The South Dakota State football team travels to Bozeman, Montana, for its biggest non-conference game of the season as it faces No. 3 Montana State.
SDSU is coming off a win against previously No. 14 Sacramento State, a game in which the Jacks’ defense shone. The Hornets’ offense gained 131 total yards. There was significant offseason hype about the Hornets with a head coaching change and an abundance of transfers, but the team’s “go-go” offense saw no semblance of life and struggled to find any momentum.
In his first start, quarterback Chase Mason looked comfortable, with 17 completions on 23 throws for 190 yards. Sacramento State contained him in the run game, holding him to 30 yards on 18 carries. The Hornets did not contain, however, transfer running back Julius Loughridge, who ran for 159 yards on 22 carries, averaging just over 7 yards per carry.
“I think week one, you expect there to be a few mistakes. I think we limited them on the whole, but the mistakes we made were crucial ones, impactful ones,” head coach Dan Jackson said. “In week one, week two, you see a lot of growth, but that’s because you got a lot of opportunities to clean things up.”
The Jacks fumbled the ball two times during the game and had a near turnover after a muffed snap.
Montana State will be looking to bounce back from a 59-13 loss to the Oregon Ducks, one of the top teams in the FBS. Oregon held the Bobcats to 46 rushing yards while gaining 253 yards on the ground. Montana State’s passing game was more successful, with Justin Lameson throwing for 198 yards and completing 23 of 31 passes.
Although they do not play frequently, the two programs have a fun series. Most recently, SDSU beat the Bobcats 20-16 in 2023 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. The Jackrabbits’ only loss to Montana State in the last six meetings was in the 2021 FCS semifinal game.
The Run Game
Last year, both teams thrived when running the ball. South Dakota State has proved it can continue that success, but Montana State will have something to prove Saturday. The Bobcats lost two of their top rushers this season, with lead back Scottre Humphrey transferring to New Mexico State and quarterback Tommy Mellott getting drafted into the NFL.
Humphrey ran for nearly 1,400 yards last season while averaging 7 yards per run, leading the team. Mellott was third on the team in rushing. Adam Jones was their second-leading rusher last year, finishing with 1,152 yards, but struggled against Oregon.
New Quarterbacks
Lameson is playing his first year with the Bobcats after transferring from Bowling Green. A college football journeyman, he has previously played for Stanford and started a handful of games for the Cardinal over the last two years.
Lameson has big shoes to fill after Mellott was drafted by the Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL draft. The 2024 first-team FCS All-American and Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year threw for more than 2,700 yards and ran for just over 1,000 yards.
Mason was the backup quarterback for the Jackrabbits as Mark Gronowski led the team to back-to-back championships and a semifinal appearance before transferring to Iowa. Mason ran for 464 yards last season, and if the last game was any indication, the team plans to use him as both a runner and a passer. Like Lameson, he has big shoes to fill but has already shown he is more than capable of being this team’s quarterback.
The Jackrabbits and Bobcats will kick off at 7 p.m. Central time. The game can be seen on Midco Sports Two or streamed on ESPN+ and will be available on the Jackrabbit Sports Network.
