After a dominant victory over Murray State 52-6, The No. 3 Jackrabbits will travel up north to Alerus Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota for a ranked matchup against the No. 21 Fighting Hawks.
The last time these teams battled on the gridiron, the Jacks walked away with a 42-21 victory last season.
SDSU is on a three-game winning streak over North Dakota with their last loss being in the 2020-21 season, losing 28-17. The Fighting Hawks lead the series with a record of 22-17-2.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday. You can stream the game on Midco Sports and ESPN Plus or listen on the Jackrabbit Sports Network.
South Dakota State
The No. 3 Jackrabbits go into their tenth game of the season boasting a 7-2 record (4-1, MVFC).
SDSU is currently 2-2 at away games this season with losses to FBS opponent Oklahoma State and No. 1 North Dakota State.
Mark Gronowski has thrown for 1,554 yards this season, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions on 62.56%. The Illinois native started the season throwing five picks through four games. Now, Gronowski has thrown one interception (against NDSU) in his last five outings.
“We’re going to have to minimize our errors as much as possible,” Jimmy Rogers, head coach of SDSU’s football team, said.
Gronowski and company have averaged 35 points through nine games, elevating SDSU to the 15th-best scoring offense in the nation.
On the ground, Amar Johnson has been a dominant force, amounting to 621 yards and eight touchdowns. Amar Johnson isn’t the only Jackrabbit to have success on the ground. Backup quarterback Chase Mason, who went out with an injury against Murray State, is SDSU’s second-leading rusher with 418 on the season.
Angel Johnson and Kirby Vorhees have seen a plethora of runs go their way as well with Angel Johnson rushing for 372 yards and Vorhees with 364. Gronowski adds to this dominant rushing attack with 287 yards on the ground and four touchdowns.
In the air, Griffin Wilde has seen the majority of Gronowski’s passes come his way with 44 catches on the season. The Sioux Falls native has racked up 671 yards and four scores. Grahm Goering follows with 24 catches, 346 yards and four touchdowns.
On Defense, linebacker Adam Bock leads the team with 65 tackles on the year and six tackles for loss (first on the team). Senior Caleb Francl has racked up 56 tackles on the year with back-to-back seven tackle games in his last two outings.
The Jacks have seven defensive players with an interception to their name while cornerback Steven Arrell leads the team with two on the year.
North Dakota
This season, the Fighting Hawks are 5-4 (2-3, MVFC) and are coming off back-to-back losses to conference opponents in Youngstown State (41-40) and Indiana State (35-31).
UND’s also lost to No. 1 North Dakota State and FBS opponent Iowa State.
After the departure of quarterback Tommy Schuster, North Dakota native Simon Romfo took over as the starter and has thrown for 1,612 yards, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Romfo has found veteran receiver Bo Belquist as averaged 48 times this season, resulting in nine scores and 754 yards and averaging almost 85 yards per game.
Canadian junior Nate DeMontagnac is the second-leading receiver for North Dakota and has caught 17 passes for 209 yards.
“They got great players,” Rogers. “Their quarterback has done a really good job as far as making plays not only with his arm and throwing it to Bo Belquist and their wide receiver crew but also making plays with his legs.”
North Dakota has three rushers who have passed the three-century mark this season in Isaiah Smith (562 yards), Gavin Ziebarth (454 yards) and Sawyer Seidl (377 yards). Ziebarth leads the team with eight rushing touchdowns on the year while Smith follows closely with seven of his own.
Both Malachi McNeal and Wyatt Pedigo are tied with 55 total tackles so far this season. Of McNeal’s 55 tackles, 36 of them have been solo tackles, the most of the team. The Illinois native’s season-high came against Youngstown State, racking up 13 tackles.
Avery Scott and Devin Hembry lead the Fighting Hawks in interceptions with two each this season while Josh Navratil leads the team with seven tackles for loss on the season and five sacks.
Up Next
After SDSU’s battle with the Fighting Hawks, the Jacks will take the field at the Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium for the final time this regular season against the Southern Illinois Salukis on Nov. 16 with a kickoff time slated for 2 p.m.
