Jackrabbits open at Iowa State

GAME 1: #3/3 South Dakota State (0-0) at Iowa State (0-0)

When	Saturday, Sept. 1 \| 7 p.m.
Where	Jack Trice Stadium \| Ames, Iowa
TV	Cyclones.TV (subscription) \| Mediacom in select markets (check listings)
Radio	J ackrabbits All-Access (free audio) \| Jackrabbit Sports Network
Live Stats	StatBroadcast.com \| GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	SDSU \| Iowa State \| Missouri Valley Football Conference \| Iowa State Scouting Report
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #LastPlay

The South Dakota State University football team kicks off the 2018 season by playing up a subdivision with a trip to Iowa State.

Start time is set for 7 p.m. at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.

Both squads are coming off breakthrough seasons in 2017. The Jackrabbits, who are ranked third in both major preseason Football Championship Subdivision polls, set a single-season school record for victories as part of an 11-3 season in which they reached the FCS playoff semifinals for the first time in program history.

Iowa State, meanwhile, finished the 2017 campaign with an 8-5 overall record, culminating with an AutoZone Liberty Bowl victory over Memphis. The Cyclones, who received votes in the preseason Associated Press poll, posted a 5-4 mark in the Big 12 Conference, including wins over nationally ranked Oklahoma and TCU.

THE SERIES: Saturday's game will mark the fourth meeting on the gridiron between South Dakota State and Iowa State, a series that dates back more than 60 years.

Iowa State has won all three matchups, starting with a 57-19 Cyclones' victory on Sept. 20, 1952. In that contest, Jerry Welch set Jackrabbit single-game records with nine kickoff returns and 258 kickoff return yards — marks that still stand in the SDSU annals.

Two seasons later, the Jackrabbits fell in their season opener, to the Cyclones, 34-6. SDSU would go on to earn a share of the North Central Conference title under coach Ralph Ginn in 1954.

The two programs wouldn't meet again until the 2008 season opener, when Iowa State forced six turnovers in a 44-17 victory at Jack Trice Stadium. The game marked SDSU's first against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent in the Division I era.

FOR OPENERS: Now in his 22nd year as head coach, John Stiegelmeier has led SDSU to a 13-8 record in season openers. The Jackrabbits won each of their first seven season openers under Coach Stig, starting with a 17-7 victory at UC Davis in 1997.

Of SDSU's eight losses in season openers under Coach Stig, four have come against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents, including the 2008 matchup with Iowa State and a 59-41 defeat at TCU in 2016.

PLAYING UP: South Dakota State will face a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent for the 10th time since moving to the Division I ranks. The Jackrabbits have compiled a 1-8 record against FBS foes, starting with the 44-17 setback at Iowa State in the 2008 season opener.

SDSU's lone win against an FBS opponent was a 41-38 win at Kansas in the 2015 season opener.

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.

RABBITS RANKED: South Dakota State enters 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 holds the top spot in both national polls, while 2017 runner-up James Madison is second in each of the two major polls.

SDSU has now appeared in the top 25 of 79 consecutive media polls dating back to October 2012.

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, S.D.;
Dalton Cox, Sr., linebacker, Aberdeen, S.D.
Christian Rozeboom, Jr., linebacker, Sioux Center, Iowa, and

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

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 106-64 overall record (.624 winning percentage).

SDSU has now turned in a winning record in 12 of 14 full seasons and has compiled a 55-25 mark (.688 winning percentage) in Missouri Valley Football Conference games.

TAKEAWAY STREAK: The Jackrabbits enter the 2018 season with a streak of 15 consecutive games of forcing at least one turnover, dating back to their final game of the 2016 season. SDSU has recorded a minimum of one takeaway in 26 of its last 27 games and has a current streak of four games with two turnovers forced.

Eight of the nine Jackrabbit players to tally an interception last season return to the lineup in 2018, led by safety Larenzo Williams, who recorded a team-best four interceptions a year ago.

VALLEY PREVIEW: For the second year in a row, South Dakota State has been 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.

NDSU has been tabbed as the preseason favorite seven consecutive seasons and has won seven consecutive league titles — sharing the title with another team four times, including with the Jackrabbits in 2016. The Bison won the 2017 league title with a 7-1 MVFC record, with their only loss coming at SDSU. The Jackrabbits and Northern Iowa tied for second in the 2017 league race with respective 6-2 marks in MVFC games, while SDSU went on to a school-record 11 overall wins and reached the FCS playoffs for the first time in program history.

The MVFC has had four or more teams qualify for the FCS playoffs each of the last four seasons, including a record-tying five programs in 2017. NDSU, SDSU, South Dakota and UNI each won at least one playoff game last season, while Western Illinois fell in first-round action.

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. He already ranks seventh all-time in the league record book with 8,515 career passing yards, and is tied for fourth all-time with 72 touchdown passes. In addition, Christion ranks third all-time in MVFC history with 9,697 career yards of total offense.

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 to rank second on the team.

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.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: South Dakota State University linebacker Christian Rozeboom and cornerback Jordan Brown have been 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 initial 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).

CHRISTION SETS NEW MARKS: Quarterback Taryn Christion has rewritten the Jackrabbit record book during his two seasons as the Jackrabbits' full-time starter.

The Sioux Falls native has established new Jackrabbit standards for both career and single-season touchdown passes. His 35 touchdown passes in 2017 broke the mark of 30 he previously set in 2016 and shared with Ryan Berry (2008). With his three-touchdown performance in a 2017 playoff win over Northern Iowa, Christion surpassed Austin Sumner's mark of 65 career touchdown passes and enters the 2018 season opener with 72 career touchdown passes. He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 30-of-35 career games, including 13-of-14 contests last season, and has four five-touchdown performances.

Also during the Jackrabbits' playoff run a season ago, Christion took over the career lead in total offense at SDSU with 9,697 yards, breaking Sumner's previous record of 9,284 yards from 2011-14. Christion has passed for 8,515 yards and run for another 1,182 in his three seasons at SDSU. Last season, he passed and rushed for touchdowns in the same game seven times, including the team's first two FCS playoff games.

Christion, who now holds 13 Jackrabbit records, has posted the top-two single-season passing totals in program history. He threw for an SDSU-record 3,714 yards in 2016 and tallied 3,515 yards last season. He stands 944 yards away from passing Sumner (9,458 yards from 2011-14) for the Jackrabbit career lead in passing yardage.

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

BLOCK THAT KICK: The Jackrabbits were strong on special teams throughout the 2017 season and ranked sixth in the Football Championship Subdivision with six blocked kicks. SDSU recorded a blocked kick — two extra points and a punt — in each of its first three games, then ran its total to six with a blocked extra point by Kellen Soulek in the FCS semifinal game at James Madison.

JACKRABBIT BLOODLINES: Several South Dakota State football players have 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), and enters the 2018 season with a string of nine consecutive made field-goal attempts. In the Jackrabbits' playoff victory over Northern Iowa last season, Vinatieri made a career-best three field goals, including a career-long 55-yarder in the second quarter.

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: In the final week of the preseason, six former South Dakota State University football standouts were 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. Vinatieri has earned a reputation as one the most consistent and clutch kickers in the NFL. 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.

Vinatieri's career totals include 559-of-663 on field goal attempts, 84.3 percent, and 2,487 career points. He ranks second in both career scoring and career field goals and fifth in career extra points (808). Currently the oldest player in the NFL at age 45, Vinatieri now holds the all-time NFL record with 20 100-point seasons. In all, he holds 13 NFL records.

Preparing for his fourth season with the Detroit Lions is former Jackrabbit standout running back Zach Zenner. During a highly decorated career 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. He signed a free agent contract with the Lions following the 2015 NFL Draft and has played in 28 games over three seasons. Zenner emerged as the Lions' top running back late in the 2016 season, finishing the year with a team-best four rushing touchdowns and second on the squad with 334 rushing yards.

Also returning to an NFL team this summer is offensive lineman Bryan Witzmann with the Kansas City Chiefs. A member of the Jackrabbits from 2010-13, Witzmann earned a starting role with the Chiefs in 2017 — his second year with the team. He previously spent time with the Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints and Dallas Cowboys.

Making their professional debuts this summer are tight end Dallas Goedert, wide receiver Jake Wieneke and center Jacob Ohnesorge — all of whom earned All-America honors during their senior seasons in 2017.

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.

Wieneke signed a free-agent contract with his home-state Minnesota Vikings following a standout career at SDSU in which he rewrote the Jackrabbit record book and was a four-time All-America honoree. He caught a touchdown and later the game-winning two-point conversion in an Aug. 24 preseason game versus Seattle.

Ohnesorge was a recent addition to the Dallas Cowboys roster after previously earning a free-agent tryout with the Seattle Seahawks. Ohnesorge was selected as the 2017 Rimington Award winner as the top center within the Football Championship Subdivision.

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 13-2 record at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium during its first two seasons of operation, including a 3-0 mark in Football Championship Subdivision 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 recently 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 2017 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 open the home season Sept. 8 by hosting Montana State in the Fifth Annual Dairy Drive. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

The game is part of the Big Sky-MVFC Challenge Series. Eight inter-conference games are scheduled between the two leagues, including three during the opening week of play.

-GoJacks.com-

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Players Mentioned

Turner Blasius

Jacob Brown

Jordan Brown

Logan Busch

Taryn Christion

Dalton Cox

Dallas Goedert

Jaxon Janke

Cade Johnson

Jacob Ohnesorge

Christian Rozeboom

Luke Sellers

Brandon Snyder

Jaden Snyder

Bradey Sorenson

Kellen Soulek

Chase Vinatieri

Jake Wieneke

Larenzo Williams

Upcoming Event: Football versus Stetson on August 29, 2026 at 6 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Football at Northwestern on September 5, 2026 at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Football versus New Haven on September 12, 2026 at 6 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Football versus Youngstown State on September 19, 2026 at 6 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Football versus Eastern Illinois on September 26, 2026 at 6 p.m.

Upcoming Event: Football at Illinois State on October 3, 2026 at 6 p.m.

Completed Event: Football at Montana on December 6, 2025 , Loss , 29, to, 50

Completed Event: Football versus New Hampshire on November 29, 2025 , Win , 41, to, 3

Completed Event: Football at North Dakota on November 22, 2025 , Win , 34, to, 31 , OT

Completed Event: Football versus Illinois State on November 15, 2025 , Loss , 21, to, 35

Completed Event: Football at South Dakota on November 8, 2025 , Loss , 17, to, 24

Completed Event: Football versus Indiana State on November 1, 2025 , Loss , 12, to, 24

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