Jackrabbits travel to ranked clash

Saturday, October 27

Normal, Ill.

noon

South Dakota State University

Illinois State

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

10/23/2018 3:14:00 PM | Football

GAME 7: #7/8 South Dakota State (4-2, 2-2 MVFC) at #9/11 Illinois State (5-2, 2-2 MVFC)

When	Saturday, Oct. 27 \| noon
Where	Hancock Stadium \| Normal, Illinois
TV	ESPN3.com \| MVFC-TV
Radio	J ackrabbits All-Access (free audio) \| Jackrabbit Sports Network
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	SDSU \| Illinois State \| Missouri Valley Football Conference \| Illinois State Scouting Report
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #LastPlay

The South Dakota State University football team begins the second half of the Missouri Valley Football Conference season Saturday by traveling to Illinois State for a top-10 matchup.

Kickoff is set for noon at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois. The game will be aired on ESPN3.com.

The Jackrabbits, ranked seventh in this week's STATS FCS media poll and eighth by the FCS coaches, enter Saturday's matchup with a 4-2 overall record.

Both SDSU and Illinois State are part of a six-way tie for third place in the league standings with a 2-2 mark after both squads dropped road games on Oct. 20. The Jackrabbits fell, 24-9, at 25th-ranked Northern Iowa, while Illinois State dropped a
28-14 decision at top-ranked North Dakota State.

The Redbirds, ranked ninth by the coaches and 11th in the media poll, come into Saturday's clash with a 5-2 overall mark.

THE SERIES: Saturday's game will mark the ninth meeting on the gridiron between South Dakota State and Illinois State, a series that dates back to when the Jackrabbits joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference at the start of the 2008 season.

SDSU evened the all-time series at four wins apiece with a 27-24 overtime victory on Nov. 11, 2017, at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. Chase Vinatieri kicked the game-winning 43-yard field goal after the Redbirds missed a 39-yard field goal earlier in the overtime session.

The home team has won each of the last five matchups. SDSU's lone win in Normal was a 38-17 victory in 2009.

SECOND-HALF SURGES: SDSU has a long history of peaking in the second half of the league season since joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2008. The Jackrabbits have compiled a 31-9 record in the second half of the league schedule over the past 10 seasons, running the table with four wins in both 2013 and 2017 en route to Football Championship Subdivision playoff berths. SDSU has posted a 3-1 record in the second half seven other times, with its worst showing a 2-2 mark in 2010.

ELITE COMPANY: South Dakota State is one of only four Football Championship Subdivision programs to reach the playoffs each of the last six seasons.

The three other programs to play in the postseason each year since 2012 are New Hampshire, North Dakota State and Sam Houston State.

CAPTAINS: Leading the Jackrabbit football team on the field and in the locker room are four captains:
• Jordan Brown, Sr., cornerback, Scottsdale, Arizona;
• Taryn Christion, Sr., quarterback, Sioux Falls;
• Dalton Cox, Sr., linebacker, Aberdeen, and
• Christian Rozeboom, Jr., linebacker, Sioux Center, Iowa.

Christion and Rozeboom are each in their second seasons as captains.

RABBITS RANKED: South Dakota State entered the 2018 season with its highest-ever rankings in a Football Championship Subdivision poll, checking in at No. 3 in both the STATS FCS media poll and AFCA FCS Coaches' Poll. It marked the fifth time in six years the Jackrabbits have entered a season with a top-10 national ranking in the Football Championship Subdivision, surpassing their No. 4 ranking in the 2017 STATS FCS Preseason Poll.

Defending national champion North Dakota State continues to hold the top spot in both national polls. The Jackrabbits attained their highest-ever ranking in a Football Championship Subdivision poll by climbing to second in the STATS FCS media rankings prior to being defeated at Northern Iowa on Oct. 20.

SDSU has now appeared in the top 25 of 87 consecutive media polls dating back to October 2012.

LONG STREAKS END: Two long team streaks came to an end in the Jackrabbits' 24-9 loss at Northern Iowa on Oct. 20. SDSU was held without a touchdown for the first time in five years, ending a streak of 65 consecutive games in which SDSU found the end zone since a 20-0 loss to North Dakota Sate on Sept. 28, 2013.

The Jackrabbits also failed to force a turnover against UNI, ending a streak of 20 consecutive games dating back to late in the 2016 season in which they recorded either an interception or fumble recovery.

STIG COACHES 250TH GAME: Jackrabbit mentor John Stiegelmeier marked his 250th game as head coach with a 36-7 victory over Youngstown State on Oct. 13. In 22 seasons, Stiegelmeier has led the Jackrabbits to a 152-99 career record (.606 winning percentage), including a 57-27 mark in MVFC contests.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOK: With its 90-point outburst Sept. 15 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, South Dakota State broke a 96-year-old scoring record. The previous mark of 85 points was set against Columbus College in 1922.

The Jackrabbits also set new team standards for total offense (926 yards), passing yards (557) and passing touchdowns (8). Individually, Chase Vinatieri set a school record by kicking 11 extra points.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING: Six different Jackrabbits scored their first collegiate touchdowns in the Sept. 15 rout of Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Freshman tight end Blake Kunz opened the scoring with an 8-yard touchdown reception on SDSU's first drive of the game, while Adam Anderson followed with a 31-yard touchdown reception later in the first quarter for his first collegiate score.

In the second half, running backs Pierre Strong Jr. (66 yards) and C.J. Wilson (37 yards) found paydirt on screen passes, with Blair Mulholland (14-yard run) and Michael Wandmaker (76-yard reception) closing out the scoring.

WALLACE SIDELINED: South Dakota State's leading rusher, Isaac Wallace, suffered a season-ending injury in the Oct. 13 contest against Youngstown State.

A senior from Omaha, Wallace was enjoying his best season in a Jackrabbit uniform, highlighted by three touchdowns on runs of 50-plus yards.

Prior to his injury, Wallace ranked second among Football Championship Subdivision players with an average of 9.39 yards per carry, gaining 413 yards on only 44 carries. His first three touchdowns this season covered 58, 79 and 61 yards, while his fourth rushing touchdown of the season was a 2-yard run in overtime that lifted the Jackrabbits to a 54-51 victory over Indiana State on Oct. 6.

WILSON STEPS UP: After starting running back Isaac Wallace was lost to injury late in the first quarter Oct. 13 against Youngstown State, freshman C.J. Wilson emerged as the Jackrabbits' top rusher. Wilson went on to gain a career-best 119 yards on 16 carries, breaking off a 41-yard run late in the first half to set up a touchdown and later scoring his first career rushing touchdown on a 48-yard run in the third quarter.

For the season, Wilson is averaging 6.8 yards per carry, gaining 271 yards on 40 carries. He sat out last week's game at Northern Iowa due to injury, but is expected to be back in the lineup this week at Illinois State.

TOP RECEIVING TANDEM: The duo of Cade Johnson and Adam Anderson have emerged as the top receiving tandem in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in the first half of the 2018 season.

Each has recorded multiple 100-yard games this season, with Johnson leading the league with an average of 92.5 receiving yards per game and eight touchdowns.

Anderson, a junior who ranks fourth in the league with an average of 75.7 yards per game, hauled in a career-high eight catches in the Sept. 29 game at North Dakota State and recorded his first career multi-touchdown performance with two scoring catches Oct. 6 versus Indiana State.

JOHNSON TIES RECORD: South Dakota State wide receiver Cade Johnson became the latest Jackrabbit to tie the SDSU single-game record for touchdown receptions when he scored four times Sept. 8 against Montana State.

Don Bartlett originally set the record with four touchdown receptions against North Dakota State in 1949. That mark went unmatched for 67 years until Dallas Goedert caught four TDs against Western Illinois in 2016 and Jake Wieneke scored on four pass plays in the 2017 season opener against Duquesne.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the second time this season, South Dakota State University punter Brady Hale was honored as the Missouri Valley Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 14.

A senior from Yankton, Hale averaged 42.6 yards on seven punts, booting a season-long 57-yarder and landing two attempts inside the 20-yard line, as the Jackrabbits dominated on special teams during a 36-7 Hobo Day victory over Youngstown State.

Hale also handled kickoff duties for the first time this season, recording touchbacks on three of his seven attempts.

Previously, Hale received the MVFC weekly award for his performance in SDSU's Sept. 8 season-opening win over Montana State.

BALANCED ATTACK: South Dakota State totaled 500-plus yards of total offense for the third time this season in its Oct. 6 overtime victory over Indiana State, but did so without a 100-yard rusher or receiver. Three running backs — Pierre Strong Jr., Isaac Wallace and Mikey Daniel — all ran for at least 70 yards, with Strong leading the way with 95 yards on only six carries.

The Jackrabbits' 20 receptions were spread among eight different players, with Kal Hart and Adam Anderson leading the receiving corps by each tallying four catches for 57 yards.

VALLEY PREVIEW: For the second year in a row, South Dakota State was picked to finish second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference race.

The Jackrabbits finished second behind defending league and Football Championship Subdivision champion North Dakota State, which garnered all 39 first-place votes from a panel that included head coaches, sports information and media. The Bison tallied 390 points, followed by SDSU with 340 and Northern Iowa with 270.

Youngstown State (258) and Illinois State (248) rounded the top half of the 10-team field.

In addition, the Jackrabbits were well-represented on the preseason all-MVFC team.

On offense, quarterback Taryn Christion and kicker Chase Vinatieri were selected to the first team.

A senior from Sioux Falls, Christion posted his second consecutive season with 4,000 yards of total offense in 2017, passing for 3,515 yards and gaining another 500 yards on the ground as SDSU reached the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals for the first time in program history. Christion accounted for 44 touchdowns by passing for a school-record 35 touchdowns and scoring nine more times on the ground.

Christion was named MVFC Offensive Player of the Year in 2016 and was a second-team all-MVFC honoree last season.

A junior from Sioux Falls and a fellow Roosevelt High School graduate, Vinatieri connected on 13-of-14 field-goal attempts and 58-of-62 point-after tries during the 2017 campaign. He added a rushing touchdown on a fake field goal to finish with 103 points.

Vinatieri was a member of the all-MVFC Second Team a year ago.

Sophomore Cade Johnson led the Jackrabbit contingent on the second team by being honored as both a wide receiver and return specialist. A native of Papillion, Nebraska, Johnson ranked third on the squad last season with 23 receptions, tallying 318 yards and three touchdowns. He also set an Jackrabbit single-season record for kickoff return yardage with 839 yards, averaging 28 yards on 30 attempts, and became the first SDSU player in more than 50 years to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in the same season.

Also honored on the preseason second team were junior fullback Luke Sellers and sophomore long snapper Bradey Sorenson.

BLOCK THAT KICK: Sophomore linebacker Logan Backhaus provided a pivotal play in the Jackrabbits' Oct. 13 Hobo Day victory, blocking a Youngstown State field goal attempt in the first quarter that led directly to SDSU's first touchdown of the game.

It marked the second blocked kick of the season for the Jackrabbits, who have made a habit of coming up with a number of similar big plays in recent years. In 2017, SDSU ranked sixth in the Football Championship Subdivision with six blocked kicks.

LIMITED RETURNS: South Dakota State has excelled in other areas of special teams so far this season, entering the week ranked in the top 15 among FCS programs in both kickoff return and punt return defense. The Jackrabbits have limited the opposition to averages of 1.71 yards per punt return (sixth nationally) and 16.59 yards on kickoff returns (12th in FCS).

SDSU also ranks third in net punting with an average of 41.79 yards per attempt.

CHRISTION RECORD WATCH: Jackrabbit quarterback Taryn Christion set career records in a pair of categories earlier this month, and is poised to add more top marks to his collection in the coming weeks.

A senior from Sioux Falls, Christion became SDSU's career leader in passing yards Oct. 6 against Indiana State and moved to the top of the Missouri Valley Football Conference charts for total offense a week later. He enters the week with an even 10,000 passing yards (previous SDSU record was 9,458 yards by Austin Sumner from 2011-14) and 11,313 yards of total offense as he surpassed the previous MVFC mark of 10,952 yards by Illinois State quarterback Matt Brown from 2009-12.
Brown holds the league passing yardage record at 10,591 yards.

Christion also holds the MVFC?career mark for passing touchdowns with 88. He had his streak of throwing at least one touchdown pass end at 17 games in the Oct. 20 loss at Northern Iowa, although he did post his 13th career 300-yard game.

Christion is on pace to establish a new Jackrabbit standard for completions this week as his 722 career completions trail the 737 set by Sumner. Also, Christion's 1,192 pass attempts are 75 behind Sumner's 1,267 career attempts.

In addition, Christion's average of 275.9 yards of total offense per game is well ahead of Sumner's mark of 211 yards per game. Christion also holds seven SDSU single-season records and five single-game marks.

Christion, who has thrown 16 touchdown passes and only three interceptions this season, currently ranks fourth in the Football Championship Subdivision for passing efficiency at 163.6. He ranks in the top 10 in three other categories.

After passing for one touchdown and running for two more in the 2018 Hobo Day game versus Youngstown State, it marked the second time this season and 17th time in Christion's career he accounted for scores both through the air and on the ground in the same game. Last season, he passed and rushed for touchdowns in the same game seven times.

Christion once again appears on the watch list for the 2018 STATS FCS Walter Payton Award, which is presented to the subdivision's top offensive player. He has been a two-time finalist for the award, placing seventh in the balloting in 2016 and sixth last year.

CHRISTION A CAMPBELL SEMIFINALIST: Jackrabbit quarterback Taryn Christion was recently named a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is awarded annually to the top collegiate football scholar-athlete.

The list of 179 semifinalists will be pared to a list of 12-14 finalists on Oct. 31, and each of them will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 60th National Football Foundation's National Scholar-Athlete Class. The finalists will travel to New York City for the 61st NFF Annual Awards Dinner on Dec. 4, where their accomplishments will be highlighted in front of one of the most powerful audiences in all of sports. Live during the event, one member of the class will be declared as the winner of the 29th William V. Campbell Trophy® and have his postgraduate scholarship increased to $25,000.

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, candidates for the awards must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of playing eligibility, have a grade-point of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The class is selected each year by the NFF Awards Committee, which is made up of a prominent group of media, College Football Hall of Famers and athletics administrators.

SDSU has had three football student-athletes honored as members of the National Scholar-Athlete Class in the past decade: Ryan Berry (2008), Zach Zenner (2014) and Jake Wieneke (2017).

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: South Dakota State University linebacker Christian Rozeboom and cornerback Jordan Brown were tabbed as members of the STATS FCS Preseason All-America Team. Both players also received preseason first-team all-MVFC?recognition.

A junior from Sioux Center, Iowa, Rozeboom was selected to the first team after posting his second consecutive 100-tackle season for the Jackrabbits in 2017. Rozeboom registered a team-high 127 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss, notching 10 or more tackles in seven of the team's 14 games. Also on the watch list for the STATS FCS Buck Buchanan Award for the subdivision's top defensive player, Rozeboom added three fumble recoveries and a pair of interceptions to earn a spot on multiple postseason All-America teams a year ago.

Brown, a senior from Scottsdale, Arizona, earned third-team recognition on the preseason All-America squad. In earning first-team all-MVFC honors last season, he tallied team bests of nine pass breakups and three forced fumbles, while ranking second in both tackles (72) and interceptions (3).

VINATIERI TIES FIELD GOAL MARK: Junior kicker Chase Vinatieri tied the South Dakota State record for longest field goal with a 57-yarder in the fourth quarter of the Jackrabbits' Oct. 20 game at Northern Iowa. He accounted for all nine Jackrabbit points in the game as he also booted field goals of 37 and 47 yards.

The SDSU record was first set by Parker Douglass in a 2007 game against Stephen F. Austin. Vinatieri's previous career long was a 55 yards, which also came against Northern Iowa in a 2017 Football Championship Subdivision playoff game.

100 FCS WINS: South Dakota State recorded its 100th win as a Football Championship Subdivision program with a 62-30 victory at Missouri State on Oct. 21, 2017. Since moving to the FCS ranks at the start of the 2004 season, the Jackrabbits have posted a 108-66 overall record (.621 winning percentage).

SDSU has turned in a winning record in 12 of 14 full seasons and has compiled a 57-27 mark (.679 winning percentage) in Missouri Valley Football Conference games.

JACKRABBIT BLOODLINES: Several South Dakota State football players have strong family ties to South Dakota State Athletics.

Quarterback Taryn Christion's mother, Heather, played volleyball at SDSU and fullback Turner Blasius' father, Justin, was an NCAA Division II national wrestling champion in 1994.

In addition, linebacker Dalton Cox's father, Doug, wrestled for the Jackrabbits in the 1980s, while his younger brother, Colton, is a redshirt freshman on the SDSU baseball team.

Sophomore kicker Chase Vinatieri is the nephew of former Jackrabbit and current Indianapolis Colts standout kicker Adam Vinatieri. Chase Vinatieri made 13-of-14 field goal attempts last season to lead the nation in field goal percentage (.929).
Newcomer Logan Busch's father, Mike, played quarterback at SDSU from 1984-85 and ranks in the Jackrabbits' all-time top 10 for passing yards and touchdown passes. His older brother, Landon, was a pitcher on the Jackrabbit baseball team in 2015 and 2016.

Three sets of brothers are on the 2018 Jackrabbit roster: Jordan and Jacob Brown, Brandon and Jaden Snyder, and identical twins Jadon and Jaxon Janke. Brandon Snyder joined the SDSU football program at the start of fall camp as a graduate transfer from Iowa.

JACKS IN THE PROS: With the regular season under way, three former South Dakota State University football standouts are currently featured on National Football League rosters, continuing the Jackrabbits' long tradition of developing players into pro prospects.

Headlining the list is Adam Vinatieri of the Indianapolis Colts, who established a new NFL career record for field goals Sept. 30 against Houston and enters with week with 571 in his 23-year career. Currently the oldest player in the NFL at age 45, Vinatieri holds 13 other NFL records, including 20 100-point seasons.

Considered one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history, Vinatieri's career totals include 571-of-677 on field goal attempts, 84.3 percent, and 2,540 career points. He ranks second in career scoring — four points behind leader Morten Andersen (2,544 points from 1982-2007) — and third in career extra points (825).

After two Pro Bowl selections (2002, 2004), he left New England following the 2005 season as the team's career scoring leader with 1,058 points. In 2015, he became the first player in NFL to score 1,000 points for two different teams.

Also continuing his NFL career is offensive lineman Bryan Witzmann. A member of the Jackrabbits from 2010-13, Witzmann earned a starting role with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017. However, he released by the Chiefs at the end of training camp and has since been signed by the Minnesota Vikings. Witzmann previously spent time with Houston, New Orleans and Dallas.

Making his professional debut recently was tight end Dallas Goedert. A two-time All-American, Goedert became the first Jackrabbit selected in the NFL Draft in eight years as he was a second-round pick by the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles. The Britton native caught one pass for four yards in a season-opening win over Atlanta on Sept. 6, then scored his first NFL touchdown Sept. 23 as part of a seven-catch, 73-yard performance against Indianapolis. For the season, he has caught 17 passes for 156 yards with two touchdowns, tallying his second score as part of a four-catch, 43-yard outing against Carolina on Oct. 21.

Former Jackrabbit running back Zach Zenner began the 2018 season with Detroit, but has since been released after playing in 28 games over three full seasons with the Lions.

During a highly decorated career at SDSU from 2011-14, Zenner became the first player in the history of Division I football to rush for 2,000 yards in three consecutive seasons.

Also in their first training camps this summer were 2017 All-Americans Jake Wieneke (Minnesota Vikings) and Jacob Ohnesorge (Dallas Cowboys). Neither made the final roster for their respective teams and has since signed with teams in the upstart Alliance of American Football — Wieneke with the Salt Lake Stallions and Ohnesorge with the Arizona Hotshots.

DANA J. DYKHOUSE STADIUM: Jackrabbit football moved into a new home in September of 2016 with the completion of Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

The stadium, which was constructed in phases on the site of SDSU's previous home field, Coughlin-Alumni Stadium, seats 19,340 spectators and cost $65 million to build. The stadium is being funded through private gifts and long-term revenue streams, including concessions and suite, loge box and ticket sales. Bonds are financing nearly two-thirds of the project's construction, with the remaining dollars coming from private support. Lead gifts totaling $12.5 million from Sioux Falls banker Dana Dykhouse and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford were announced in October 2013.

The stadium officially opened Sept. 8, 2016, featuring a concert by country music superstars Luke Bryan, Little Big Town and Lee Brice as part of the Jacks Bash opening weekend. The first football game was two days later, on Sept. 10, when the Jackrabbits defeated Drake, 56-28.

SDSU has gone on to post a 17-2 record at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium during its first three seasons of operation, including a 3-0 mark in FCS playoff games.

Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium was designed by Kansas City-based Crawford Architects, with the construction firm JE Dunn serving as the project manager at risk and Henry Carlson Company of Sioux Falls serving as general contractor. The stadium won the 2017 Alliant Build America Award from the Associated General Contractors of America South Dakota Building Chapter.

STIG SHOW: The John Stiegelmeier Radio Show airs each Monday throughout the 2018 football season.

The show is scheduled to air at 6 p.m. on the Jackrabbit Sports Network, originating with flagship station WNAX 570 AM in Yankton. In addition, the weekly show also will be streamed online free of charge at GoJacks.com.

Hosted by Tyler Merriam, the John Stiegelmeier Radio Show will also feature interviews with Jackrabbit student-athletes and assistant coaches. Jackrabbit fans are encouraged to attend the show in person at Cubby's Sports Bar and Grill, 307 Main Ave., in downtown Brookings.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits return home Nov. 3 to square off against Missouri State on Military Appreciation Day. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, with television coverage on Midco Sports Network and ESPN+.

-GoJacks.com-