFCA) newest charitable project.
Football fans will be able to donate to muscular dystrophy research either online at CoachToCureMD.org or by texting the word "CURE" to 90999 to automatically donate $5 from their mobile phones.
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is the most common fatal genetic disorder diagnosed during childhood. Because the Duchenne gene is found on the X-chromosome, it primarily affects boys and occurs across all races and cultures. Boys and young men with Duchenne lack dystrophin, a protein critical to the structural stability of muscle fibers. Patients develop progressive muscle weakness that eventually causes loss of mobility, wheelchair dependency and a decline in respiratory and cardiac function. Currently, there is no cure for Duchenne and limited therapeutic options exist.
The AFCA is joining with the Parent Project for Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) to make Coach to Cure MD a reality and generate support for research using the nationwide, one-day, game-day event.

LAST MEETING: South Dakota State dug itself an early hole and couldn't recover, falling 24-14 to Illinois State in the 2010 home and Missouri Valley Football Conference opener Sept. 18 before a Cereal Bowl crowd of 12,425 at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.
The 20th-ranked Jackrabbits fell to 0-2 overall, while Illinois State improved to 2-1 on the season, including a 1-0 mark in league play.
SDSU missed out on a couple scoring chances in the first quarter. On the opening drive, the Jackrabbits moved the ball into Illinois State territory only to have a dropped pass on a third-and-7 play stall the drive.
The Redbirds broke into the scoring column with a methodical 17-play, 82-yard drive that chewed up more than seven minutes. Sophomore quarterback Matt Brown was
5-for-6 passing on the drive for 53 yards and running back Ashton Leggett added 26 yards on the ground, including the final two yards for the first touchdown of the game with 3 minutes, 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The Jackrabbits took over at the Redbird 47 after a 41-yard kickoff return by Cole Brodie and gained one first down before Kyle Harris' 51-yard field goal attempt missed wide right. SDSU converted only one of its first 11 third-down attempts in the game before finishing 3-of-13.
Illinois State took advantage of a turnover early in the second quarter to build the lead to 10-0. Austin Davis' diving interception on a bobbled pass gave the Redbirds at the SDSU 27. Steven Fetzer later connected on a 36-yard field goal.
After SDSU missed a 35-yard field goal, the Redbirds extended their lead to 17-0 with another long drive in the closing minutes of the first half. Brown capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 23-yard scoring strike to Tyrone Walker.
The Jacks put together their best drive of the season to open the second half, but again came up empty as Harris missed his third field goal of the night, a 34-yard attempt that was blocked. Kyle Minett had put the Jackrabbits into the red zone with a 46-yard run.
The Redbirds put the game out of reach late in the third as Brown hit Marvon Sanders for a 13-yard touchdown pass.
After being held without a touchdown for the first seven quarters of the season, SDSU finally reached paydirt in the opening minute of the fourth quarter as Tyler Duffy found the end zone from three yards out. Thomas O'Brien then hit Minett for the two-point conversion.
The Jackrabbit comeback attempt continued as O'Brien completed 6-of-7 passes, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Hubert, to wrap up an eight-play, 51-yard drive.
But it would be too little, too late as the Jackrabbits turned the ball over - an interception and a fumble - on their next two possessions.
The Jackrabbits' late offensive spurt gave them a 374-364 advantage in total offense. Minett, a Walter Payton Award candidate, gained 120 yards on 18 carries. O'Brien
completed 24-of-42 passes for 245 yards, with Aaron Rollin catching six passes for 74 yards and Hubert adding six receptions for 54 yards.
Illinois State was led by Leggett with 100 yards on 20 carries. Brown connected on 20-of-29 passes for 172 yards, with Sanders his primary target by collecting 10 receptions for 82 yards.
Derek Domino paced the Jackrabbit defense with 11 tackles, followed by Corey Jeske with nine. Davis and Josh Howe each made 10 stops to led Illinois State.

CAPTAINS: Leading the Jackrabbit football team on the field and in the locker room are four senior captains:
• Kyle Harris, kicker, Florissant, Mo.;
• Dirk Kool, linebacker, Fairfield, Iowa;
• Mike Lien, linebacker, Castaic, Calif.;
• Jake Steffen, defensive end, Mount Vernon, S.D.
Kool holds the distinction of being the third generation of his family to serve as a captain for the Jackrabbit football team. His late grandfather, Marv, was a team captain in 1951, while his father, Mark, served as a captain on the Jackrabbits' NCAA Division II playoff squad in 1979. Mark Kool later served as an assistant coach at SDSU from 1987-90.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS STATE: Illinois State enters its Missouri Valley Football Conference home opener seeking to even its overall mark and league record. The Redbirds are 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the MVFC after allowing 457 yards of total offense in a 34-27 loss at Youngstown State on Sept. 17.
The Redbirds feature one of the league's top quarterbacks in junior signal-caller Matt Brown. Brown has completed 65 percent (51-of-78) of his passes for 684 yards with eight touchdowns and two interceptions. His top two receivers, Marvon Sanders and Tyrone Walker, form the league's top receiving tandem, with Sanders catching 19 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns, while Walker has added 12 receptions for 197 yards and four scores. Sanders also is averaging 10.2 yards per punt return
Matt Younger has contributed five catches for 67 yards, including two touchdowns, from his wide receiver position.
The running game has been paced by Ashton Leggett, who stands third in the league rushing race with an average of 110.7 yards per game. Leggett is averaging 5.4 yards per carry and has scored three times.
Defensively, the Redbirds rank first in the MVFC for rushing defense with an average of 59.7 yards allowed per game, but rank last among the league's nine teams for pass defense as they have given up an average of 322.7 yards per game through three contests.
Linebacker Josh Howe leads the Illinois State defense with 27 tackles, including three tackles for loss. Austin Davis ranks second with 23 stops, including four TFLs. As a team, the Redbirds have recorded 30 tackles for loss in their first three games, including 11 sacks. Nate Palmer leads the squad with 2.5 sacks, while Evan Frierson, Eric Brunner and Colton Underwood each have two sacks apiece.
Conversely, Illinois State has allowed only one sack so far in 2011.

CAS TURNS 50: The 2011 campaign marks the 50th season of football at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium. Overall, SDSU has compiled a 163-99 record (.622 winning percentage) on its home field.
The Jackrabbits have enjoyed even more of a home-field advantage at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium since making the move to the Football Championship Subdivision level.
Since joining the FCS ranks at the start of the 2004 season, the Jackrabbits have posted a 29-8 mark at CAS, including a 10-2 record in Missouri Valley Football Conference games.
Lights were installed at CAS prior to the 2001 season and SDSU has turned in a 21-6 record in home night games.
A celebration of the history of Coughlin-Alumni Stadium will be observed Oct. 22, when SDSU hosts North Dakota State in the annual Dakota Marker game. Festivities that day will include halftime recognition of the 50-player Coughlin-Alumni Stadium All-Time Team.

VALLEY PREVIEW: Missouri Valley Football Conference defending champion Northern Iowa has been picked to win the MVFC crown in 2011.
The Panthers received the top spot in a poll conducted by league coaches, media and sports information directors.
UNI, which entered the year ranked in 81 straight regular season national polls, received 316 total points and 29 of 36 first-place votes. The Panthers were one of three league teams in the FCS playoffs last year and finished the 2010 league slate with a 6-2 mark and outright MVFC crown.
The Panthers placed seven players on the MVFC Preseason Team, including Walter
Payton Award candidate Tirrell Rennie and Buck Buchanan Award nominee Ben Boothby.
North Dakota State finished second in the balloting, earning six first-place votes and 275 points. The Bison also qualified for the FCS playoffs and won two games before falling in the quarterfinals in overtime to eventual national champion Eastern Washington.
NDSU also received extensive recognition on the MVFC Preseason Team with five players making the squad. Running back D.J. McNorton, also a candidate for the Walter Payton Award, headlines the list of Bison players on the honor squad.
Southern Illinois, which finished in a six-way tie for third place last year, received the remaining first-place vote and earned 207 points to finish third in the pre-season balloting.
The next three spots in the pre-season poll were tightly contested, as four points separated South Dakota State (172), Illinois State (169) and Indiana State (168).
Jackrabbit linebacker Mike Lien was the lone SDSU player to make the MVFC Preseason Team. Offensive lineman Jon Fick received honorable mention recognition.
Rounding out the poll were Western Illinois, Youngstown State and Missouri State.
The last three pre-season favorites (North Dakota State-2008, Northern Iowa-2009,
Southern Illinois-2010) did not win the league, but a pre-season favorite has claimed the league crown 13 times (in 25 previous polls).

O'BRIEN LEAVES TEAM: South Dakota State starting quarterback Thomas O'Brien has made the decision to leave the team, Jackrabbit head coach John Stiegelmeier announced Monday during his weekly radio show.
"We're disappointed to lose any player, but our philosophy is to play in the present," Stiegelmeier said. "We wish Thomas nothing but the best."
A junior from Winona, Minn., O'Brien played in 25 career games with 20 starts. He compiled a 4-2 record as a starter in 2009, earning a spot on the MVFC All-Newcomer Team and helping the Jackrabbits to its first appearance in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. His 4,376 career passing yards rank ninth on the all-time SDSU charts, while his 2,236 yards in 2010 also ranked ninth for a single season.
In three starts this season, O'Brien completed 63-of-107 (61.2 percent) passes for 692 yards, along with five touchdowns and seven interceptions. In his final start, Sept. 17 at Cal Poly, O'Brien set career highs for completions and yards as he went 28-of-45 for 376 yards with a pair of touchdowns. However, two of his three interceptions in the contest were returned for touchdowns. O'Brien's 376 yards passing were the fourth-most in a single game by a Jackrabbit quarterback.

SUMNER TO START: According to head coach John Stiegelmeier, redshirt freshman Austin Sumner is likely to start in Saturday's Missouri Valley Football Conference opener at Illinois State.
Sumner has seen limited action in 2011, completing 6-of-7 passes for 65 yards in late-game action at Illinois and Cal Poly. Junior Jordan Thomas also is listed on the depth chart at quarterback for SDSU.

DUAL THREAT: South Dakota State's Tyrel Kool made the most of his first career start at running back, racking up 107 yards on the ground and another 79 through the air in the Jackrabbits' season opener against Southern Utah on Sept. 3.
A junior from Yankton, Kool began his collegiate career as a running back, but switched to wide receiver during the 2010 season, when he led the team with 64 receptions for 808 yards. His receptions total was fifth-most in a season by a Jackrabbit player, while his receiving yards mark stands 10th in a single season.
Kool's rushing total against Southern Utah marked the 10th time in 11 games a Jackrabbit running back eclipsed the century mark. Kyle Minett ran for 100 yards in eight straight games and Tyler Duffy added a 100-yard outing to close out the 2010 season.

IMPRESSIVE START: Backup running back Zach Zenner has put together a series of impressive all-around performances to start the 2011 season.
A redshirt freshman from Eagan, Minn., Zenner compiled 139 all-purpose yards in the Jackrabbit victory. He returned four kickoffs for 74 yards, caught three passes for 24 yards and carried the ball five times for 41 yards. He scored the first touchdown of his career, scampering 27 yards around left end on the final play of the third quarter.
Zenner currently leads the Missouri Valley Football Conference with an average of 147.4 all-purpose yards per game.

MOSS MAKES THE TRANSITION: The Jackrabbits have gained another weapon in the passing game with the addition of Dale Moss to the receiving corps. Moss finished his four-year career on the basketball court in the spring of 2011 and joined the football team in time for spring practice.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week, Moss made his first career start against Cal Poly on Sept. 17 and responded by recording eight receptions for 106 yards. His 37-yard reception in the third quarter was a career long.
Moss, who averaged 7.6 points and 4.5 rebounds from his guard position during his senior season on the basketball court, possesses tremendous leaping ability as he led the team in blocked shots two seasons and paced the Jackrabbits in offensive rebounds as a senior.
During his senior season at Brandon Valley High School, Moss was an all-state selection after tallying 45 receptions for 573 yards and eight touchdowns.

100-YARD TANDEM: South Dakota State wide receivers Aaron Rollin and Dale Moss became the first Jackrabbit receiving duo to record 100 receiving yards in the same game since 2008, when they combined for 17 catches and 215 yards against Cal Poly. Rollin set a career high with nine catches for 109 yards, with Moss adding career highs of eight receptions and 106 yards.
The last 100-yard receiving tandem for the Jackrabbits were JaRon Harris (9-120) and Glen Fox (6-102) in a losing effort at Northern Iowa on Sept. 20, 2008.

COACH STIG: John Stiegelmeier has built the South Dakota State University football team into a consistent winner and a program on the rise in the ranks of the Division I Football Championship Subdivision.
Overall, Coach Stig has led the Jackrabbits to an 89-68 record (.567 winning percentage). SDSU has posted eight winning seasons in the last nine years, including six of the school's first seven campaigns at the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) level. The Jackrabbits have had a winning record in 11 of Stiegelmeier's 14 full years as head coach, including six with seven or more victories.

STEFFEN NOMINATED FOR GOOD WORKS TEAM: South Dakota State University senior Jake Steffen is one of 132 college football players to be nominated for the 2011 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. The award, which is presented in conjunction with the American Football Coaches Association, recognizes the selfless contributions to volunteerism and community service made by college football student-athletes across the nation.
A native of Mount Vernon, S.D., Steffen has been involved with a number of community service projects in recent years as a member of the Jackrabbit football team, including:
• Installing concrete to complete the installation of a new playground in a Brookings city park;
• Working with a local church to load solar ovens for shipment to Haiti;
• Serving meals at the Harvest Table, which provides a weekly, no-cost meal to people in need;
• Sandbagging at Lake Poinsett, an area lake which has had many homes damaged or threatened by flooding the past two years;
• Volunteering for the annual Willie Mac youth basketball tournament;
• Reading at local elementary schools
In addition, Steffen has participated in a number of other community service events as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) at South Dakota State University, including: collecting and transporting items for food drive, organizing and setting up the annual Halloween Penny Carnival and helping with setup for a community pancake feed.
From the nominees submitted by sports information directors across the nation on behalf of their schools, a special voting panel consisting of former Good Works Team members and prominent college football media members will select two 11-player Good Works Teams - one comprised of players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and another representing players from the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Divisions II, III and the NAIA. The 22 student-athletes named to the 2011 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team will be announced in late September.

HOME-GROWN TALENT: SDSU has effectively used the services of home-grown talent the past few seasons.
In 2011, three Jackrabbit players hail from Brookings: junior wide receiver Dan Schmidt, sophomore offensive lineman Alex Parker and sophomore running back Mason Winterboer.
In all, 28 players on the roster hail from the state of South Dakota.

JACKRABBIT INSIDER: Throughout the 2011 football season, head coach John Stiegelmeier will be a guest on the “Jackrabbit Insider,” a weekly behind-the-scenes look at South Dakota State University athletics.
The half-hour television show which features interviews with Jackrabbit coaches and student-athletes, airs Sundays at 10:30 p.m. on Sioux Falls-based KTTW FOX 7. The show is also broadcast on FOX Sports North at 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays and on FOX College Sports Central at 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Online, the show can be viewed at GoJacks.com.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits return to home action for the first time in nearly a month, hosting Indiana State in the 45th Annual Beef Bowl.
Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium, with the pre-game barbecue running from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. south of the stadium. The Oct. 1 game will be broadcast on Midco SportsNet.
The Jackrabbit football game concludes a busy day of athletic events at South Dakota State. The SDSU Classic cross country meet is slated for a 9:30 a.m. start at Edgebrook Golf Course, followed by the Jackrabbit volleyball team meeting rival North Dakota State in Summit League play at 1 p.m.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results

Players Mentioned

Cole Brodie

Derek Domino

Tyler Duffy

Glen Fox

Kyle Harris

Brandon Hubert

Corey Jeske

Dirk Kool

Tyrel Kool

Mike Lien

Kyle Minett

Thomas O'Brien

Alex Parker

Aaron Rollin

Dan Schmidt

Jake Steffen

Austin Sumner

Jordan Thomas

Mason Winterboer

Zach Zenner

Upcoming Event: Football versus Mercyhurst on September 27, 2025 at 2 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Football at Youngstown State on October 4, 2025 at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT

Upcoming Event: Football versus Northern Iowa on October 11, 2025 at 2 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Football at Murray State on October 18, 2025 at 6 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Football versus North Dakota State on October 25, 2025 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Football versus Indiana State on November 1, 2025 at 2 p.m.

Completed Event: Football versus Drake on September 13, 2025 , Win , 37, to, 21

Completed Event: Football at Montana State on September 6, 2025 , Win , 30, to, 24 , 2 OT

Completed Event: Football versus Sacramento State on August 30, 2025 , Win , 20, to, 3

Completed Event: Football at North Dakota State on December 21, 2024 , Loss , 21, to, 28

Completed Event: Football versus Incarnate Word on December 14, 2024 , Win , 55, to, 14

Completed Event: Football versus Montana on December 7, 2024 , Win , 35, to, 18

South Dakota State University Athletics