JACKS HEAD TO FRISCO FOR FCS TITLE

Sunday, May 16

Frisco, Texas

1 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Sam Houston

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia Sports Media

5/12/2021 11:06:00 PM | Football

GAME 10: #2 Sam Houston (9-0) vs. #1 South Dakota State (8-1) — FCS National Title Game

When	Sunday, May 16 \| 1 p.m.
Where	Toyota Stadium \| Frisco, Texas
TV	ABC \| ESPN3.com
Radio	Jackrabbit Sports Network \| Westwood One
Live Stats	NCAA.com
Game Notes	SDSU \| Sam Houston \| Missouri Valley Football Conference
Social Media	Twitter \| Facebook \| #LastPlay

A berth in the Football Championship Subdivision national title game will be on the line Saturday, when South Dakota State hosts Delaware in a semifinal playoff game.

For the first time in program history, South Dakota State will play for a football national championship.

The top-seeded Jackrabbits, 8-1 overall, will square off against No. 2 Sam Houston Sunday afternoon in the Football Championship Subdivision national title game in Frisco, Texas. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Toyota Stadium, with the game played before a national television audience on ABC.
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South Dakota State advanced to the title tilt by winning three consecutive playoff home games and enter Sunday's matchup with a seven-game winning streak. The Jackrabbits opened the playoff run by defeating Holy Cross (31-3 on April 24) and Missouri Valley Football Conference rival Southern Illinois (31-26 on May 2). In a May 8 semifinal, the Jackrabbits pounded Delaware, 33-3.

Sam Houston also used home-field advantage to reach the FCS title game for the third time. The Bearkats, who lost back-to-back championship games to North Dakota State in 2011 and 2012, opened the 2020-21 playoffs with a 21-15 victory over Monmouth in the opening round, followed by a 24-20 quarterfinal win over North Dakota State. In its semifinal game, the Bearkats overcame a 24-3 halftime deficit against James Madison to rally for a 38-35 win in Huntsville, Texas.

THE SERIES: Sunday's game will mark the first-ever meeting on the gridiron between South Dakota State and Sam Houston.

The Jackrabbits last played a Southland Conference opponent in 2013, recording a 34-26 home win over Southeastern Louisiana. SDSU's last game in the Lone Star State was the 2016 season opener, when the Jackrabbits dropped a 59-41 decision at TCU.

PLAYOFF HISTORY: South Dakota State is making its ninth consecutive appearance in the Football Championship Subdivision and 10th overall. The Jackrabbits first qualified for the FCS postseason in 2009 and began their current streak with a 58-10 victory over Eastern Illinois in the opening round of the 2012 playoffs at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

The Jackrabbits have been a top-eight seed each of the past five seasons (since 2016) and have hosted at least one playoff game each of those years at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

SDSU holds an 11-9 all-time record in the FCS postseason, with six of the losses against either Montana (twice) or North Dakota State (four times). The Jackrabbits' 11 playoff victories have been against 11 different schools.

Prior to moving to the Division I ranks in 2004, the Jackrabbits made only one other NCAA postseason appearance. That came in the 1979 NCAA Division II playoffs, where SDSU suffered a 50-7 setback at the hands of current MVFC rival Youngstown State.

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

North Dakota State holds the longest active streak with 11 consecutive trips to the playoffs after the Bison earned an at-large bid to this season's 16-team field.

CAPTAINS: Leading the Jackrabbit football team 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.

RANKINGS STREAK: With its appearance in the final Stats Perform FCS media poll of the regular season, SDSU has now appeared in the top 25 of 116 consecutive media polls dating back to October 2012.

Following is a week-by-week look at the Jackrabbits' rankings this season:

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 106-55 record (.658 winning record) in that span, including a 71-31 mark in MVFC games.

SDSU has not finished below .500 in league play in any of its 13 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 132-73 overall record (.644 winning percentage). SDSU spent its first four years at the FCS level as a member of the Great West Football Conference.

SDSU has now turned in a winning record in 15 of 17 seasons as an FCS member.

NATIONAL AWARD FINALISTS: South Dakota State running back Pierre Strong, Jr., and quarterback Mark Gronowski were announced April 19 as finalists for a pair of Stats Perform FCS national awards.

Walter Payton Award
A junior from Little Rock, Arkansas, Strong was selected as one of 16 finalists for the Walter Payton Award, which honors the top offensive player in the FCS. Through the 2020-21 regular season, he led the team in rushing with 453 yards in five games (90.6 ypg) for an offense that churned out an average of 233 rushing yards per contest.

Strong averaged 5.7 yards per carry and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns, while also ranking third on the squad with 12 receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown. He rushed for 90 or more yards four times, including a season-high 124 yards on 21 carries March 13 versus Youngstown State.

On the official watch list for the Walter Payton Award for most of the 2019 season, Strong was honored on All-America teams selected by HERO Sports (second team), the Associated Press (third team) and Phil Steele publications (third team).

Strong is the seventh Jackrabbit player to be named a finalist for the Walter Payton Award since the program moved to the FCS ranks in 2004, joining the following:

Kyle Minett, running back, 2010;
Zach Zenner, running back, 2012-14;
Jake Wieneke, wide receiver, 2015-16;
Taryn Christion, quarterback , 2016-18;
Dallas Goedert, tight end, 2016-17;
Cade Johnson, wide receiver, 2019.

A 40-member national media panel will select the Stats Perform FCS award winners, which also include the Buck Buchanan Award (defensive player of the year) and Eddie Robinson Award (coach of the year). The Payton and Buchanan award winners will be revealed May 15, on the eve of the FCS national championship game in Frisco, Texas.

Jerry Rice Award
Gronowski was announced in early May as the runner-up in the balloting for the Stats Perform FCS Jerry Rice Award, honoring the top freshman player in the Football Championship Subdivision.

A native of Naperville, Illinois, Gronowski received 10 of the 40 first-place votes from a national media panel en route to 115 points. Fellow quarterback Cameron Ward of the University of Incarnate Word was named the award winner after earning 19 first-place votes and 147 points. Virginia Military Institute quarterback Seth Morgan was a distant third with three first-place votes and 68 points.

Gronowski finished the regular season with 14 total touchdowns (8 passing, 6 rushing) and an average of 239 yards of total offense over six games, completing 76-of-133 passes (57.1 percent) for 1,051 yards and rushing for 383 yards. He has helped lead the Jackrabbits into the FCS semifinals, tallying another 493 yards of total offense (336 passing, 157 rushing) in playoff victories and against Holy Cross and Southern Illinois.

The third Jackrabbit finalist in a row to record a runner-up finish for the Jerry Rice Award, Gronowski is the fifth Jackrabbit player to be selected as a finalist for the award since its inception in 2011, joining the following:

Austin Sumner, quarterback, 2011 (3rd);
T.J. Lally, linebacker, 2012 (7th);
Jake Wieneke, wide receiver, 2014 (2nd);
Christian Rozeboom, linebacker, 2016 (2nd).

ALL-AMERICANS: South Dakota State offensive lineman Garret Greenfield and cornerback Don Gardner have each been named to a pair of All-America teams this week to further highlight the Jackrabbits' postseason awards.

A sophomore right tackle from Rock Valley, Iowa, Greenfield earned first-team honors from both Stats Perform and the Associated Press as a key part of a Jackrabbit offense averaging 30.1 points and 407.7 yards of total offense per game en route to advancing to this weekend's Football Championship Subdivision national title game. Greenfield was a first-team all-Missouri Valley Football Conference honoree who earned MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week recognition twice during the spring season.

Gardner, a senior from Chicago, was a second-team selection by both Stats Perform and the AP. He stands fifth on the squad with 39 tackles, including three for loss, and shares the team lead with four pass breakups to go along with one interception. As a unit, the Jackrabbit defense is allowing 14.1 points per game and has held two playoff opponents without a touchdown.

Also receiving second-team recognition from Stats Perform were running back Pierre Strong, Jr. and linebacker Logan Backhaus. A junior from Little Rock, Arkansas, Strong leads the team with 650 rushing yards in eight games (81.2 ypg) and is averaging 5.6 yards per carry with three touchdowns. He also ranks as the squad's third-leading receiver with 18 catches for 167 yards and a score.

A senior from Spirit Lake, Iowa, Backhaus has registered a team-leading 69 tackles, including a team-best 9.5 tackles for loss with two sacks and an interception. He has tallied 10 or more tackles three times, including in playoff victories over Southern Illinois (career-high 14 tackles) and Delaware (12 tackles).

MVFC AWARDS: South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski claimed three of the Missouri Valley Football Conference's top awards, leading a 12-member Jackrabbit contingent on the all-conference team announced April 22.

A native of Naperville, Illinois, Gronowski was selected as MVFC Offensive Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Freshman of the Year by a panel made up of the league's coaches, sports information directors and media members.

In helping lead the Jackrabbits to a share of the MVFC title and the league's automatic bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, Gronowski racked up an average of 239 yards of total offense per game in six regular season starts.

Gronowski completed 76-of-133 passes (57.1 percent) for 1,051 yards and eight touchdowns, while ranking second on the squad with 383 rushing yards and a team-best six touchdowns on the ground. He topped the 100-yard mark for rushing three times.

Gronowski is the second Jackrabbit to be honored as the MVFC Offensive Player of the Year, joining fellow quarterback Taryn Christion in 2016. He is the fifth SDSU player to be honored as Freshman of the Year, following Austin Sumner (2011), Jake Wieneke (2014), Christian Rozeboom (2016) and Pierre Strong, Jr. (2018), and is the first Jackrabbit tabbed as Newcomer of the Year.

Strong, a junior running back from Little Rock, Arkansas, repeated on the all-MFVC First Team after rushing for 453 yards in five games. He ran for two touchdowns and averaged 5.7 yards per carry, while also adding 12 catches for 88 yards and a score.

Also earning first-team recognition from the Jackrabbit offense was sophomore tight end Zach Heins. The Sioux Falls native caught eight passes for 151 yards during the regular season.

The SDSU offensive line, which paved the way for the Jackrabbits to average 29.3 points and 233 yards per game on the ground, was well-represented on the all-MVFC squad. Sophomore right tackle Garret Greenfield earned first-team honors, while left guard Mason McCormick was named to the second team and senior center Wes Genant received honorable mention accolades.
Greenfield, a native of Rock Valley, Iowa, was a two-time MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week selection during the season.

First-team honors on defense were awarded to defensive tackle Caleb Sanders, linebacker Logan Backhaus and cornerback Don Gardner. A junior from Glenwood, Iowa, Sanders registered 14 total tackles, including three tackles for loss and a sack. SDSU held opponents under 100 yards rushing three times in six regular season games.

Backhaus moved to the first team after earning honorable mention recognition in 2019. He ranked second on the team in total tackles with 39, as well as tackles for loss with 5.5. The senior from Spirit Lake, Iowa, also intercepted a pass.

Gardner, a Chicago native, earned first-team recognition following a second-team selection in 2019. He tallied 28 tackles, including three for loss, and added three pass breakups and an interception this spring.

Back to the offensive side of the ball, sophomore wide receiver Jaxon Janke was honored on the all-MVFC Second Team after posting team highs of 20 receptions, 313 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

Also receiving accolades were honorable mention selections Isaiah Davis at running back and kicker Cole Frahm. A freshman from Joplin, Missouri, Davis complemented Strong and Gronowski in the Jackrabbit backfield with 372 yards and five touchdowns. He topped the 100-yard mark twice and none of his 53 carries resulted in a tackle for loss.

Frahm booted a field goal in all six regular season games and tallied a team-best 46 points. The Omaha native made 9-of-12 field goal tries and 19-of-20 extra-point attempts.

All-Newcomer Team
Three members of the South Dakota State University football team were named April 23 to the 2020-21 Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Newcomer Team.

Headlining the group is freshman quarterback Mark Gronowski, who was selected as MVFC Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year a day earlier, as well as being honored as the MVFC Offensive Player of the Year.

Joining Gronowski on the All-Newcomer offense was running back Isaiah Davis. A freshman from Joplin, Missouri, gained 372 yards and scored five touchdowns. He topped the 100-yard mark in games against Western Illinois (118 yards) and Southern Illinois (150 yards).

The Jackrabbit defense was represented on the All-Newcomer Team by redshirt freshman linebacker Adam Bock. A Solon, Iowa, native, Bock ranked third on the squad with 38 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack. He tallied double figures in tackles in each of SDSU's final two regular season games, registering 10 tackles at Southern Illinois and 13 at North Dakota State.

MORE STRONG RUNNING: Jackrabbit running back Pierre Strong, Jr., was named to the preseason All-America team selected by HERO?Sports and remains in the national spotlight after a solid spring season.

A junior from Little Rock, Arkansas, gained notoriety by 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 eighth on the career charts with 2,784 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.

After missing the March 20 game at Southern Illinois due to injury, Strong returned to the lineup for the April 17 regular season finale at North Dakota State and gained 95 yards on 11 carries, highlighted by a 53-yard touchdown run — his longest run of the season — in the third quarter.

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 scored on its opening drive in each of its first four games — and five times this season — for a total of 31 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);
May 2 vs. Southern Illinois – Jadon Janke 23-yard pass from Gronowski (5-60, 2:42).

Southern Illinois is the only team to score against the Jackrabbits on the first drive of the game this season, doing it in both matchups this season. The Salukis kicked a field goal in what turned out to be their only points in SDSU's 44-3 road victory on March 20, then countered with a touchdown on their opening drive in the May 2 playoff rematch.

Although the Jackrabbits did not score on their opening drive in any of their three games leading up to the SIU rematch, they did put points on the board on their second offensive possessions with touchdowns against North Dakota State, Holy Cross and Delaware.

SECOND-QUARTER DOMINANCE: As good as the Jackrabbits have been early in games, they have been even more dominant in the second quarter.

In nine games, SDSU holds a 95-23 scoring advantage in the second quarter. The Jackrabbits built up a 62-7 advantage in regular season action, and has outscored the opposition 36-13 in the second quarter during the postseason, buoyed by a 20-0 margin against Delaware in last week's national semifinal.

COMING THROUGH IN THE CLUTCH: Freshman quarterback Mark Gronowski 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.

Gronowski scored the go-ahead touchdown in the Jackrabbits' May 2 playoff win over Southern Illinois on a 67-yard run early in the fourth quarter. That came after SDSU took over at its own 1-yard line after a goal-line stand.

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 — a feat he has accomplished three times this season.

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.

PICKING OFF THE COMPETITION: After having its 13-game streak with an interception come to an end in the season opener, the SDSU defense put together a new streak with 10 interceptions over the next five regular season 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. SDSU matched its season high with three interceptions March 20 at Southern Illinois.

With a pair of interceptions in the May 2 playoff win over Southern?Illinois, the Jackrabbits have recorded 12 interceptions this season — a total that ranks third in the Football Championship Subdivision

Joshua Manchigiah, who had one of the interceptions in the play win over SIU, leads the team with four In all, eight different Jackrabbit players have tallied an interception this spring.

SDSU has picked off a pass in 25 of its last 29 games dating back to the 2018 season. As a team, the Jackrabbits tallied 18 interceptions in 2019 to rank sixth among Football Championship Subdivision programs. Linebacker Logan Backhaus and safety Michael Griffin II shared the 2019 team lead with four interceptions.

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, and he blocked another field goal attempt in the April 24 playoff game against Holy Cross.

The Jackrabbits' fourth blocked kick of the season — and second of the FCS?playoffs — came late in the second quarter of the May 8 semifinal against Delaware, with Reece Winkelman being credited for the block on a 53-yard field goal attempt. The Jackrabbits took over at their own 36 and quickly put together their third touchdown drive of the stanza to build a 27-3 halftime lead.

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 six fumbles so far during the 2020-21 season and enters the weekend plus-7 in turnover margin, highlighted by forcing a combined seven turnovers (two fumbles, five interceptions) in its two meetings with Southern Illinois.

The Jackrabbits have not turned the ball over in their last four games.

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.

Jaxon Janke recorded his team-leading sixth touchdown reception of the season in the May 8 semifinal victory over Delaware, while Jadon ranks second on the squad with five touchdown catches. Four of Jadon's touchdowns have come in the postseason as he had a pair of two-touchdown games— on five total receptions — to his credit against Holy Cross and Southern Illinois.

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 same duo again both reached the century mark March 20 at Southern Illinois, with Davis tallying 150 yards on 22 carries and Gronowski posting 103 yards.

The Jackrabbits finished with 392 rushing yards at Southern Illinois, a total that is tied for the third most by an FCS?program this season with UC Davis (March 20 vs. Cal Poly) and Nicholls State (Feb. 27 vs. Lamar).

GROUND AND POUND: South Dakota State's 305 rushing yards against North Dakota State on April 17 marked the third time this season the Jackrabbits hit the 300-yard mark on the ground.

During their current seven-game winning streak, the Jackrabbits have rushed for 1,872 yards (267.4 ypg) and 16 touchdowns. SDSU is averaging 6.6 yards per carry in that span. In their three playoff games thus far, SDSU is averaging 7.74 yards per play.

SACK ATTACK: The Jackrabbit defense has made life miserable for opposing teams' quarterbacks during postseason play. Of SDSU's 21 total sacks this season, 13 have come in three playoff games.

The Jackrabbits recorded five sacks April 24 versus Holy Cross and registered one sack in their come-from-behind victory against Southern Illinois on May 2. In their May 8 semifinal against Delaware, the Jackrabbits tied a program single-game record with seven sacks, matching the total in a 2013 victory at Northern Arizona.

Defensive tackle Caleb Sanders leads the unit with four postseason sacks, registering at least one in all three games.

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 in 2020, 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. Daniel recently signed with Carolina.

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.

Adding to the Jackrabbits' list of pro aspirants is wide receiver Cade Johnson, who signed as a free agent with the Seattle Seahawks following the conclusion of the 2021 NFL Draft.

Johnson set a pair of single-season school records as a member of the Jackrabbits from 2017-19. As a redshirt freshman in 2017, the Papillion, Nebraska, native established a new Jackrabbit standard with 839 kickoff return yards, returning two kickoffs for touchdowns. The following season, his first as a starting receiver, he set the SDSU single-season record with 17 touchdown catches, totaling 67 receptions for 1,332 yards.

In 2019, Johnson also posted his second consecutive 1,000-yard season, tallying 1,222 yards on 72 receptions. In only three seasons, he ranked third in program history for touchdown receptions (28), fifth in receiving yards (2,872) and sixth in total receptions (162). He was a two-time first-team all-Missouri Valley Football Conference honoree and was selected to multiple Football Championship Subdivision All-America squads in both 2018 and 2019.

Johnson was selected to play in the 2020 Reese's Senior Bowl after deciding to opt out of his senior season.

ACADEMIC AWARDS: Eight members of the South Dakota State University football team, including three first-team honorees, were named April 28 to the 2020-21 Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Academic Team.

Leading the Jackrabbit contingent was offensive lineman Wes Genant, who honored on the first team for the third time. A senior from Parkston, Genant has compiled a 3.89 grade-point average while majoring in biochemistry and pre-medicine.

SDSU's two other first-team selections were starting linebackers Logan Backhaus and Preston Tetzlaff. Backhaus, a senior from Spirit Lake, Iowa, moved up from the second team in 2019 after posting a 3.65 GPA as a human biology major, while Tetzlaff earned a first-team spot with a 3.92 GPA in business economics. A Brookings native, Tetzlaff was an honorable mention selection to the squad as a junior in 2019.

Second-team honors went to offensive lineman Aron Johnson. A native of Chisago City, Minnesota, Johnson has recorded a 3.86 GPA in pharmacy.

Four other Jackrabbits received honorable recognition: kicker Cole Frahm, wide receiver Jaxon Janke, offensive lineman Mason McCormick and defensive end Reece Winkelman.

League sports information directors voted on the team by designating 11 players for first-team honors and 11 for second-team recognition.

TETZLAFF NAMED TO HONOR SOCIETY: South Dakota State University linebacker Preston Tetzlaff was recently named to the 2021 NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which is comprised of college football players from all divisions of play who have maintained a cumulative 3.2 grade-point average or better throughout their college careers.

Tetzlaff, a senior from Brookings, is the 84th Jackrabbit football student-athlete to receive recognition in the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which is sponsored by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, since the program's inception in 2007. SDSU is one of 26 college football programs to have at least one honoree in all 15 years of the initiative's existence.

An elite group of 910 players from 255 schools qualified for membership in 2021. The initiative has honored more than 13,000 student-athletes since its inception.

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 former Jackrabbit football player and 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.

Plans for Jacks Bash 2, scheduled for Sept. 8, were announced recently and will include a musical lineup of Zac Brown Band, Fall Out Boy and Gabby Barrett.

SDSU has gone on to post a 29-5 record at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium during its first five seasons of operation, including a 6-1 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

A LOOK AHEAD: Sunday's game will mark the end of the 2020-21 spring season.

The Jackrabbits are scheduled to return to action in the fall, kicking off the 2021 campaign Sept. 4 at Colorado State.

-GoJacks.com-