BROOKINGS — South Dakota State will host the University of the Incarnate Word in a top 12 FCS matchup at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium on Saturday night. But while the matchup on the field will be the main showcase, Saturday’s game features two teams that have built their teams in different ways.

The Jackrabbits have built a program that has won back-to-back national championships while using the transfer portal to supplement the roster. But the Cardinals have used it as one of their main sources of roster building to post a 31-5 record over the past three seasons.

It follows a blueprint that was established during the 2021 fall season. Head coach Eric Morris and quarterback Cam Ward helped UIW post a 10-3 record and its first outright Southland Conference championship in 2021. But when both departed for Washington State in 2022, it meant a full-blown plunge into the portal.

The Cardinals added 23 players via the portal ahead of the 2023 season and had 17 players leave with the departure of Morris. Those numbers dropped to 19 players added and five departing players entering this season but the portal has given UIW more than it has taken.

Many of the key players including starting quarterback Zach Calzada (Auburn/Texas A&M) and offensive linemen Nolan Hay (Houston Christian), Traveon Newsome (Southern) and Mason Williams (Western Kentucky) arrived to UIW via the transfer portal and their success on the field has been targeting the right players to fit their system.

“It’s kind of hard to see where these pieces will fit in because they are different personnel-wise, but that’s now college football,” SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers said Tuesday. “As a coach you have to learn and adapt and try to do your best to piece things together because they are quite different. But the biggest thing is some of the running backs and the quarterback and the offensive linemen…they know the system.”

This is something that many of the top teams in the FCS have adapted to with the advent of the transfer portal. Montana added 17 players and lost six players including starting quarterback Clifton McDowell via the portal last offseason. North Dakota State added eight transfers but lost Eli Green to Iowa State. Montana State added five players and lost eight players to the portal and Villanova had a one-for-one swap, adding five players and losing five players.

By comparison, SDSU only added three players in the portal this offseason — offensive linemen Sam Hagen (North Dakota) and Marcus Hicks (Oklahoma) and defensive back Colby Humphrey (Northern Arizona) — and they’ve used the same concept as UIW to find players that fit their system.

“When we do get transfers, we’re getting the right types of people,” SDSU linebacker Adam Bock said. “We definitely welcome them with open arms. Our coaches recruit them here for a reason. They think they’re winners and the right type of people for our program.”

But while SDSU isn’t that different by supplementing their program through the portal, they’ve been the rare program that has kept the talent they’ve recruited.

Quarterback Mark Gronowski was the biggest example after reportedly turning down six-figure offers from Power Four programs this offseason but there are other examples in recent years including NFL draft picks Tucker Kraft and Mason McCormick, who chose to stay through their final years.

“I think the thing that keeps [the players] here is the people and how we invest in our players and making them know that they’re more than just a number here,” Rogers said at the beginning of the season. “...I feel like a lot of our players feel that investment because it’s time given to our players. I feel like most people do it at this genuine level because we show leadership daily and in every way.

“...I do think it’s a key contributor in our players wanting to stay here because they feel like, how green is the grass? How green could that grass be when it’s pretty green here?”

Talking to some of the longest-tenured Jacks validates Rogers’s comments. Cornerback Dalys Beanum is entering his fifth season with the Jacks and his decision to remain in Brookings dates back to when he was initially recruited.

“When I first committed here, I was told it was a family atmosphere,” Beanum said. “Every year since I’ve been here, it’s just grown. Coaches never lie to you. They tell you everything straight up … they don’t beat around the bush or anything. They tell you straight up what you need to do and what you’re going to get coming to South Dakota State and they’ve lived up to that.”

Bock also cited SDSU’s family atmosphere and the relationships he’s made as a key reason he returned for a sixth season.

“I’ve loved my time here and the relationships I’ve formed with guys on the team,” Bock said. “It’s something I would never want to give up. That’s why I decided to come back for my sixth year and exhaust my eligibility so I’m not looking back in a couple of years like ‘Man, I wish I would have taken that last year, because I love playing with these guys and I love playing for this team.’”

The Jacks have so many familiar faces even if they don’t have a major role on the team. While some college players will look for a better environment, SDSU has built a culture that players want to be a part of and its led to back-to-back national championships.

That doesn’t mean that there is a wrong way to build a roster in college football but more of an example of how the game has changed. Both teams enter Saturday’s matchup with a chance to be in the national title picture at the end of the year and UIW’s success suggests that their method is sustainable even with all the interchangeable pieces.

It creates an interesting contrast between the Jacks and Cardinals but one that could produce one of the most interesting games of the year on Saturday night.