Injuries and a statistical decline have led to South Dakota State football losing four straight games for the first time in 14 years. The national power needs a win this week to extend the second-longest streak of playoff appearances in FCS football.
For nearly 10 years, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits football program has enjoyed a level of success only understood in the FCS by their rivals to the north.
The Jackrabbits have made 13 straight appearances in the national playoffs, but that streak is in serious jeopardy this season. They’ve gone from being 7-0 and facing North Dakota State in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown to dropping to 7-4 and needing a road victory over North Dakota to prevent their season from ending on Saturday.
So what went wrong, what changed? How did a two-time national championship program that has reached at least the semifinal round in seven of the past eight seasons find itself in this situation?
Injuries have played a major role in the decline, which has seen South Dakota State suffer three straight home losses following 33 consecutive wins at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. The home and overall losing streaks are the longest for the Jackrabbits since 2011.
To explain the stunning slump, we take a look at some of the injuries as well as the statistical changes this season from the previous eight.
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1 month ago Craig HaleyInjuries
This is the part of football that every team believes it is prepared for until it’s not. Over the Jackrabbits’ eight-year run, they have been pretty fortunate while dealing with key injuries.
When former quarterback Mark Gronowski was injured in the spring 2021 national championship game, it gave the team time to go out and recruit Chris Oladukun (who played previously at USF and Samford) to come in and run the show during their fall 2021 season. He led them back to a national semifinal.
This season, the Jacks were not as fortunate. Senior Chase Mason patiently waited his turn behind Gronowski and was off to a fantastic start. The team was 7-0 with a double-overtime road victory over 2024 national runner-up Montana State and two other nationally ranked wins against Youngstown State and Sacramento State. He suffered a foot injury at Indiana State in the seventh game and just before the North Dakota State game.
Everything’s changed without Mason, as SDSU is averaging 14.3 points per game compared to over 34 points in his seven starts.
Additionally, Lofton O’groske, who’s tied for the team high in TD receptions, has missed the last three games and five overall, while linebacker Chase Van Tol was third on the team in tackles when he suffered an injury, leading to him missing the last three games.
But Mason’s absence, beyond any other injury, has led to SDSU’s statistical downturn offensively and defensively.
Rushing Offense
Even before SDSU’s first semifinal-round appearance in 2017, the Jackrabbits won nine times in four of the five previous seasons. But during the dynamic 2017-24 seasons, they ran all over their opponents, gaining 5.74 yards per carry and surpassing 3,000 rushing yards in 2021, ’23 and ‘24. They also averaged more than 33 rushing touchdowns in each season (and that includes with just 10 games in the spring 2021 campaign), and generally controlled time of possession.
This season, SDSU’s 154.9 rushing yards per game is their lowest average since 2016. Even their leading rusher, Julius Loughridge, is not performing to the lofty standards set by previous backs. He has 804 yards, but he’s only carried the ball 27 times during the losing streak.
In recent years, Amar Johnson rushed for 1,222 yards (2024), Isaiah Davis for 1,578 (2023) and 1,451 (2022), and Pierre Strong for 1,686 (2021).
Scoring Defense
The SDSU defense was one of the best in the FCS over the past eight seasons. The Jacks routinely finished in the top 10 in the FCS over that time, highlighted by the 2023 national championship team ranking first in fewest yards allowed per game (257.2) and surrendering just 9.3 points on average – the best mark in the FCS in 20 years.
SDSU, which also won the national title in 2022, routinely limited explosive plays and had outstanding rush defenses over the 2017-24 run, including top-five rankings from 2022-24. The Jacks also had disruptive passing defenses.
This season, it’s been difficult for the defense to live up to the lofty standard. The Jacks are surrendering 20.3 points per game – still a strong 23rd-best among 129 FCS programs, but their worst since 2018 and a full touchdown difference from the last three seasons.
Turnover Margin
Whether SDSU was playing under John Stiegelmeier or Jimmy Rogers, the team was winning their turnover battles – never worse than plus-7 this decade and twice at +16. If an opposing team threw the ball, the Jackrabbits had defensive backs who could get to it and haul it in. Mix that with a relentless, deep defensive line and the results were staggering.
Under first-year coach Dan Jackson this season, the Jackrabbits are +7 in turnover margin, but it was +12 in the 7-0 start and it’s minus-5 during the four-game losing streak.
It included three turnovers in two of the last three games, something that happened only once in the previous 51 games.
While South Dakota State remains nationally ranked at 22, it’s an underdog heading to the matchup at No. 13 North Dakota, which is seeking to clinch a playoff bid as well and is lights out inside its Alerus Center (35 wins in its last 41 home games).
The Jackrabbits will hope to be on top of all three of these statistical categories to pull the upset and extend their streak of playoff appearances.
Top photo via Dave Eggen/Inertia. For more FCS coverage, follow on social media at X, Facebook, Instagram and Bluesky.
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