Tim Knutson

The 2006 fall football schedule is released. SDSU will have five home games in their upcoming season, and play six on the road.

The Jacks have one of the toughest schedules they have ever had. The Central Arkansas Bears finished sixth in the ACFA Division II College Football Poll. In Division I-AA action, the Jacks will face a Northern Iowa team that is coming off a run to the championship game and a second-place finish. Montana and Cal Poly also made it to the postseason last year. All three of those schools finished in the top 12 power rankings for Division I-AA last year.

The Athletic Department finally got the negotiating done for the fall 2006 season and was able to release the schedule during break. The Jacks play in some of the same places they played last year, such as Montana and North Dakota State University. The travel to the same places due to the number of conference teams that the Great West has, as well as the amount of non-conference games they are allowed to play.

“Putting together the right combination of conference and non-conference games can be hard. Having the right mix of home and away games can also be difficult, but I was really pleased. We have four playoff teams on the schedule, and they should provide a basis to find out exactly were the program is,” said Head Coach John Stiegelmeier.

Athletic Director Dr. Fred Oien said, “The kind of teams that we are playing are some of the best in the country. If we want to one of the best, we need to play the best, so I am really pleased with how the schedule came together. I think it is a great step in terms of where the program is headed.”

“We want to build on 2005. The goal here at SDSU is to be great program. We might want to get there faster than most programs, but I know my team just isn’t happy with a 6-5 season. We plan to come out and compete and we can’t wait for next year to prove just how far we have come,” said Steigelmeier.

2006 Football Schedule

September

2 vs. Wisconsin-LaCrosse 9 at Montana 16 at Northern Iowa 23 at Nicholls State 30 vs. Idaho State

October 7 vs. Central Arkansas 14 Open 21 at Cal Poly 28 vs. UC Davis

November 4 vs. William Penn 11 at Southern Utah 18 at North Dakota State