The South Dakota State football team defeated No. 4 South Dakota in walk-off fashion Saturday night, winning its third straight Interstate Series contest 20-17.
It may have taken an overtime touchdown to pull out the victory, but SDSU hung on to avoid an upset and a second straight loss.
“Last week, we weren’t able to finish; this week, we were able to turn it around,” said quarterback Mark Gronowski. “I got to give kudos to those guys that are learning from their mistakes. That just kind of takes time. As you continue to learn from those mistakes you had in the past, you’re able to finish games better in the future.”
After falling to now top-ranked North Dakota State a week ago, it felt like the team down South was in for a long night at Dana J. Dykhouse stadium, especially after you throw in the fifth largest crowd in stadium history (19,351) into the mix.
“I got to give kudos to them,” said Gronowski. “Those [NDSU and USD] are probably the top two defenses that we’re going to face all year long, and I’m sure we’re going to see both of those teams in the playoffs.”
But that wasn’t the case for USD. The Coyotes held their own in a hostile environment and nearly pulled off the upset in arguably the biggest game in its program’s history.
The Coyotes made the first statement like the prior two meetings in 2022 and ’23. USD took the opening drive for a score, ending with a 1-yard direct snap touchdown run to senior tailback Travis Theis.
The senior tailback ran the ball 15 times for 78 yards and a score, catching three passes for 15 yards in his first game back from injury.
The Jacks immediately followed suit with a 1-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive, with Gronowski plunging in on a sneak.
Gronowski completed 20-of-27 pass attempts for 163 yards, adding 54 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown on the ground.
Both team’s opening drive scripts worked to perfection. But, like last week’s loss in Fargo, the game slowed down when it was time to dial up plays from then on.
In the second quarter, SDSU found paydirt again to take its first lead on another 1-yard touchdown run, this time from Amar Johnson with a little under five minutes to go in the first half.
Johnson finished with just 17 yards rushing on 10 carries and 8 yards on three catches but reached the endzone twice in the victory.
There wouldn’t be another score for 30 minutes of game time.
Five punts from USD and three from SDSU, a turnover on downs and a missed 47-yard field goal by kicker Hunter Dustman left USD with one final drive to tie it halfway through the fourth quarter.
“I believe it’s kind of just all about the execution factor,” said Gronowski on the offensive efficiency. “I think one of our biggest things was we got to work on first-down efficiency. Everyone always talks about third-down efficiency, but the way you can increase your third-down efficiency is if you have first-down efficiency.”
The ‘Yotes, knowing their backs were against the wall facing one of the top defenses in the FCS, ran multiple trick plays involving non-QB passes throughout the game. But in the fourth quarter, the trickery caught up to them.
Theis attempted to float a pass back to quarterback Aiden Bouman on the opposite side of the field after receiving the handoff. But the Jacks defense, specifically linebacker Grahm Spalding, jumped in front of the throw to record the game’s first turnover by either team.
“I’m just doing my job,” said Spalding, who recorded three tackles and an INT in the win. “My first thought was like, ‘No way he’s going to throw this, I’m standing right there,’ and my second thought was just ‘Don’t drop it.’”
With just under five minutes to go in the game and the momentum of a huge turnover play factored in, the Jacks were a few short first downs away from claiming a Blue State.
That is, until the very next play.
Senior defensive back Dennis Shorter popped the ball free on an Angel Johnson run, and a few short yards later, defensive end Mi’Quise Grace cruised in for a defensive touchdown with a quiet DJDS looking on.
Shorter had a massive day for the ‘Yotes, totaling a game-high 12 tackles (one for a loss), two pass breakups and a forced fumble.
“That’s always a frustrating thing to happen,” said Gronowski. “First play out, we just got to be better at ball security.”
To make matters worse, USD forced SDSU to punt after the kickoff, and it quickly looked eerily like the Marker game. Get a lead, hold it for nearly all four quarters, and let it slip away in the closing moments.
The Coyotes drove into Jackrabbit territory, setting up Leyland with a 47-yard field goal to potentially take the lead with roughly 30 ticks remaining, but shanked it wide left to keep the Jackrabbit hopes alive.
It was an overtime game for the first time in State-U history.
Jacks won the toss, gave its championship defense the field first and delivered, forcing a 4-yard field goal by Leyland to give the Jacks a chance to capitalize.
Eight plays later, including a fourth down conversion, Amar Johnson called ballgame, trucking his way in from 3 yards away.
“We did a great job of playing physical football,” said Gronowski. “The offensive line made a great push on that fourth and one. I was really happy coach Rogers sent us back out there, and then we finished it on the goal line. Which was really awesome, and that started with the hogs up front.”
It wasn’t a pretty win by any means for SDSU, but it keeps them on the right path heading to the back half of Missouri Valley Football Conference play.
“Hats off to USD, really good football team. It was a battle,” said SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers. “It was a play here or there I felt like we could’ve executed surely better. I felt like we play OK.”
Offensively, Angel Johnson had 81 yards rushing on 14 carries and one fumble lost. Wideouts Grahm Goering caught four passes for 46 yards and Griffin Wilde reeled in five for 61 yards. Tight end Davin Stoffel also caught two passes for 24 yards in the victory.
Defensively, linebacker Adam Bock recorded a team-high 10 tackles while linebacker Caleb Fancl and safety Colby Huerter each tallied seven to help limit one of the best statistical offenses in the FCS to just 10 points.
“This week, we really hit home that we got to meet our goals and that’s 10 points [allowed], and we did that today,” said Fancl.
USD’s Bouman completed 20-of-32 pass attempts for 163 yards, completing five passes for 53 yards to wideout Carter Bell and another three for 66 yards to receiver Jack Martens.
Up Next
The Jacks are home again next week to take on the Murray State Racers in the Precision Ag Bowl and Military Appreciation Day. Kickoff from Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium is set for 2 p.m. and can be streamed on Midco Sports, ESPN+, Collegian Sports or the Jackrabbit Sports Network.
