BROOKINGS – The South Dakota Showdown will return to Brookings for the first time since 2018 on Saturday. The past two games have been played in Vermillion as the game in 2020 was canceled due to COVID.

USD has won those past two meetings and SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier is looking forward to playing in front of a big crowd on Saturday at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

“I’m excited about the game, the rivalry. Excited to get [USD] here in Brookings. Looking forward to another great crowd. We’ve been blessed with great attendance [this season]. I know it’s a big game for both us,” Stiegelmeier said.

USD beat SDSU for the first time since 2000 in 2019 when it came away with a 24-21 upset victory. The Coyotes followed that win with a 23-20 win last season as they completed a Hail Mary on the final play of the game.

Stiegelmeier said him and his team have not brought up last year all that much in the preparation for the Coytoes.

“[The last play of last year’s game doesn’t come up] at all [in the preparation]. We seldom live in the past. We have a page dedicated to [this rivalry and the one against North Dakota State] in the M.A.D (Make A Difference) manual that talks about why they’re rivalries, why their record is what it is, the history of the rivalry and a note on how the [last] game turned out. I think our guys will see [the Hail Mary] on Twitter enough that I certainly don’t need to bring it up,” Stiegelmeier said.

As we look at this year’s matchup, it’s a tale of two teams. The Jacks come into the game winners of four straight after falling in their season opener to Iowa. SDSU has since beat Missouri State and Western Illinois to start conference play 2-0.

The Coyotes have gotten off to a tough start this season as they enter the game 1-3. According to the Massey Ratings, USD has had the toughest schedule in the FCS so far as it played at Kansas State and Montana to start the season and then hosted Cal Poly and North Dakota State before having a bye. Cal Poly was the only team that the ‘Yotes beat and they were outscored 92-24 in the other three games.

USD is probably the most desperate team SDSU will see this season. Should the Coyotes fall against the Jackrabbits, an FCS playoff spot will be very hard to get. Stiegelmeier said he has addressed this with his team, but is more focused on what his team has to do.

“Again, Kris Kracht, our mental performance coach, addressed that [USD is a desperate team]. I’ve addressed that. I like best, whoever you’re playing, to focus on ourselves and our development. You know, you put in a new play for South Dakota, you maybe tweak the defense or whatever, that’s what we need to focus on. That’s what we need to get better at. As I saw in the Western game, there’s a lot we need to get better at, regardless of who we’re playing,” Stiegelmeier said.

USD is eighth in total offense in the Missouri Valley, averaging 326.3 yards per game and the Coyotes are ninth in total defense, giving up 447.3 yards per game. Carson Camp leads the ‘Yotes as the quarterback and he has thrown for 733 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions, while completing 58.1% of his passes.
USD head coach Bob Nielsen took over the offensive play calling for USD two games into the season and Stiegelmeier thinks Nielsen is a great offensive mind and the USD defense plays very good technically.

“[USD] plays really good, sound, technical defense. So, it’s really hard to say, if we do this formation on this hash, we can get them outnumbered. So, we’re going to have to have equal techniques, equal grit and be satisfied with a four-yard gain at times. 

“Offensively, I think coach Nielsen has been, and remains, a really great offensive mind and understands any weakness and attacks it. He’s got a quarterback that runs the show and some good skill guys. I think it’s a really good matchup,” Stiegelmeier said.

USD is fourth in the MVFC in rushing offense, averaging 156.6 yards per game. The Coyotes will go up against the third ranked rushing defense in the entire FCS in SDSU, who has given up just 50.6 yards per game on the ground.

SDSU also got its ground game going in last week’s 34-10 win over Western Illinois. The Jacks ran for 270 yards and Isaiah Davis had 199 of those yards and two touchdowns. SDSU ranks third in the MVFC in rushing, averaging 156.6 yards per game.

Stiegelmeier said every game starts up front on both sides of the ball, but especially in this matchup.

“There are games where I say ‘it’s our offense against their defense’ or the other way. I think both those, defense/offense, offense/defense, I think both are good matchups in this game. I think it always starts up front. I’m excited about our big guys on offense and I’m excited that we play nine or 10 guys on defense, so they’ll be fresh. … You know, [wide receiver] Jaxon Janke can’t impact the game unless the big guys get it done up front. So, I’d say it always starts there,” Stiegelmeier said.

SDSU’s ground success may have started to click due to some consistency on the offensive line. The Jacks had three new starters on the line heading into the season in center Gus Miller, right guard Evan Beernsteen and right tackle John O’Brian. The two returning starters were seniors Mason McCormick and Garret Greenfield. 

McCormick, who has started 32 consecutive games at left guard, said he thinks the offensive line has really started to gel the past couple weeks.

“I think [the new guys on the offensive line] have been growing every game. No offensive lineman has ever played a perfect game, so there’s always going to be mistakes. I still make mistakes, Garret [Greenfield] makes mistakes. It just happens and that’s the game of football. It’s just cool to see that the mistakes are dwindling and bigger plays are happening and consistency is happening. I hope and think that we’ll continue to improve the rest of the year,” McCormick said.

SDSU’s passing game has been up and down so far this season. Quarterback Mark Gronowski has thrown for 87, 110, 279, 319 and 188 yards in a game this season. His completion percentage was 51.5% against WIU last week as he was unable to find a rhythm.

Senior wide receiver Jadon Janke said he thinks weather played a bit of a factor in the inconsistency, but knows that they’ll figure out the passing game as the season moves along.

“I think [against Western Illinois] it was a little windy and that had a factor. There was a couple times where Mark was getting rushed, but mistakes happen. I mean, I miss blocks all the time. I think the energy didn’t seem as high as the week before [as well]. But I think we’re going to keep getting better and those things will come as we continue to practice more,” Janke said.

Janke also said that he has a little bit of extra motivation going into this game because of the back-to-back losses against the Coyotes.

“I think the rivalry has a little more hype around it and a little more energy this week,” Janke said. “Since I’ve been contributing to the team we’re 0-2 against [USD], so that has a pretty bad taste in my mouth. 

“… We see nothing but that last play [from last year’s game] on Twitter and everything. The Hail Mary and touchdown. So, we’re just kind of excited to get the right side of the spectrum back on SDSU’s side this year.”

SDSU’s quest to get back in the win column in the South Dakota Showdown will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday. You can watch the game on Midco Sports Network or ESPN+ and listen to the game on the Jackrabbit Sports Network.