BROOKINGS —  When the clock hit zeroes at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium on Saturday night, South Dakota State defeated Augustana by a score of 24-3. The 21-point margin of victory would be a night’s work for most programs, but the atmosphere after the game almost made you think that the Jackrabbits had lost by a touchdown as SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers called on his team to grow and mature.

Going into Saturday night, the biggest storyline may be how the Jacks respond in their non-conference finale against Southeastern Louisiana and it may be a chance for them to show they aren’t as far off as they seemed to be against the Vikings.

“There’s plenty of things to learn from the film, but there are so many things that we did well throughout the course of the game,” Rogers said during his weekly media session on Tuesday. “It’s just certain aspects of the game we need to clean up and we’re going to work on it this week, but we have a challenge ahead of us.”

There were plenty of red flags coming out of SDSU’s win over Augustana. The passing offense was out of sync as Mark Gronowski tossed a pair of interceptions. The Jacks also had nine penalties for 110 yards with five resulting in first downs.

This allowed a Division II team — albeit one who is favored to win the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference — to stay in the game longer than expected. But what many didn’t consider is how many things went well for the Jacks in that game.

Rogers mentioned the Vikings’ first drive that started at the SDSU 11-yard line after Kolton Tilford fumbled on the opening kickoff. While a raucous environment triggered a pair of false start penalties, the defense held the Vikings to a field goal and just 171 yards of total offense — including 21 rushing yards — in the game.

SDSU’s defense also held the Vikings to just 21 yards rushing yards while also limiting Augustana to 3-of-18 on third and fourth down conversions — or as Rogers refers to them, “money downs.”

The Jacks’ success in the running game was also tough to ignore. SDSU racked up 233 rushing yards against an Augustana defense that had allowed that had limited UMary to 26 yards on the ground in their season-opening win over UMary and 91 yards per game last season.

Put it all together and the Jacks are a team that enters Saturday’s game ranking 13th in total offense (425.7 yards per game), 15th in rushing offense (195.7 ypg), 20th in scoring offense (29.7 points per game) and 33rd in passing offense (230.0 ypg).

The Jackrabbits defense also looks like an elite unit, ranking sixth in rushing defense (80.3 ypg) while winning each of the past two games by 21 points. But the challenge isn’t for the Jacks to put up elite numbers. It’s to clean up the little things that could prevent them from being an elite team come December and January which is why SDSU’s shortcomings took the headlines on Saturday night.

“There’s maturity that comes with mistakes and we need to grow from those things and that’s if you’re a veteran team or a younger team. There are challenges along the way,” Rogers said. “We just need to keep champing at the bit in order to grow and want to grow and want to learn and want to give each other our best because of the team, so we’ll see.”

The challenge becomes more daunting when the Jacks travel to Hammond on Saturday. Southeastern Louisiana enters the game with a 1-2 record but both losses came to FBS teams. The Lions opened the season with a 52-0 loss to Tulane on Aug. 29 but entered halftime down 14-10 before Southern Mississippi broke the game open on a Dylan Lawrence pick-six and a 70-yard touchdown run by Clay Kenyon in a 35-10 loss on Sept. 7.

SLU earned a win in their first FCS game of the year in a 28-24 victory over Eastern Washington last week and a key reason was their rushing attack, which ran for 253 yards including 149 yards on 28 carries by Antonio Martin Jr.

Martin, a former Georgia Tech signee who also played at Binn College in his freshman year, has combined with former All-Southland Conference selection Harlan Dixon to form an explosive tandem in the backfield but the Lions also bring an element of physicality led by 2022 All-Southland Conference selection Jhy Orgeron.

“They’re really physical up front … as far as the high [and] tough guys,” Rogers said. “They’re not as long as maybe some of the old linemen in the Missouri Valley, but they are really explosive. They stay engaged on blocks. They’re quick-footed. They play a physical brand of football and they’ve got the athletes that make you miss if you create the one-on-ones for them to make you miss.

“We’ve got to do a good job of making tackles. We’re probably going to get caught in some one-on-one situations at times on the perimeter and run game…so, we’ve got to make tackles when they present themselves and we’ve got to be licked into what we do, not necessarily what another team does, or they’re going to present a challenge.”

The blend of explosiveness and physicality also describes a defense that is susceptible in the secondary with 237.3 passing yards allowed per game but also has versatility up front with 14 different players recording at least 0.5 tackles for loss in the first three games including defensive ends Kaleb Proctor and Joshua Randall.

“They’re really explosive on the edge, which creates the middle push,” Rogers said. “Quarterbacks have to step up with their defensive ends and their defensive ends are good. Their defensive ends are really explosive and the defensive line in the interior gets a really good push. So it’s going to present challenges for us up front and we just gotta respond to those things.”

Responding seems to be the theme for a team that is 2-1 but is looking to hit an extra gear ahead of conference play. While heading to Hammond will be a tough test, the Jacks seem to be ready and take another step in their final tuneup before the MVFC opener at Northern Iowa on Oct. 5.

“I have no doubt that the team will respond and come out with great energy in seeking to be the best version of themselves,” Rogers said. “I’m excited just to the challenge itself and the challenge of going on the road and playing a tough opponent.”