Jacks host Montana State in Dairy Drive

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

When	Saturday, Sept. 8 \| 6 p.m.	Fifth Annual Dairy Drive
Where	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium \| Brookings, S.D.
TV	Midco Sports Network \| Jackrabbits All-Access (subscription) \| ESPN+ (subscription)
Radio	J ackrabbits All-Access (free audio) \| Jackrabbit Sports Network
Live Stats	GoJacksLive.com
Game Notes	SDSU \| Montana State \| Missouri Valley Football Conference \| Montana State Scouting Report
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #LastPlay

Season Opener — Take Two.

After having their Sept. 1 scheduled football season opener at Iowa State canceled due to inclement weather, the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State University will give it another go as they host Montana State in the Ffith Annual Dairy Drive.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

The Jackrabbits enter the matchup once again ranked third this week in both the STATS FCS and AFCA Coaches' polls.

Montana State, meanwhile, has a game under its belt as the Bobcats posted a 26-23 home win over Western Illinois on Aug. 30. The Bobcat defense posted four sacks while sophomore quarterback Troy Andersen accounted for 226 yards of total offense (145 rushing, 81 passing) to pace the Bobcat offense. In addition, kicker Tristan Bailey was named STATS FCS Special Teams Player of the Week after kicking four field goals (21, 35, 47 and 50 yards) in the season-opening win.

Montana State is receiving votes in both major Football Championship Subdivision polls this week.

THE SERIES: Saturday's game game marks the conclusion of a home-and-home series between Montana State and South Dakota State over the past two seasons.

Overall, the matchup will be the 15th all-time meeting between the Jackrabbits and Bobcats, with Montana State holding a 10-4 edge in the series that dates back to 1956.

SDSU has won each of the last two meetings — a 47-40 victory in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs and a 31-27 win last season. Both those games were played in Bozeman, Montana.

In fact, all three meetings in SDSU's Division I history have been decided by seven points or less. In 2004, Montana State kicked a field goal with two seconds remaining to pull out a 27-24 victory on its home field.

The two programs last played each other in Brookings in 1964, when Montana State recorded a 46-10 victory at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium. Of the 14 previous matchups, four were played in Great Falls, Montana; five were contested in Bozeman and five were played in Brookings.

In last year's game, Sept. 9, 2017, at a sold-out Bobcat Stadium, SDSU kicker Chase Vinatieri booted a 47-yard field goal and scored what proved to be the decisive touchdown on a fake field goal from 31 yards out to propel the Jacks to a 31-27 win.

SDSU scored on each of its first three possessions to race out to an early 17-0 lead before holding on down the stretch.Taryn Christion ran for first-quarter touchdowns of 6 and 1 yards.

DAIRY DRIVE: Now in its fifth year, the Dairy Drive recognizes the importance of the dairy industry to the South Dakota economy and promotes the ties to SDSU as the state's Land-Grant institution.

The Jackrabbits have come out victorious in all four previous Dairy Drive games. Each game has drawn a crowd surpassing 10,000 fans.

2014: SDSU 44, Cal Poly18 (12,219 att.)
2015: SDSU 55, Southern Utah 10 (13,423 att.)
2016: SDSU 49, Missouri State 24 (10,826 att.)
2017: SDSU 51, Duquesne 13 (12,218 att.)

HOME OPENERS: South Dakota State has fared well in home openers under head coach John Stiegelmeier, who is in his 22nd season at the helm of the Jackrabbit football program. In 21 previous home openers, SDSU has compiled a 17-4 record and has won seven in a row.

With Saturday's game now also serving as the Jackrabbits' season opener, the Jackrabbits will look to improve on their 13-8 record in initial games under Coach Stig.

BIG SKY-MVFC CHALLENGE: In an effort to publicize current matchups and promote future non-conference scheduling between two of the premier FCS conferences, the Missouri Valley Football Conference and the Big Sky Conference have announced the 2018 Challenge Series matchups between the two leagues.

Last year marked the inaugural year of the Big Sky-MVFC Challenge, which was won by the MVFC, 5-3. Notably, Weber State downed Western Illinois in an additional meeting in the NCAA Division I Football Championship, but only regular season games count toward the Challenge Series.

Heading into the 2018 season, institutions in the two conferences have played one another 44 times. The MVFC has the advantage in that span, although the Big Sky and MVFC are almost even in the past two years, with the MVFC holding a slight 9-8 advantage. This year, institutions in the two leagues will play one another eight times, including five times at MVFC sites.

Since being founded in 1985, the MVFC has an all-time edge of 55-37 in games played between their institutions, which includes 31 playoff meetings. Notably, the Big Sky and the MVFC make up two of only three leagues to have two or more playoff teams every year since 1999. In each of the past four seasons, the MVFC and Big Sky, meanwhile, have combined to produce eight of the 24 teams in the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoff field each year. Since the FCS playoffs began in 1978, the two leagues have combined to produce 14 national champions.

This year, a total of eight teams representing the two leagues highlighted the STATS FCS top-25 pre-season rankings. All eight matchups in the 2018 Challenge Series will feature at least one team that received votes or is ranked in that pre-season top-25 poll, including the UNI at Montana game on Sept. 1 game, in which both teams were ranked.

Through the first week of the season, the Big Sky holds a 2-1 lead. Following is full listing of the 2018 matchups:
Aug. 30: Montana State 26, Western Illinois 23
Sept. 1: North Dakota State 49, Cal Poly 3
Sept. 1: Montana 26, Northern Iowa 23
Sept. 8: Northern Colorado at South Dakota
Sept. 8: Montana State at South Dakota State
Sept. 15: Northern Arizona at Missouri State
Sept. 15: South Dakota at Weber State
Sept. 15: Montana at Western Illinois

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 80 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.

Entering Saturday's game, Christion stands third on the all-time Missouri Valley Football Conference charts for total offense. He needs only 142 yards to pass North Dakota State's Brock Jensen (9,838 yards from 2010-13) for second place. Matt Brown, who tallied 10,952 yards of total offense for Illinois State from 2009-12, holds the record.

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 wrestling national 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 holds 13 NFL records, including 20 100-point seasons.

Preparing for his fourth season with the Detroit Lions is former Jackrabbit standout running back Zach Zenner. During a highly decoarated 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 was 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, New Orleans and Dallas.

Making their professional debuts this summer were 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.

Witzmann, Wieneke and Ohnesorge have since been released and are awaiting word on other professional opportunities.

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 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 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 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 will wrap up the nonconference portion of their schedule by hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the 52nd Annual Beef Bowl on Saturday, Sept. 15.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. A pre-game beef barbecue benefitting animal science scholarships will be held north of the stadium.

-GoJacks.com-

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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 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

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