On January 8, 2023, South Dakota State won their first-ever FCS National Championship after a 45-21 victory over division rival NDSU.
Now back for another season, the Jacks find themselves back at the top of the FCS Subdivision rankings where they spent multiple weeks last season.
With it almost being a unanimous decision, North Dakota State received one of the twenty-five first-place votes.
Not much has changed for the Jackrabbits since their championship. Though stars such as Tucker Kraft and Caleb Sanders are both fighting their way onto NFL rosters, SDSU was fortunate enough to keep multiple players who could have gone to the next level.
The Jacks had a total of seven Preseason All-Americans selected this season. Mason McCormick, Garret Greenfield, Zach Heins, Jaxon Janke and Isaiah Davis were the five selected on the offensive side while Adam Bock and Dyshawn Gales as defensive players as well.
“We couldn’t be more fortunate to have Mason and Garret for a sixth year,” said South Dakota State offensive line coach Ryan Olson. “They have a great understanding for what we do schematically and culturally. They understand all that stuff at a really high level.”
Along with their All-American selections, both Davis and Janke were named to the watchlist of the Walter Peyton Award, an award that is given to the top offensive player in the FCS. Also joining them from Brookings is quarterback Mark Gronowski.
South Dakota State will open up its season with a Thursday night game against Western Oregon August 31. This season, SDSU will also play Montana State and Drake for their other non-conference games, with the game against Drake to be played at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Last season, the Jacks faced off against the University of Iowa, an FBS school, and this season SDSU will be starting their season off against a division two school.
In 2022, the Western Oregon Wolves went 6-5 in the Lone Star Conference. They faced off against an FCS school last year in their opener as well and lost to Weber State 5-41.
This coming game will prove to be a test for Western Oregon for multiple reasons. Last season, WOU averaged just over 200 yards per game with 84 coming on the ground. SDSU contained D1 opponents to just under 88 yards per game.
Last season, South Dakota State was tied for fourth place in turnovers with eight fumble recoveries and 18 interceptions on the year while sitting in the second place spot behind Jackson State in total defense while allowing under 300 total yards per game.
Isaiah Davis will be back and ready for another season with the Rabbits. The Missouri Native led the team in rushing last season with 1,451 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns on 249 attempts.
“Isaiah is truly special,” said running back coach Robbie Rouse. “Of course, he shows great talents as everyone has been aware of but not everyone knows how great of a young man he is. You’re excited to be able to coach him but just being able to meet him and realize he is an even better person.”
Gronowski only lost one member of his most targeted receivers in Kraft, who was drafted in the fourth round by the Packers. Having most of his guys back will show great chemistry to the already electric receiving core for the Jacks.
With Gronowski’s 2,967 passing yards and 232 completions, he threw 111 passes and 1,631 of those yards to the Janke twins. Though losing Kraft may lead to some problems, Heins showed he can pick up the slack last season with Tucker’s injury. The Sioux Falls native put up 347 yards last season and four touchdowns on 29 receptions.
The Jacks got back their top-3 leaders in tackles from last season with Bock, Isaiah Stalbird and Jason Freeman.
South Dakota State is set to take on the Western Oregon Wolves at 7:00 pm August 31, 2023 for the home opener at the Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
