The South Dakota State University football team begins its quest for a third consecutive Missouri Valley Football Conference title as it opens league play Saturday at Northern Iowa.
Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The game has been selected as an MVFC Game of the Week and will be available for viewing through the ESPN+ streaming platform.
SDSU, which has maintained its No. 1 ranking in both major Football Championship Subdivision polls thus far this season after winning back-to-back national titles, enters Saturday’s contest with a 3-1 overall record. After a season-opening loss at Oklahoma State on Aug. 31, the Jackrabbits have reeled off three consecutive victories, including a 41-0 shutout at Southeastern Louisiana in their last action, which came on Sept. 21.
The Jackrabbits have not allowed a touchdown and only three total points over their last eight quarters of action.
UNI comes into its league opener with a 2-2 overall record, with both of the Panthers’ losses coming against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents — 34-3 at Nebraska on Sept. 14 and 36-7 a week later at Hawaii. The Panthers are ranked 18th in this week’s American Football Coaches Association poll and are receiving votes in the Stats Perform FCS media poll.
THE SERIES: Saturday’s game marks the 61st all-time meeting on the gridiron between SDSU and UNI. The two squads met regularly from the time the series started in 1935 until UNI (formerly Iowa Teachers College) left the North Central Conference in the late 1970s to join the Division I ranks.
UNI holds a 33-25-2 advantage in the series, including an 11-9 edge since SDSU joined the Football Championship Subdivision in 2004. Two of the meetings have been in the FCS playoffs, with the teams splitting matchups at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in both 2017 and 2019.
Home-field advantage has meant little in the recent series as the road team has won eight of the last 12 meetings dating back to 2014. The visiting team won four matchups in a row until the Jackrabbits ended the streak with an emphatic 41-6 Hobo Day win on Oct. 14, 2023, at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
In last season’s meeting, SDSU forced five first-half turnovers and turned those Panther miscues into 17 points as the Jackrabbits built a 24-3 halftime lead. Mark Gronowski connected with Zach Heins on touchdown passes of 6 and 23 yards in the third quarter to put the game away.
UNI handed the Jackrabbits their last home loss by posting a 26-17 victory on Oct. 23, 2021. Panther kicker Matthew Cook was the star of the game as he made all four of his field-goal attempts, including kicks of 55 and 51 yards.
A 26-yard field goal by SDSU’s Hunter Dustman with no time left on the clock gave the Jackrabbits a 31-28 victory in their last trip to the UNI-Dome, on Nov. 5, 2022. SDSU held a 28-14 lead early in the third quarter before UNI rallied to tie the game with under five minutes to play.
YEAR 21 IN FCS: The 2024 season marks the 21st season South Dakota State has competed in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Since joining the Division I ranks in 2004, the Jackrabbits have compiled a 174-80 record (.685 winning percentage). In the decade of the 2020s, SDSU has put together a 51-8 record, which is good for an .864 winning percentage.
LEAGUE OPENERS: Despite all their success in league play, the Jackrabbits have had mixed results in MVFC openers, turning in a 9-7 mark in their initial league game over the past 16 seasons. However, the Jackrabbits have won five league openers in a row, including a 42-21 victory over North Dakota in their first MVFC game of 2023.
VALLEY SEASON NO. 17: The 2024 season is South Dakota State’s 17th as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Since joining the league in 2008, SDSU is the only program in that span to not have a losing season in conference play.
The Jackrabbits hold a 92-34 record (.730 winning percentage) in MVFC games and have won six or more league games eight times. SDSU has claimed the league title four times: previously earning a share of league titles in 2016 and during the 2020-21 spring season before running the table with an 8-0 record in conference play en route to outright conference championships in both 2022 and 2023.
PLAYOFF HISTORY: South Dakota State made its 14th postseason appearance in its football history in 2023, with 13 of those berths coming as a member of the Football Championship Subdivision. SDSU’s lone appearance in the NCAA Division II football playoffs came in 1979, when the Jacks dropped a 50-7 decision at Youngstown State.
The Jackrabbits have compiled a 22-12 record in the playoffs and made their 12th straight appearance in the FCS playoffs, including advancing to at least the semifinal round for the fourth season in a row and sixth time in the last seven seasons. SDSU made its first appearance in a national title game during the 2020-21 spring season, falling to Sam Houston, 23-21, then claimed its first-ever national championship in football with a 45-21 victory over North Dakota State in January 2023. The Jacks repeated as national champions during the 2023 campaign with a 23-3 victory over Montana.
SDSU advanced to the FCS national title game each of the three years it held the No. 1 overall seed in the playoff field (16 teams in 2020-21, 24 teams in 2022 & 2023).
ELITE COMPANY: Heading into the 2023 postseason, South Dakota State was one of only two Football Championship Subdivision programs to reach the playoffs each of the last 12 seasons. The Jackrabbits secured the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s automatic bid to the 2023 playoffs, assuring SDSU of its 12th consecutive postseason appearance and 13th overall at the FCS level.
MVFC rival North Dakota State holds the longest active streak with 14 consecutive trips to the playoffs after gaining an at-large berth to the 2023 tournament.
STREAKS CONTINUE: Although SDSU saw its long overall winning streak come to an end in the Aug. 31 season opener, the Jackrabbits still carry several other winning streaks into Saturday’s contest.
Dating back to the start of the 2022 season, the Jackrabbits have defeated 30 FCS opponents in a row, including winning 20 in a row against ranked foes from the FCS.
SDSU also holds a 23-game home winning streak, which includes a 7-0 mark in FCS playoff games. The Jackrabbits’ last loss at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium was a 26-17 defeat at the hands of Northern Iowa on Oct. 23, 2021.
The Jackrabbits’ 29-game overall winning streak that spanned between the 2022 and 2023 seasons was the third-longest in the history of the Football Championship Subdivision, which dates back to 1978.
RANKINGS STREAK: By being ranked first in the final Stats Perform FCS poll of the 2023 season and through the first six polls of the 2024 campaign, SDSU has now appeared in the top 25 of 165 consecutive media polls dating back to October 2012.
The Jackrabbits have not relinquished the top spot in the poll since ascending to that ranking on Oct. 17, 2022. SDSU held on to the ranking for the final seven surveys of the 2022 season and has extended its streak at No. 1 to 27 consecutive polls with its continued top billing in both 2024 rankings.
CAPTAINS: Leading the Jackrabbit football team are six captains:
- Dalys Beanum, Sr., Omaha, Nebraska;
- Adam Bock, Sr., linebacker, Solon, Iowa;
- Jarod DePriest, Sr., defensive tackle, Trivoli, Illinois;
- Mark Gronowski, Sr., quarterback, Naperville, Illinois;
- Tucker Large, Jr., safety, Sioux Falls;
- Gus Miller, Sr., offensive lineman, Brookings.
Bock and Gronowski are both in their third seasons in the role, while the other four captains are first-time captains.
VORHEES HONORED: South Dakota State running back Kirby Vorhees received conference and national honors following a three-touchdown performance Sept. 21 at Southeastern Louisiana.
A redshirt freshman from Lutz, Florida, Vorhees was named Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Week as well as Stats Perform FCS National Freshman Player of the Week after needing only five carries to rack up 179 rushing yards and score three touchdowns in the top-ranked Jackrabbits’ 41-0 road win.
Vorhees shed several would-be tacklers to score touchdowns of 20 and 22 yards on his first two rushing attempts in the second quarter, then broke through the line for an 80-yard touchdown on his first carry of the third quarter. His two other rushing attempts covered 39 and 18 yards, giving him an average of 35.8 yards per attempt.
As a team, the Jackrabbits rushed for 341 yards and five touchdowns.
Vorhees became the second Jackrabbit to earn an MVFC weekly award, joining senior guard Evan Beerntsen, who was honored Sept. 9 as Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS: South Dakota State was well-represented on the 2024 Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team with six selections. The honor squad was announced in early August and included first-team selections Mark Gronowski and Adam Bock from the Jackrabbits.
Gronowski, the reigning Walter Payton Award winner as the top offensive player in the FCS ranks a year ago, returns for his senior season after throwing for 3,058 yards and 29 touchdown against only five interceptions in 2023. The Naperville, Illinois, native led the FCS in quarterback rating at 179.67 while completing 68.1 percent(209-of-307) of his passes.
In addition, Gronowski ran for 402 yards and eight touchdowns in helping lead the Jackrabbits to a 15-0 record in 2023.
Gronowski is again on the Walter Payton Award Preseason Watch List, while Bock returns to the Buck Buchanan Award Preseason Watch List after being a finalist for the top defensive player in FCS in 2021.
A senior linebacker from Solon, Iowa, Bock ranked third on the team last season with 65 tackles despite missing five games due to injury. A two-time first-team all-Missouri Valley Football Conference selection and a second-team All-America honoree in 2021, Bock has tallied more than 300 career tackles.
Receiving second-team honors on the Stats Perform preseason squad were offensive lineman Gus Miller and punt returner Tucker Large. The FCS winner of the 2023 Rimington Award as the top center and a Brookings native, Miller played a key role within an offensive line that helped pave the way for the Jackrabbits to average 37.3 points and 449.9 yards of total offense per game.
Large, a junior from Sioux Falls, averaged 18.9 yards per punt return attempt last season and set an SDSU single-game record with 159 yards versus Drake. Also a starting safety for the Jackrabbits, Large ranked second on the team with four interceptions and added 49 tackles.
Rounding out the Jackrabbit contingent on the Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team were third-team honorees Dalys Beanum and Amar Johnson. Beanum, a senior cornerback from Omaha, is coming off a 2023 campaign in which he recorded a team-best five interceptions while also contributing 29 tackles and two pass breakups.
Johnson made the squad as an all-purpose back after ranking second on the team in 2023 with 1,205 all-purpose yards (80.3 ypg). A senior from O’Fallon, Missouri, Johnson finished second on the squad with 801 rushing yards (6.3 ypc), while also averaging 23.5 yards on kickoff returns and catching 12 passes for 122 yards.
GRONOWSKI A DUAL THREAT: South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski reached another milestone early in the 2024 season by accounting for the 100th touchdown of his career.
Gronowski enters Saturday’s game at Northern Iowa having been a part of 106 touchdowns — 76 passing, 29 rushing and 1 receiving. So far this season he has thrown six touchdown passes and rushed for two more, with both of his rushing TDs coming against Augustana on Sept. 14. He has accounted for at least one touchdown in 39 of 44 career starts. He had a streak of passing and rushing for a touchdown in 11 straight games come to an end Oct. 21, 2023, at Southern Illinois, but has accomplished the feat 22 times.
The Jackrabbits have a 40-4 record in Gronowski’s 44 career starts, including an 11-1 mark in postseason games. Coincidentally, he made his first career start in the 2020-21 spring season opener at Northern Iowa, leading the Jackrabbits on a game-winning touchdown drive in the closing minutes of a 24-20 victory at the UNI-Dome.
In addition, Gronowski moved into second place on the career total offense charts at SDSU in the 2024 home opener versus Incarnate Word. Now with 9,806 yards of total offense, he also ranks third in career passing yards with 8,345.
During the 2023, season, Gronowski became the third SDSU quarterback to top 5,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in his career, joining Taryn Christion (11,535 passing/1,515 rushing from 2015-18) and Ted Wahl (6,016 passing/1,229 rushing from 1985-88).
WILDE OFF TO FAST START: Sophomore wide receiver Griffin Wilde has turned in a series of strong performances to open the 2024 season.
In the season opener at Oklahoma State, Wilde established new career highs with seven receptions and 150 receiving yards. The Sioux Falls native scored his first touchdown of the season on a 60-yard pass play in the fourth quarter and added catches of 21 and 33 yards to set up the Jackrabbits’ first touchdown of the game. Six of his seven receptions went for at least 10 yards.
Wilde bettered his receptions total a week later in the Sept. 7 home opener versus Incarnate Word, hauling in 10 catches — on 10 targets — for 106 yards. He also recorded the first two-touchdown game of his young career, scoring on pass plays of 11 and 25 yards in the second half.
With team highs of 24 receptions and 306 receiving yards through four games, Wilde currently ranks 11th among Football Championship Subdivision receivers an average of 6.0 catches per game. He is tied for 22nd in the subdivision with three touchdown receptions and ranks 35th with an average of 76.5 receiving yards per game.
WOODS IMPRESSES IN DEBUT: True freshman Maxwell Woods turned in a strong all-around performance in his Sept. 14 collegiate debut versus Augustana.
The native of Carver, Minnesota, racked up 89 all-purpose yards on nine touches. He tallied 61 rushing yards on six carries, including breaking off a 44-yard run on his second carry of the night. Woods also contributed two receptions for nine yards and a kickoff return for 19 yards.
VORHEES JOINS CENTURY CLUB: In his breakout performance Sept. 21 at Southeastern Louisiana, Kirby Vorhees topped the 100-yard mark for the first time in his collegiate career. Vorhees ended the night with 179 yards on only five carries while scoring touchdowns on his first three attempts.
With his career night, Vorhees became the 19th different Jackrabbit player — 17 running backs and two quarterbacks — to rush for 100-plus yards in a game since SDSU moved to Division I at the start of the 2024 season. He entered the Sept. 21 game with 72 career rushing yards.
In all, Jackrabbit players have combined to rush for 100 or more yards in a game 155 times in the D-I era.
BOTH ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM: The Jackrabbits wrapped up the 2023 season by ranking in the top six of the Football Championship Subdivision in both scoring offense (sixth, 37.3 points per game) and scoring defense (first, 9.3 points per game). SDSU scored 20 or more points in 28 of the 29 games in their long winning streak and has now held the opposition to 10 points or less 11 times over the last two seasons.
The Jackrabbits pitched a shutout in three of their last six games of the 2023 season and added a 41-0 whitewashing of Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 21 for their fourth shutout in their last 10 games.
Overall, SDSU outscored the opposition, 146-15, in four playoff games last season, allowing only one touchdown.
OWNING THE THIRD: South Dakota State held a huge advantage coming out of the locker room at halftime by outscoring the opposition by a 123-14 margin in the third quarter of games last season. The Jackrabbits solidified that margin by outscoring Montana, 16-0, in the third stanza of the national championship game.
However, that trend was reversed in the 2024 season opener as Oklahoma State outscored the Jackrabbits, 21-7, in the third quarter of the Aug. 31 game. SDSU has since pulled out to a 42-28 in third-quarter scoring this season after tallying a 14-0 advantage Sept. 21 at Southeastern Louisiana.
MODELS OF EFFICIENCY: South Dakota State made 57 trips into the red zone during the 2023 season and came away with points 55 of those times for an FCS-best 96 percent efficiency rate. The Jacks scored a touchdown on 45 of those trips — 30 rushing, 15 passing — with 10 field goals.
SDSU went 13-for-14 in red-zone trips during the postseason, scoring nine touchdowns with four field goals. The Jackrabbits’ lone red-zone trip in which they did not score ended with a kneel-down to run out the clock against Villanova.
The Jacks had a streak over two seasons of scoring on 70 consecutive drives into the red zone come to end with an interception in the end zone early in the fourth quarter of the Oct. 21, 2023, game at Southern Illinois. Before that, the last time SDSU did not score when inside the opponent’s 20-yard line was on a missed field goal in the second quarter of their Oct. 1, 2022, game versus Western Illinois. SDSU had scored 57 touchdowns and kicked 13 field goals in that span.
In addition, the Jackrabbits led the FCS ranks in both third-down and fourth-down conversions on offense. SDSU converted on an FCS-best 53.5 percent (84-of-157) of its third-down attempts, highlighted by a 9-for-14 performance in the opening round of the playoffs against Mercer.
SDSU finished above 50 percent on third downs in the first six games of the season before being limited to a 4-for-12 performance Oct. 21 at Southern Illinois.
On fourth down, the Jackrabbits converted 9-of-11 times for 82 percent, including making good on their lone attempt in the Dec. 9 playoff matchup against Villanova.
So far this season, SDSU is 11-15 in red-zone trips with nine touchdowns and two of the trips ended with game-ending kneel-downs.
The Jacks have yet to convert on a fourth-down play this season, going 0-for-5, and are converting at a 44 percent clip (20-of-45) on third-down attempts.
PICKING OFF THE COMPETITION: The Jackrabbit defense has continually taken the ball away from the opposition in recent seasons, including leading the Football Championship Subdivision in interceptions two of the last three seasons while ranking second in 2023.
After leading the subdivision with 21 interceptions in 2021, SDSU tallied an FCS-best 18 interceptions in 2022, including two in that season’s national championship game against North Dakota State. Jackrabbit defenders recorded at least one interception in each of their 11 regular season games during the 2022 campaign.
Last year, the Jackrabbits hauled in 19 interceptions to rank second among FCS squads. SDSU tallied three interceptions in its 2023 season opener against Western Oregon (Colby Huerter, Tucker Large, Kolten Tilford) and again in the Dec. 15 semifinal playoff game versus UAlbany (Large, DyShawn Gales, Dalys Beanum).
Beanum recorded an interception in each of SDSU’s four playoff games. Seven of his 11 career interceptions have come in the postseason.
Dating back to the start of the 2018 season, the Jackrabbits have intercepted at least one pass in 67 of their last 85 games for a total of 109 pickoffs. Colby Humphrey came up with the Jackrabbits’ first interception of the season late in the first quarter of the Sept. 14 game versus Augustana, followed by interceptions by Colby Huerter and Steven Arrell in a 41-0 shutout victory Sept. 21 at Southeastern Louisiana.
MANY HAPPY RETURNS: South Dakota State raced out to a 28-0 lead a minute into the second quarter of its 2023 season opener against Western Oregon thanks to a pair of long interception returns for touchdowns by its starting safeties.
First, Colby Huerter hauled in an interception off a deflection by DyShawn Gales for a 54-yard return for touchdown. On the first play of the second quarter, Tucker Large picked off a pass and weaved his way through traffic for a 64-yard score.
It marked the fifth time in the Division I era of Jackrabbit football (since 2004) that SDSU returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the same game. The others:
- Sept. 29, 2007 vs. Stephen F. Austin – Jimmy Rogers (32 yards, Q2), Conrad Kjerstad (82, Q4);
- Nov. 10, 2007 vs. Southern Utah — Tyler Koch (45 and 99 yards in Q4);
- Oct. 1, 2016 vs. Western Illinois – Christian Rozeboom (37 yards, Q3), Dallas Brown (19, Q3);
- Nov. 27, 2021 vs. UC Davis — Adam Bock (39 yards, Q3), Dalys Beanum (59, Q4).
SDSU also scored two return touchdowns in the Dec. 15 semifinal victory against UAlbany when Tucker Large returned a punt 79 yards to the end zone midway through the second quarter and Jason Freeman scooped up a fumble on the second play of the second half and returned it 34 yards to push the Jackrabbit lead to 42-0.
BEANUM BOOSTS RETURN GAME: Starting cornerback Dalys Beanum has spelled an injured Tucker Large as the Jackrabbits’ primary punt returner this season and responded by returning a punt 88 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring in South Dakota State’s 41-0 victory at Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 21.
Beanum’s touchdown marked the longest punt return by a Jackrabbit since a 94-yarder for touchdown by Paul Aanonson in the 2007 Great West Football Conference title game against North Dakota State.
SDSU has now returned a punt for touchdown in three of its last seven games dating back to last season. Matthew Durrance blocked and returned a Villanova punt 45 yards for a score in the Football Championship Subdivision playoff quarterfinals on Dec. 9, 2023, followed by Large’s 79-yard touchdown return in the playoff semifinals on Dec. 15, 2023.
DOUBLE-DUTY DUSTMAN: Senior Hunter Dustman has figured prominently in the Jackrabbits’ special teams efforts the past two seasons.
A native of East Bethel, Minnesota, Dustman has handled both the kicking and punting duties for the Jackrabbits. As the placekicker, he has put together back-to-back 100-point seasons, scoring 113 points in 2022 and 122 points during the 2023 season. He made 18 field goals each of the past two seasons and has four so far during the 2024 campaign to stand fourth on the program career charts with 41 field goals.
In addition, Dustman set an SDSU single-season record with 68 extra points in 2023.
A four-time Missouri Valley Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week award winner, Dustman has averaged 42.1 yards on 138 career punts. He got off to a solid start to the 2024 season by making both of his field goal attempts (31 and 48 yards) and averaging 48 yards on three punts with a long of 53 Aug 31 at Oklahoma State.
NO PASSING, NO PROBLEM: South Dakota State mustered only 76 yards on 8-of-19 passing in its 41-0 shutout victory Sept. 21 at Southeastern Louisiana. The Jacks more than made up for their deficiency in the passing game by rushing for a season-high 341 yards.
The Jackrabbits’ 76 passing yards marked their lowest output through the air in a game since an 87-yard outing in the 2022 season opener at Iowa. It also was the fewest passing yards in an SDSU victory since throwing for a mere 70 yards in a 44-3 road win at Southern Illinois during the COVID-altered 2020-21 spring campaign.
FREUND JOINS COACHING STAFF: Danny Freund was hired as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in January 2024. He will share coordinator duties with Ryan Olson, who has been a member of the SDSU coaching staff since 2021 and will retain duties coaching the offensive line.
Freund spent the last dozen years coaching at the University of North Dakota, including serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach since 2018. He helped lead the Fighting Hawks to five FCS playoff appearances, as well as a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title during the 2020-21 spring season.
Prior to his role as offensive coordinator, Freund had stints coaching UND’s running backs, fullbacks and wide receivers. He also held the title of associate head coach during the 2023 season, when the Fighting Hawks averaged 34.1 points per game en route to a postseason berth. He was honored by RII Sports Technology with its GRAPHITE Award, which recognizes excellence and efficiency in play-calling.
Freund was a two-year team captain (2007, 2008) as UND made the transition from NCAA Division II, compiling a 16-6 record as the starting quarterback. He set multiple school passing records before embarking on his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2010. Freund returned to Grand Forks and UND in 2011.
THE 12TH MAN: South Dakota State benefited from large crowds throughout the 2023 regular season, averaging 18,208 fans after coming off a national championship.
The Jackrabbits drew their first of four sellout crowds last season when 19,332 fans came out for the Sept. 9 showdown against Montana State, which at the time tied for the second-largest attendance in the seven-year history of Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. The crowd played a big role in the game, helping factor in nine false-start penalties by Montana State in the game, including six in the final quarter.
The Nov. 4 Dakota Marker game against North Dakota State, which was a rematch from the 2022 FCS national championship game, drew a stadium-record 19,431 fans.
Two other crowds last season reached sellout status, with 19,357 fans clicking through the turnstiles for the Oct. 14 Hobo Day game versus Northern Iowa and a total of 19,231 fans in attendance for the Sept. 30 league opener with North Dakota.
SDSU also set program playoff attendance records in all three postseason games the Jackrabbits hosted, highlighted by a crowd of 12,265 for the semifinal game against UAlbany.
Large crowds are continuing to fill Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in 2024 as 19,321 fans — the seventh-largest crowd in stadium history — attened the Sept. 7 season opener. Another sell-out crowd of 19,376 filled the stands Sept. 14 against Augustana to make it the second-largest attendance on record.
The Oct. 12 Hobo Day game versus Youngstown State is expected to be sold out and the Oct. 26 Interstate Series contest versus in-state rival South Dakota isn fast approaching sellout status.
DANA J. DYKHOUSE STADIUM: Jackrabbit football moved into a new home in September of 2016 with the completion of Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
The stadium, which was constructed in phases on the site of SDSU’s previous home field, Coughlin-Alumni Stadium, seats 19,340 spectators and cost $65 million to build.
Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium is being funded through private gifts and long-term revenue streams, including concessions and suite, loge box and ticket sales. Bonds are financing nearly two-thirds of the project’s construction, with the remaining dollars coming from private support. Lead gifts totaling $12.5 million from former Jackrabbit football player and Sioux Falls banker Dana Dykhouse and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford were announced in October 2013.
The stadium officially opened Sept. 8, 2016, featuring a concert by country music stars Luke Bryan, Little Big Town and Lee Brice as part of the Jacks Bash opening weekend. The first football game was two days later, on Sept. 10, when the Jackrabbits defeated Drake, 56-28.
SDSU has gone on to post a 54-7 record at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium during its eight-plus seasons of operation, including a 14-1 mark in FCS playoff games. The Jacks’ current home winning streak is 22 games (including playoff games), with their last home loss a 26-17 setback to Northern Iowa on Oct. 23, 2021.
In 2023, the Jackrabbits completed their fourth undefeated season while playing at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, compiling a 9-0 record. SDSU previously posted perfect home records in 2018 (7-0), the 2020-21 spring season (5-0) and 2022 (9-0).
Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium was designed by Kansas City-based Crawford Architects, with the construction firm JE Dunn serving as the project manager at risk and Henry Carlson Company of Sioux Falls serving as general contractor.
JACKS IN THE PROS: Six former Jackrabbit standouts were on opening day rosters as the 2024 National Football League kicked off last month, continuing the Jackrabbits’ long tradition of developing players into pro prospects.
Headlining the list is tight end Dallas Goedert of the Philadelphia Eagles. After being selected in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft, Goedert has gone on to record 331 receptions for 3,890 yards and 22 touchdowns in seven seasons. In helping lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl during the 2022 season, Goedert caught 55 passes for 702 yards and three touchdowns. He currently leads the Eagles in both receptions (24) and receiving yards (301) during the 2024 season, including a career day of 10 catches for 170 yards Sept. 22 against New Orleans.
Also at tight end is second-year pro Tucker Kraft with the Green Bay Packers. A third-round pick in 2023, Kraft turned in a strong second half to his rookie season, finishing the year with 31 catches for 355 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He tallied two catches for 37 yards in a matchup against Goedert (4 catches, 31 yards) and the Eagles in the 2024 season opener that was played in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He enters Week 5 of the NFL season with 12 catches for 130 yards and found the end zone for the first time, along with a two-point conversion, against Minnesota on Sept. 29.
Linebacker Christian Rozeboom earned a Super Bowl ring with the Los Angeles Rams during the 2021 season. A member of the Rams’ practice squad in 2020, Rozeboom made his NFL debut with the Kansas City Chiefs early in 2021 before returning to Los Angeles and seeing action mostly on special teams for the Rams for the remainder of the regular season and postseason.
Rozeboom earned a starting spot in 2023 and ranked fourth on the team with 79 tackles while adding an interception. He has registered 34 tackles so far in 2024 to rank second on the team.
Running back Pierre Strong, Jr., who was drafted in 2022 by New England, is currently in his second year with the Cleveland Browns. He has three receptions for 30 yards and has rushed three times for five yards in two games so far this season. For his career, Strong has averaged 5.2 yards per carry while rushing for two touchdowns, and has caught 15 passes for 119 yards.
SDSU had two more players selected in the NFL Draft in 2024 when Mason McCormick was taken in the fourth round by Pittsburgh and Isaiah Davis was a fifth-round pick of the New York Jets.
McCormick made his first career start this past week in a game against Indianapolis while Davis has registered six yards on three carries and returned a kickoff 27 yards in limited action thus far in 2024.
Six others who played on both Jackrabbit national championship teams later signed as free agents: cornerback DyShawn Gales (Cleveland); offensive tackle Garret Greenfield (Seattle); tight end Zach Heins (Los Angeles Chargers); wide receivers Jadon and Jaxon Janke (Houston), and linebacker/safety Isaiah Stalbird (New Orleans). Greenfield and Stalbird were later assigned to their respective teams’ practice squads.
Stalbird has since been moved to the active roster and has been credited with two tackles in two games.
Headlining the list of Jackrabbit pro football alumni are Hall of Famer Jim Langer and the NFL’s career scoring leader, Adam Vinatieri.
Langer who played football at SDSU from 1967-69 and also was an All-American in baseball, played center on every offensive down during the Miami Dolphins’ perfect season in 1972. He was a first-team All-Pro four times and was selected to play in six Pro Bowl games. He played in three Super Bowl games with the Dolphins from 1970-79 before finishing his career with the Minnesota Vikings from 1980-81. Langer passed away in September 2019.
Vinatieri wrapped up his playing career after becoming the NFL’s all-time scoring leader in 2018 as a member of the Indianapolis Colts. Over Vinatieri’s 24 seasons from 1996-2019, his totals include NFL bests of 599-of-715 on field goal attempts, 83.8 percent, and 2,673 career points. He also ranks second in career extra points with 874.
In all, Vinatieri set 15 NFL records, including 21 100-point seasons.
ROGERS SHOW: The Jimmy Rogers Radio Show airs throughout the 2024 season.
The weekly, hour-long show originates in front of a live audience at 6 p.m. Mondays at Cubby’s Sports Bar and Grill in downtown Brookings. Hosted by Tyler Merriam, the show airs along the Jackrabbit Sports Network, including flagship station WNAX 570 AM, and can be heard through the Jackrabbit app and online at GoJacks.com.
Weekly segments include interviews with Jackrabbit coaches, student-athletes and others associated with SDSU football. Fans can submit questions through social media platforms and fans in attendance can register for weekly prizes.
A LOOK AHEAD: The Jackrabbits will play their first home game in nearly a month when they return home for the Oct. 12 Hobo Day game versus Youngstown State.
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.