BROOKINGS – No. 8 South Dakota State is coming off of their worst offensive performance of the season. In a 27-18 loss to Illinois State, the Jackrabbits had just 260 yards of total offense and 81 yards rushing.

The Jacks will now face an even tougher defense this weekend when No. 4 Northern Iowa comes to Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. The Panthers (7-3, 5-1) have won four games in-a-row after losing to No. 1 North Dakota State 46-14 in Fargo on Oct. 12.

SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier said his offense’s struggles were a combination of Illinois State’s defense playing well and his offensive line not playing well.

“[Illinois State] did a good job and we got to a point when we got behind where we weren’t going to the run the ball as much. … I thought the offensive line was below where we’ve been, especially in the run. We just needed to stay on those guys and pick up the blitzes,” Stiegelmeier said. 

The Jacks’ offensive line will have to bounce back this week as the Panthers have the No. 2 rush defense in the Missouri Valley. UNI gives up just 116.2 yards per game on the ground. South Dakota State right guard Matt Clark said the Panthers are tough because they show multiple looks.

“They run like a 3-4 defense and then they’ll switch to a 4-3. We just have to figure out what defense they’re in and then we have plays to run when they’re in different defense’s. Once we figure out what defense they’re in, I think we’re going to have cards on the sidelines to make sure and see what defense they’re in, so once we see that we’ll have plays against that,” Clark said.

One thing that hindered SDSU (7-3, 4-2) against Illinois State was turnovers. The Jacks turned the ball over four times in the game and three times in the second half. SDSU linebacker Logan Backhaus said the defense tried to not get too down when they had to come back on the field right away after a turnover.

“As a defense we have to back our offense up no matter what,” Backhaus said. “They’ve had our back plenty of times since I’ve been here. … It’s our turn now to take care of them this year. We’ve had good energy when we come on the field after a turnover and have been able to hold teams to field goals.”

The Jacks did that during the game against Illinois State. After the four turnovers, SDSU forced three field goals and a touchdown.

The Panthers have a redshirt freshman at quarterback in Will McElvain. McElvain is second in the MVFC in passing yards per game at 211.5. They also have Isiah Weston, who leads the conference in receiving yards per game at 98.2.

“[McElvain] is a really good player,” Stiegelmeier said. “He’s a gritty kid and a great decision maker. He throws the deep ball extremely well. Plays confident, really good football player.”

Backhaus said the key to stopping freshman quarterbacks is showing them different looks and keeping them in the pocket.

“With any freshman quarterback, a huge thing is disguises. Trying to get him off of his reads. Trying to take away some of his first throws, so he has to go through his progressions. Get him to sit in the pocket a little longer and give our d-line a chance to get to him,” Backhaus said.

Coming into the Illinois State game, the Jacks were averaging 234.4 yards per game on the ground. Clark said SDSU needs to get back to being the more physical team if they want to get back to that average.

“I think last week we didn’t show [being physical],” Clark said. “I think this week, we really got to hit these guys in the mouth right from the first play. Just keep hitting him them, wearing them down and eventually they’re going to fold and we’ll be able to put it to them.”

This game has major playoff implications and everyone on the team knows it. If SDSU wins, they will stay in the top-eight for FCS Playoffs seedings. Then if they beat South Dakota on the road next week they would get a first round bye and a guaranteed home playoff game. If they lose, the Jacks may not even get a home playoff game.

Stiegelmeier said he hasn’t really had to let any of the players know about the importance of this game.

“We’ve been talking about making a statement to the [FCS Playoff Committee] for three weeks now. We’ve had our chances. We lost some tough games two out of the last three,” Stiegelmeier said. 

Saturday will be senior day for SDSU. Clark is one of 18 seniors and said he hasn’t really thought about how it may be his last game at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

“It’s going to be good to get all of our parents out there and get them recognized because they do a lot for us. Personally, I haven’t thought about [senior day], but it’s going to be a good day,” he said. 

Kickoff between the Jackrabbits and the Panthers is scheduled for 2 p.m. and can locally be viewed on Midco Sports Network or nationally on ESPN+.

“Playoffs are starting now,” Backhaus said. “If we want to get to where we want to be, we have to win out and we know that.”