JACKS OPEN SECOND HALF AT SIU - South Dakota State University Athletics

Saturday, March 20

Carbondale, Ill.

noon

South Dakota State University

Southern Illinois

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia Sports Media

3/17/2021 8:31:00 AM | Football

GAME 5: #6/7 South Dakota State (3-1, 3-1 MVFC) at #5/5 Southern Illinois (4-1, 3-1 MVFC)

When	Saturday, March 20 \| noon
Where	Saluki Stadium \| Carbondale, Ill.
TV	ESPN+ (subscription)
Radio	J ackrabbits All-Access (free audio) \| Jackrabbit Sports Network
Live Stats	SIUSalukis.com
Game Notes	SDSU \| Southern Illinois \| Missouri Valley Football Conference
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #LastPlay

For the third time in as many road games this season, the South Dakota State University football team faces a ranked opponent.

This Saturday, the Jackrabbits travel to Carbondale, Illinois, for a matchup against a Southern Illinois squad ranked fifth in both the Stats Perform FCS media poll and the first American Football Coaches Association poll of the season. SIU is 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

Kickoff is set for noon at Saluki Stadium on the SIU campus. The game is scheduled to be televised on ESPN+ as the MVFC Game of the Week.

SDSU, meanwhile, reached the halfway mark of the league season with a 3-1 record both overall and in the MVFC. The Jackrabbits moved up two spots to sixth in this week's Stats Perform media poll and checks in at No. 7 in the AFCA rankings.

The Jackrabbits split their first two road games, winning 24-20 at then-No. 3 Northern Iowa on Feb. 19, before dropping a 28-17 decision at then-No. 14 North Dakota Feb. 27. North Dakota also handed SIU its lone loss of the season thus far, a 44-21 setback in their Feb. 20 season opener in Grand Forks.

THE SERIES: Saturday's game marks the 11th meeting on the gridiron between SDSU and Southern Illinois, a series that dates back to when the Jackrabbits joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference at the start of the 2008 season. By winning the last four meetings and seven of the last eight, the Jackrabbits hold a 7-3 series edge.

SIU won each of the first two meetings between the two squads, with its last win in the series a 27-24 Hobo Day victory on Oct. 5, 2013, at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

In the most recent matchup, Oct. 5, 2019, the Jackrabbits scored three second-half touchdowns for a 28-10 Hobo Day victory. Pierre Strong, Jr., gave SDSU a 15-10 lead by scoring on a 64-yard touchdown run midway through the third period. Jaxon Janke added touchdown receptions of 12 and 4 yards from J'Bore Gibbs in the fourth quarter.

SDSU rushed for 297 yards in the game, including 229 by Strong, who posted 188 yards with three touchdowns in the teams' 2018 matchup in Carbondale.

ELITE COMPANY: South Dakota State is one of only two Football Championship Subdivision programs to reach the playoffs each of the last eight seasons, including making consecutive national semifinal appearances in 2017 and 2018.

North Dakota State holds the longest active streak with 10 consecutive trips to the playoffs.

RANKINGS STREAK: With its appearance in this week's Stats Perform FCS Poll, SDSU has now appeared in the top 25 of 110 consecutive media polls dating back to October 2012.

CAPTAINS: Leading the Jackrabbit football team on the field and in the locker room are five captains:

Logan Backhaus, Sr., linebacker, Spirit Lake, Iowa;
Wes Genant, Sr., offensive lineman, Parkston, South Dakota.;
Michael Griffin II, Sr., safety, Cottage Grove, Minnesota;
Pierre Strong, Jr.; Jr.; running back, Little Rock, Arkansas, and
Preston Tetzlaff, Sr., linebacker, Brookings, South Dakota.

Backhaus is in his second season as a team captain. All four other captains are in their first seasons in the role.

ANOTHER MILESTONE WIN: South Dakota State's March 6 win over Western Illinois marked the program's 100th victory since joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference at the start of the 2008 season. Overall, the Jackrabbits have posted a 101-55 record (.647 winning record) in that span, including a 69-31 mark in MVFC games.

SDSU has not finished below .500 in league play in any of its 12 full seasons as an MVFC member, making it the only current member (outside of newcomer North Dakota) since 2008 to be able to make that claim.

Since moving to the FCS ranks at the start of the 2004 season, the Jackrabbits have posted a 126-73 overall record (.633 winning percentage). SDSU spent its first four years at the FCS level as a member of the Great West Football Conference.

SDSU has turned in a winning record in 14 of 16 full seasons as an FCS member.

VALLEY PREVIEW: South Dakota State was picked to finish third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference preseason poll, which was announced earlier in February.

The Jackrabbits, who finished the 2019 season with an 8-5 overall record and a 5-3 mark in the MVFC, tallied 91 points in the balloting among league coaches, sports information directors and a media panel. The Jackrabbits extended their streak of Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances to eight seasons in 2019.

Defending conference and FCS national champion North Dakota State again led the preseason poll with 101 points, followed by Northern Iowa with 92 points. Rounding out the top five were Illinois State (80) and Southern Illinois (68).

In the bottom half of the poll, South Dakota was sixth with 52 points, followed by league newcomer North Dakota with 39 points. Youngstown State held the eighth spot with 36 points, with Missouri State and Western Illinois tying for ninth with 23 points.

MVFC squads are playing an eight-game league schedule. Ten of the league's 11 teams are playing during this spring season after Indiana State opted out in January.

In addition, nine Jackrabbits were honored on the MVFC Preseason Team revealed Wednesday. Three of SDSU's four first-team selections came on the defensive side of the ball, with defensive end Reece Winkelman, linebacker Logan Backhaus and cornerback Don Gardner honored.

Winkelman, a junior from Marshall, Minnesota, tied for the team lead with 6.5 sacks in 2019. He totaled 36 tackles, including nine tackles for loss, and forced a fumble in his first season as a starter.

A senior from Spirit Lake, Iowa, Backhaus is the team's top returning tackler after registering 79 tackles in 2019 to rank third on the squad. An honorable mention all-MVFC selection in 2019, he shared the team lead with four interceptions and three forced fumbles.

Gardner put together an all-conference season in 2019, earning second-team honors after registering 45 tackles, six tackles for loss and a team-high six pass breakups. The senior from Chicago also scored two defensive touchdowns — one on his lone interception of the 2019 season and the other on a fumble recovery.

The lone first-team offensive selection for the Jackrabbits was running back Pierre Strong, Jr. A junior from Little Rock, Arkansas, Strong has posted consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, rushing for 1,116 yards as a freshman in 2018 and 1,018 yards in 11 games as a sophomore. He also rushed for eight touchdowns in 2019 en route to All-America recognition from the Associated Press and HERO Sports.

Receiving honorable mention recognition on offense were sophomore quarterback J'Bore Gibbs and senior offensive lineman Wes Genant. Gibbs started the first six games in 2019 before suffering a season-ending injury. He completed 59 percent of his passes (73-of-124) for 1,058 yards and 10 touchdowns, while adding four scores on the ground.

Genant, a Parkston native, has played all along the offensive line during his Jackrabbit career. He returns to a starting role at center during the 2020-21 season after redshirting in 2019.

Honorable mention selections on defense for the Jackrabbits included seniors Xavier Ward and Michael Griffin II.

A defensive tackle from Freeman, Ward saw his streak of starting 26 games in a row for the Jackrabbits come to an end as he missed the Feb. 19 season opener due to injury. He contributed 21 total tackles in 2019, including seven tackles for loss with four sacks.

Griffin earned a spot on the MVFC All-Newcomer Team in 2019. A safety from Cottage Grove, Minnesota, he shared the team lead with four interceptions, while also tallying 40 tackles and a pair of fumble recoveries.

Also earning preseason recognition was sophomore Jaxon Janke as a return specialist. The Madison native averaged 10.7 yards per punt return — with one touchdown — in 2019 and added 29 receptions for 353 yards and four touchdowns as a wide receiver in being named to the MVFC All-Newcomer Team.

STRONG EARNS PRESEASON PRAISE: Jackrabbit running back Pierre Strong, Jr., was named last month to the preseason All-America team selected by HERO Sports.

A junior from Little Rock, Arkansas, Strong received first-team accolades after topping the 1,000-yard mark in each of his first two seasons. He rushed for 1,116 yards as a freshman in 2018 and gained 1,018 yards with eight touchdowns in 11 games as a sophomore. Over two seasons, Strong averaged 8.2 yards per carry, and needed only 100 carries to reach the 1,000-yard mark during the 2018 season.

Strong moved into the SDSU career top 10 for rushing in the Feb. 27 game at North Dakota and enters Saturday's game with 2,492 career yards.

He was selected as the Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Week after tallying 142 all-purpose yards, including 91 rushing yards, and scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard pass play with 19 seconds remaining in South Dakota State's 24-20 victory at Northern Iowa on Feb. 19.

Last week, Strong rushed for a season-high 124 yards on 21 carries against Youngstown State.

In 2019, Strong became only the seventh player in SDSU history to top the 1,000-yard mark in consecutive seasons. He will attempt to become the third to post three straight 1,000-yard campaigns.

Following is the complete list of Jackrabbits with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons:

Pete Retzlaff, 1951 (1,016 yards) and 1952 (1,008)
Darwin Gonnerman, 1967 (1,023) and 1968 (1,023)
Les Tuma, 1972 (1,061) and 1973 (1,052)
Josh Ranek, 1998 (1,881) and 1999 (2,055)
Kyle Minett, 2008 (1,289), 2009 (1,304) and 2010 (1,208)
Zach Zenner, 2012 (2,044), 2013 (2,015) and 2014 (2,019)
Pierre Strong, Jr., 2018 (1,116), 2019 (1,018)

FAST STARTS: SDSU has scored on its opening drive in each of its four games this season for a total of 24 points.

Following are the scoring plays and summaries of the Jackrabbits' opening drives:

Feb. 19 at Northern Iowa – Cole Frahm 24-yard field goal (8 plays, 71 yards, 4:44 time of possession);
Feb. 27 at North Dakota – Jaxon Janke 18-yard pass from Mark Gronowski (5-75, 2:02);
March 6 vs. Western Ilinois – Mark Gronowski 22-yard run (9-81, 2:50);
March 13 vs. Youngstown State – Jaxon Janke 8-yard pass from Gronowski (6-75, 3:24);

The Jackrabbit defense has yet to allow any points on the opponents' opening drives of games this season.

FRAHM HONORED: South Dakota State kicker Cole Frahm was honored Sunday as the Missouri Valley Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week after coming through in the clutch a day earlier as the eighth-ranked Jackrabbits recovered in time to defeat Youngstown State.

A junior from Omaha, Nebraska, Frahm booted the game-winning 29-yard field goal with 31 seconds remaining to lift SDSU to a 19-17 victory. Earlier in the game, Frahm connected on a career-long 52-yard field goal en route to going 2-for-3 on field goals on the day.

Frahm has made a field goal in all four games this season and is 5-for-7 on the year.

COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH: Freshman quarterback Mark Gronowski has led South Dakota State on two game-winning, fourth-quarter drives in his first four career starts. On game-winning drives Feb. 19 at Northern Iowa and March 13 versus Youngstown State, Gronowski was a combined 9-for-10 passing for 123 yards and a touchdown.

His top target on those drives was sophomore tight end Zach Heins, who recorded a 43-yard catch and run to set up the game-winning touchdown at UNI, followed by catches of 39 and 16 yards that led to the game-winning field goal versus YSU.

MORE ON GRONOWSKI: Mark Gronowski has taken the reins of the Jackrabbit offense after winning a three-way battle for the starting quarterback position in spring camp.

A native of Naperville, Illinois, Gronowski turned in an impressive collegiate debut by accounting for all three South Dakota State touchdowns as the Jackrabbits prevailed in a matchup between top-five teams in the Feb. 19 season opener at Northern Iowa. He completed 19-of-29 passes for 194 yards and touchdown passes of 6 yards to Jaxon Janke in the second quarter and a 1-yard game-winning toss with 19 seconds left to Pierre Strong, Jr. He also rushed for 24 yards on 10 carries, including a 5-yard touchdown late in the first half.

For his efforts, Gronowski was selected as both the Missouri Valley Football Conference Newcomer of the Week and the Stats Perform FCS National Freshman Player of the Week.

In his next start, Gronowski completed 16-of-32 passes for 309 yards and two first-quarter touchdowns Feb. 27 at North Dakota.

He recorded his third two-touchdown passing game and added two rushing touchdowns in his home debut March 6 against Western Illinois, earning MVFC Offensive Player of the Week honors after racking up 298 yards of total offense (178 passing, 120 rushing) and accounting for four touchdowns. He became the first Jackrabbit quarterback since All-American Taryn Christion in 2017 to pass and rush for 100 yards in the same game.

Gronowski is the fourth different quarterback to start a game for the Jackrabbits since the end of the 2018 season, when Christion wrapped up his career with 41 consecutive starts. J'Bore Gibbs started six games as a redshirt freshman in 2019, including the season opener. Kanin Nelson started the second and third games of the season, while Keaton Heide started the final five games after Gibbs was lost for the season due to injury.

GETTING DEFENSIVE: South Dakota State held Northern Iowa to a meager 28 net yards rushing in the Feb. 19 season opener, a total that ranks as the third-lowest allowed by the Jackrabbits against a Missouri Valley Football Conference opponent since joining the league in 2008. The Panthers' 28 yards came on 25 attempts — an average of 1.1 yards per carry.

The fewest rushing yards allowed by a Jackrabbit team in an MVFC game is 22 yards (on 22 carries) by South Dakota on Nov. 17, 2012. SDSU surrendered only 25 yards (on 24 attempts) versus Indiana State on Sept. 19, 2009.
For the season, SDSU is allowing 122 rushing yards through four games.

NEW INTERCEPTIONS STREAK: After having its 13-game streak with an interception come to an end in the season opener, the SDSU defense has started a new streak with six interceptions over the past three games.

Linebacker Preston Tetzlaff picked off a pass in the fourth quarter at North Dakota on Feb. 27, followed by a three-interception performance by the Jackrabbits March 6 against Western Illinois and a two-INT afternoon March 13 versus Youngstown State.

Joshua Manchigiah recorded interceptions in each of the last two games to take over the team lead.

SDSU has picked off a pass in 22 of its last 24 games dating back to the 2018 season. As a team, the Jackrabbits tallied 18 interceptionsin 2019 to rank sixth among Football Championship Subdivision programs. Linebacker Logan Backhaus and safety Michael Griffin II shared the team lead with four interceptions. In all, 10 different Jackrabbit players recorded at least one interception in 2019.

LIMITED RETURNS: South Dakota State all but eliminated the punt return game during the 2019 season. Opponents netted a total of four yards on seven punt returns (in 48 punts) last season.

That allowed the Jackrabbits to lead all FCS programs for punt return defense with an average of .57 yards per return for the entire season. Thus far during the 2020-21 season, the Jackrabbits have allowed 23 yards on five punt returns for an average of 4.6 yards per attempt.

The longest punt return allowed by SDSU in 2019 was eight yards in the Aug. 29 season opener at Minnesota. The Jackrabbits also ranked 11th among FCS teams in net punting at 39.5 yards per attempt, with punter Ben Dinkel ranking 31st individually with an average of 41.6 yards per attempt.

SDSU also ranked eighth in kickoff return defense with an average of 13.5 yards allowed per attempt during the 2019 season.

BLOCK THAT KICK: South Dakota State continued to pick up where it left off with strong special teams play in the Feb. 19 season opener, including blocking a punt. Isaiah Stalbird's blocked punt late in the first half at Northern Iowa led to a touchdown that pushed the Jackrabbits' halftime lead to 17-7.

In the March 13 home win over Youngstown State, defensive tackle Ryan Van Marel got a hand on a 43-yard field goal attempt late in the second quarter for SDSU's second blocked kick of the season.

SDSU has consistently ranked among the FCS leaders for blocked kicks over the past few seasons. The Jackrabbits ranked ninth with five blocked kicks in 2019, after ranking third in 2018 with eight blocked kicks.

BALL SECURITY: One area the Jackrabbits will look to improve during the 2020-21 season is in the turnover margin department. Despite forcing 25 turnovers (18 interceptions, 7 fumbles), the Jackrabbits turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 24 times in 2019 to finish plus-1 in turnover margin.

Of the 24 turnovers, 17 were lost fumbles — the most by an SDSU squad in the Division I era (since 2004). By comparison, the Jackrabbits lost a total of 18 fumbles in the three previous seasons combined.

SDSU has lost five fumbles so far during the 2020-21 season and enters the weekend minus-1 in turnover margin.

TWIN CENTURY MARKS: South Dakota State's twin-brother receiving duo of Jaxon and Jadon Janke each topped the 100-yard mark for receiving Feb. 27 at North Dakota.

Jaxon Janke established new career highs of seven receptions for 161 yards, while tying a career best with two touchdowns (18, 76 yards). Jadon Janke added career highs of five catches and 109 receiving yards.

The Janke brothers became the first SDSU tandem with 100 receiving yards in a game since Cade Johnson (5-162) and Adam Anderson (4-128) against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sept. 15, 2018.

BALANCING THE ATTACK: One week after having a pair of receivers top the 100-yard mark in a game, South Dakota State turned to a ground-based attack March 6 against Western Illinois, resulting in a pair of 100-yard rushers — both first-year freshmen.

Quarterback Mark Gronowski led the way with 120 yards on only four carries, including touchdown runs of 22 and 80 yards. Running back Isaiah Davis carried nine times for 118 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown run.

The Jackrabbits finished with 347 rushing yards — their most since a 369-yard performance against Drake on Sept. 14, 2019. That also was the last time SDSU had a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game as Pierre Strong, Jr. (11-129) and C.J. Wilson (10-117) were the Jackrabbit tandem.

Strong posted his first 100-yard game of the season — and 10th of his career — last week against Youngstown State, carrying 21 times for 124 yards.

SEEING DOUBLE: The 2020-21 South Dakota State football team features two sets of twin brothers.

Returning for their sophomore seasons are wide receivers and Madison natives Jadon and Jaxon Janke. Jadon Janke has primarily contributed on special teams during his Jackrabbit career, while Jaxon Janke is the team's top returning receiver after catching 29 passes for 353 yards and four touchdowns in 2019. A member of the MVFC All-Newcomer Team that season, Jaxon Janke also handled the team's punt return duties, averaging 10.7 yards per attempt that included a 77-yard touchdown in the 2019 home opener against Long Island.

Joining the Jackrabbits this fall were twins Aaron and Adam Kusler. The Sioux Falls tandem, who excelled at Roosevelt High School, are both freshman linebackers on this year's squad.

SDSU has another set of brothers on the team in Brookings natives and offensive linemen Eddie and Gus Miller. Eddie is a senior on this year's team, while Gus is an incoming freshman.

JACKS IN THE PROS: At the conclusion of the 2020 football season, four former South Dakota State standouts were members of National Football League teams, continuing the Jackrabbits' long tradition of developing players into pro prospects.

Headlining the list is tight end Dallas Goedert of the Philadelphia Eagles. After being drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Goedert has gone on to record 137 receptions for 1,465 yards and 12 touchdowns in his first three seasons.

Veteran offensive lineman Bryan Witzmann returned to the Kansas City Chiefs in 2020, an organization for which he earned a starting role in 2017. He played in one game this past season, but was assigned to the team's practice squad for much of the year, including the postseason.

Witzmann has been with eight different teams since excelling for the Jackrabbits from 2010-13, He began the 2019 season with the Cleveland Browns and later played in two games for Carolina. He also has spent time with Houston, New Orleans, Dallas, Minnesota and Chicago.

Also on NFL rosters in 2020 as practice squad members were cornerback Jordan Brown (Washington) and linebacker Christian Rozeboom (Los Angeles Rams). Brown was a seventh-round choice of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2019 and also spent time on the practice squad for Jacksonville during his rookie campaign before entering 2020 training camp with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Rozeboom finished his Jackrabbit career as the program's all-time leading tackler and then signed as a free agent following the 2020 NFL Draft. Teammates Mikey Daniel (Atlanta Falcons) and Luke Sellers (Detroit Lions) also signed free agent agreements from the 2019 SDSU?senior class.

In addition, wide receiver Jake Wieneke caught on with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League in 2019 and finished the year with 41 catches for 569 yards with eight touchdowns. The CFL did not compete in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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 27-5 record at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium during its first five seasons of operation, including a 4-1 mark in Football Championship Subdivision playoff games. The Jackrabbits went undefeated at home in 2018 with a 7-0 mark.

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.

WORKING OVERTIME: South Dakota State has split its 10 overtime games since overtime rules were implemented in the mid-1990s. The Jackrabbits have won four of their five overtime contests in Missouri Valley Football Conference games, including a 37-34, double-overtime victory over Northern Iowa at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium on Oct. 26, 2013.

Following is a list of the Jackrabbits' overtime results:

SDSU 30, Nebraska-Omaha 27 [2 OT] • Oct. 17, 1998 — at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium
Augustana 39, SDSU 33 [3 OT] • Oct. 19, 2002 — at Sioux Falls
Southern Utah 23, SDSU 17 [2 OT] • Nov. 13, 2004 — at Cedar City, Utah
Western Illinois 29, SDSU 26 [4 OT] • Aug. 30, 2007 — at Macomb, Ill.
McNeese State 46, SDSU 44 [3 OT] • Oct. 4, 2008 — at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium
SDSU 43, Missouri State 36 [2 OT] • Oct. 29, 2011 — at Springfield, Mo.
SDSU 37, Northern Iowa 34 [2 OT] • Oct. 26, 2013 — at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium
Western Illinois 30, SDSU 24 [2 OT] • Nov. 21, 2015 — at Macomb, Ill.
SDSU 27, Illinois State 24 [OT] • Nov. 11, 2017 — at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
SDSU 54, Indiana State 51 [OT] • Oct. 6, 2018 — at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium

Overall, SDSU is 5-5 in overtime games

STIG SHOW: The John Stiegelmeier Radio Show airs each Monday throughout the 2020-21 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, hosted by Tyler Merriam, also will be streamed online free of charge at GoJacks.com.

A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits return home to host Illinois State in the Beef Bowl on March 27. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

-GoJacks.com-