The FCS Playoffs field will be cut to two today as No. 5 South Dakota State takes on defending-champion and top-seeded James Madison in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, Va.
The game will air on ESPNU.
“You work hard to have a chance to win a championship; this gets you in that position,” said SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier. “This is what you’ve worked hard for is to get to that next game.
“We have 11 wins but that doesn’t matter right now, we need to be 1-0 this week. We have 15 seniors that have a chance to win a national championship if we get through this game.
“It’s a huge game.”
The Jackrabbits have the third-best scoring offense at 38.8 points per game.
The Dukes lead the nation in scoring defense at 10.3 points per contest and are allowing 242.3 yards per game.
“That’s a light term – ‘stingy’ – as they are phenomenal,” Stiegelmeier said of the JMU defense. “They’re very fast, very athletic; mature, seasoned guys. So that is by far the strength of their team, and that’s one of the reasons you win championships and go undefeated is having a great defense.”
SDSU breezed past its rst two post-season opponents to reach the semis for the first time in program history, dropping Missouri Valley Football Conference rival Northern Iowa 37-22 in the second round and Colonial Athletic Association foe New Hampshire 56-14 in the quarterfinals.
“It started in the locker room after the New Hampshire game. Normally with a win like that and moving on, there is a lot more excitement; but our guys were focused really quickly – No. 1 because they knew who they were going to play and they were excited about it and ready to roll up their sleeves,” said Stiegelmeier, whose team has won seven games in a row. “It’s been a very serious, focused week so far.”
The Dukes have won 25 consecutive games – the second longest streak in FCS history – and haven’t lost to an FCS opponent since 2015.
They dropped CAA runner-up Stony Brook 26-7 in the second round and edged Big Sky Conference co-champion Weber State 31-28 in the quarters.
JMU rallied from eight points down with a little more than 2 minutes to go to beat the Wildcats, sealing the victory on redshirt-freshman Ethan Ratke’s career-long 46-yard field goal as time expired. Bryan Schor’s 40-yard touchdown pass to Riley Stapleton and Trai Sharp’s ensuing two-point conversion run tied the score at 28-all 2:08 earlier.
In edition to a stout defense – the Dukes were giving up single-digit points per game entering the WSU game and have allowed their opponents to score just seven TDs in 18 red-zone trips – James Madison is quite solid on offense.
JMU is 13th in scoring offense (34.8), while SDSU is 33rd in scoring defense (21.8).
The Dukes are second in the FCS with 33 takeaways, helping them to a plus-16 turnover margin. The Jackrabbits are plus-6.
As for the keys to the game, “I think it’s our offense versus their defense,” added Stiegelmeier. “Those are the two strengths of the two programs. You never know in a hard-fought game if it’s going to be a punt or a kickoff return, flipping the field with some type of play. But right now I think the huge matchup is our offense versus their defense.”
South Dakota State and James Madison had one like opponent this year – New Hampshire. The Dukes prevailed on homecoming, beating the Wildcats 21-0 on Oct. 28.
Schor had TD tosses of 13 yards to Ishmael Hyman and 1 yard to Clayton Cheatham in the second quarter, and Rashad Robison added an 82-yard interception return for a score in the third. JMU outgained UNH 339-193 in total yards of offense, including 163-27 on the ground, and were plus-2 in turnover margin while possessing the ball for more than 32 1/2 minutes.
SDSU’s Taryn Christion is 231-of-385 for 3,281 with a school-record 33 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He’s run for 515 yards and nine TDs.
Christion in the school’s career record-holder in total offense (9,478 yards) and TD tosses (70), and is second in passing yards (8,281) – he ranks fourth, tied for fifth and seventh, respectively, in those categories in MVFC history.
Dallas Goedert, who earned AP All-America first-team honors, has 67 catches for 1,068 yards and six touchdowns. However, the senior tight end was injured on the first play of last week’s contest and did not return.
Jake Wieneke’s notched 58 catches for 860 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Brady Mengarelli leads the team with 783 rushing yards, scoring six times. Mikey Daniel has 11 TDs on the ground.
Rimington Award honoree and two-time All-America center Jacob Ohnesorge is expected to make his 53rd consecutive start today, a mark that would tie the school record held by linebacker T.J. Lally (2012-15).
Third-team AP All-America linebacker Christian Rozeboom, a sophomore, paces the defense with 118 tackles while adding three takeaways and a sack.
Jordan Brown has 66 tackles and three interceptions. Larenzo Williams has four picks. Ryan Earith (five) and Kellen Soulek (3.5) have combined for 8.5 of the Jackrabbits’ 23 sacks.
For JMU, Schor is 239-of-360 (66.4 percent) for 2,871 yards with 24 TDs and 12 INTs while also rushing for 291 yards and six scores.
Sharp has 719 rushing yards and four scores. Marcus Marshall has 617 yards and eight touchdowns.
Five different Dukes have at least 28 catches, while seven have multiple TD grabs.
Terrence Alls leads the team in receptions (49) and yards (652), while David Eldridge and Clayton Cheatham both have four touchdowns.
Senior lineman Aaron Stinnie was a first-team All-American.
“(Their offense) revolves around their quarterback,” Stiegelmeier noted. “They have great running backs; they have really good receivers; but it all goes with the quarterback. He’s a senior that runs the show, makes the checks; a really good player.”
Senior safety Jordan Brown and senior defensive lineman Andrew Ankrah were also rst-team All-America honorees. Brown has 66 tackles, seven INTs and 2.5 sacks. Ankrah’s posted 7.5 of the team’s 43 sacks. Second-team pick Rashad Robinson, a junior cornerback, also has seven picks. Jimmy Moreland’s posted seven takeaways, including five picks.
Kyre Hawkins leads the team with 98 tackles, including seven sacks. Six Dukes have at least four sacks.
JMU leads the nation with 25 interceptions.
“Speed and they play man-to-man defense, so they’re all over you,” Stiegelmeier said about the high INT total. “Again, they’re very athletic. If you watched them, you’d say there is a difference between those guys and some of the other people at the FCS level.”
JMU is eighth in the FCS in third-down defense (29.6 percent – 59-of- 199).
The Dukes have three pick-sixes, two punt returns for TDs and a scoop-and-score.
Scoring trend
• SDSU has scored a school-record 505 points this season, eclipsing the previous mark of 431 set last year. The Jackrabbits are averaging 38.8 points per game; the school record is 38.1 (381 points in 10 games in 1950).
• SDSU is outscoring its postseason opponents a combined 54-7 in the first half, including 31-0 in the opening quarter.
• During the seven-game winning streak, the Jackrabbits have scored on 30 of their 31 trips into the red zone (26 touchdowns, four field goals) and have outscored their opponents by a 66-21 margin in the third quarter.
• The Jackrabbits are fourth nationally in third-down conversions (49.1 percent – 78-of-159).
SDSU special teams
Cade Johnson has both of SDSU’s non-offensive touchdowns – kick returns of 99 and 98 yards.
He has 807 yards on 28 kick returns – a 28.8 average. The school record is 824 yards (on 36 returns) set by Division II All-American Rick Wegher in 1984.
Chase Vinatieri is 12-of-13 on field goals and 57-of-61 on PAT kicks, as he leads the team with 99 points (Wieneke is second at 98). Vinatieri has made his last 35 PATs and his lone missed field goal was more than two months ago.
Injury report
“Two really important guys that are kind of up in the air,” Stiegelmeier said late Wednesday morning.
Stiegelmeier listed Goedert as “very questionable.”
“He got injured in the last game, so he’s only been getting treatments for three days here,” he added.
Should Goedert not be able to go, it will change SDSU’s gameplan quite a bit.
“When Dallas is part of the makeup, you put in plays specific for him – the play he got hurt on was designed for him,” Stiegelmeier added. “I don’t know if it hurts our offense in terms of being able to move the ball, because I think we have a good offense, but it surely takes out some plays that would go to Dallas Goedert.”
Junior Tiano Pupungatoa is “probably out again.” The starting offensive lineman missed his first game last week.
“His injury hasn’t come around as fast as we’d liked,” Stiegelmeier noted.
Bridgeforth Stadium
Renamed in 1990 for William E. Bridgeforth, it is now the 13th largest stadium at the FCS level with a capacity of 24,877 following renovations in 2011. The field is named Zane Showker Field. ... JMU’s average attendance is 22,373 in eight games this season. The Dukes beat Villanova 30-8 in front of a season-high 25,993 fans on Oct. 14, as College GameDay made a return trip to Harrisonburg, Va. (the other coming in 2015). ... The Dukes drew at least 23,100 in all six regular-season games, averaging 24,841. ... Attendance was down for the first two playoff games – 16,449 (Stony Brook) and 13,490 (Weber State).
SDSU – FCS PLAYOFFS
The Jackrabbits have a 6-6 record, including a 2-6 mark on the road, in seven appearances.
2009 (0-1)
First round, Nov. 28 – Lost 61-48 at No. 1 Montana
2012 (1-1)
First round, Nov. 24 – Won 58-10 vs. Eastern Illinois
Second round, Dec. 1 – Lost 28-3 at No. 1 North Dakota State
2013 (1-1)
First round, Nov. 30 – Won 26-7 at Northern Arizona
Second round, Dec. 7 – Lost 41-17 at No. 3 Eastern Washington
2014 (1-1)
First round, Nov. 29 – Won 47-40 at Montana State
Second round, Dec. 6 – Lost 27-24 at No. 2 North Dakota State
2015 (0-1)
First round, Nov. 28 – Lost 24-17 at Montana
2016 (1-1)
First round, Nov. 26 – BYE
Second round, Dec. 3 – Won 10-7 vs. Villanova
Quarterfinals, Dec. 10 – Lost 36-10 at No. 1 North Dakota State
2017 (2-0)
First round, Nov. 25 – BYE
Second round, Dec. 2 – Won 37-22 vs. Northern Iowa
Quarterfinals, Dec. 9 – Won 56-14 vs. New Hampshire
Semifinals, Dec. 16 – at No. 1 James Madison
(19) Jake Wieneke update
