For the second time in three weeks, South Dakota State will host Northern Iowa in football action at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
This time, the Jackrabbits and Panthers will meet with a berth in the Football Championship Subdivision playoff quarterfinals at stake. Kickoff for Saturday’s second-round matchup is set for 1 p.m., with television coverage available through ESPN3.com and radio coverage via three stations in Sioux Falls:
FM 105.1, FM 107.9 and AM-1320 KELO.
Hear coach John Stiegelmeier preview the game with KWSN’s “Craig & John” by clicking here.
Hear SDSU writer Matt Zimmer of the Argus Leader with KWSN’s “Craig & John” by clicking here.
SDSU enters its 2019 playoff opener with an 8-4 overall record. The Jackrabbits are seeded seventh in the 24-team field, earning a top-eight seed for the fourth year in a row.
Northern Iowa improved to 9-4 overall with a 17-3 home victory over San Diego in first-round action Nov. 30 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The winner of Saturday’s game will advance to the FCS quarterfinals next week, facing the winner between the No. 2 James Madison and Monmouth.
THE SERIES: Saturday’s game marks the 56th meeting between meeting on the gridiron between South Dakota State and Northern Iowa. 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 31-22-2 advantage in the series, including a 9-6 advantage since SDSU joined the Football Championship Subdivision in 2004.
In this season’s first meeting, Nov. 16 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, SDSU forced four Panther turnovers and pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 38-7 victory. The Jackrabbits outscored UNI, 31-7, in the second half, including 21-0 in the fourth quarter.
The two teams have met one other time in the FCS playoffs as SDSU recorded a 37-22 second-round victory on its home field in 2017. With that win, the Jackrabbits avenged a loss to UNI in the regular season.
ELITE COMPANY: South Dakota State is one of only two Football Championship Subdivision programs to reach the playoffs each of the last eight seasons, including making back-to-back national semifinal appearances in 2017 and 2018. North Dakota State holds the longest active streak with 10 straight trips to the playoffs.
100 FCS WINS: South Dakota State recorded its 100th win as a Football Championship Subdivision program with a 62-30 victory at Missouri State on Oct. 21, 2017. Since moving to the FCS ranks at the start of the 2004 season, the Jackrabbits have posted a 124-71 overall record (.636 winning percentage).
SDSU has now turned in a winning record in 14 of 16 full seasons as an FCS?member and has compiled a 66-30 mark (.688 winning percentage) in Missouri Valley Football Conference games.
ANOTHER WINNING SEASON: With an 8-4 record so far in 2019, the Jackrabbits have secured their eighth consecutive winning season.
Since finishing with back-to-back 5-6 overall records in 2010 and 2011, SDSU has compiled a combined 73-32 record since the start of the 2012 campaign, including posting 11 wins in 2017 and 10 victories in 2018 en route to semifinal appearances in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
SDSU also put together a string of eight consecutive winning seasons from 2002-2009. The 2002 and 2003 seasons were played at the NCAA Division II level before moving to the FCS ranks in 2004.
The program’s longest streak for consecutive winning seasons is nine, from 1913-22. No games were played in 1918 due to World War I.
RABBITS RANKED: The South Dakota State University football team matched its highest-ever ranking in a preseason poll by checking in at No. 3 in the initial STATS FCS media poll of the 2019 season.
The Jackrabbits also were ranked fourth in the preseason coaches’ poll conducted by the American Football Coaches Association.
The Jackrabbits maintained a top-five ranking for all but two weeks during the 2019 season, falling to 10th (STATS) and 12th (coaches) following their Nov. 23 loss at South Dakota. SDSU first fell out of the top five after its Nov. 9 loss to Illinois State, but moved back into the top five following its convincing win over Northern Iowa a week later.
SDSU has now appeared in the top 25 of 105 consecutive media polls dating back to October 2012.
SCORING STREAK: SDSU had its streak of scoring in 17 consecutive quarters end when it was shut out in the second quarter of the Oct. 12 game at Youngstown State. The Jackrabbits have scored in 40 of 48 quarters thus far this season.
Dating back to the start of the 2018 season, the Jacks have scored in all four quarters in 15 of their last 18 victories and have averaged 37.2 points per game. In their seven losses over that span, SDSU has been blanked in two quarters of a loss four times.
CAPTAINS: Leading the Jackrabbit football team on the field and in the locker room are six captains:
Adam Anderson, Sr., wide receiver, Orlando, Fla.;
Logan Backhaus, Jr., linebacker, Spirit Lake, Iowa;
Ryan Earith, Sr., defensive end, Papillion, Neb.;
Evan Greeneway, Sr., offensive lineman, Yankton, S.D.;
Christian Rozeboom, Sr., linebacker, Sioux Center, Iowa, and
Luke Sellers, Sr., fullback, Papillion, Neb.
Rozeboom is in his third season as a captain, joining Austin Sumner (2012-14) and Jacob Ohnesorge (2015-17) as the only other three-time captains in program history. All five other captains are in their first seasons in the role.
HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE: South Dakota State had its 15-game home winning streak snapped in a 23-16 loss to top-ranked North Dakota State on Oct. 26. The streak began Nov. 4, 2017, with a 33-21 victory over NDSU and included three Football Championship Subdivision playoff games.
Since Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium opened in 2016, the Jackrabbits have gone on to compile a 25-4 record (.862 winning percentage) on their home field. This year’s Dakota Marker Game crowd set a stadium attendance record of 19,371.
Overall, SDSU is 4-0 in playoff games at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium and 5-0 at home in the postseason all-time.
Home Playoff Game Results
2012: SDSU 58, Eastern Illinois 10 (played at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium)
2016: SDSU 10, Villanova 7
2017: SDSU 37, Northern Iowa 22
2017: SDSU 56, New Hampshire 14
2018: SDSU 51, Duquesne 6
POSTSEASON AWARDS: Numerous South Dakota State University football players have been honored this week on honor squads announced by the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
All-Conference Team
All-Newcomer Team
All-Academic Team
HEIDE NEARLY PERFECT: South Dakota State University quarterback Keaton Heide turned in a record-setting performance throwing the football in the Jackrabbits’ Nov. 16 victory against Northern Iowa.
A freshman from Wayzata, Minnesota, Heide completed his first 14 pass attempts and finished the game 15-of-16 for 196 yards and two touchdowns as SDSU pulled away to win 38-7. His passing streak broke the Jackrabbit Division I standard of 11 consecutive completions to start a game by Taryn Christion versus Drake in 2016, and also marked the most consecutive completions by any MVFC quarterback since 2013. Heide’s touchdown passes covered 10 yards to Jaxon Janke in the third quarter and 20 yards to Cade Johnson in a 21-point fourth quarter. Heide also connected with Johnson on a 65-yard pass play to set up SDSU’s first touchdown of the game early in the second quarter.
Heide followed that performance by passing for a career-best 308 yards by making good on 26-of-35 passes, including two touchdowns.
On Nov. 2, Heide became the third different quarterback to start a game for the Jackrabbits this season as he took over the signal-caller duties at Missouri State.
Redshirt freshman J’Bore Gibbs started six games for the Jackrabbits before being sidelined by injury in the Oct. 26 game against North Dakota State. Junior Kanin Nelson started two games in September, helping lead SDSU to wins over Long Island and Drake.
Prior to the 2019 season, Taryn Christion started 41 consecutive games for the Jackrabbits at quarterback. Christion began his streak in a 2015 playoff game at Montana and helped lead the Jackrabbits to a combined 30-10 record over the next three seasons.
JOHNSON MOVES INTO TOP 10s: Jackrabbit wide receiver Cade Johnson now is a part of the career top 10 in all three major receiving categories in program history. With a career-best 11-reception performance Nov. 9 against Illinois State, Johnson vaulted into the SDSU top 10 for career receptions and enters the week in sixth place with 157.
Johnson also ranks third all-time at SDSU for receiving touchdowns (28) and fifth in receiving yards (2,837). He enters the weekend with 1,187 receiving yards for the season, becoming the fourth Jackrabbit to record consecutive 1,000-yard campaigns in the Nov. 16 game against Northern Iowa. The junior from Papillion, Nebraska, tallied 1,332 receiving yards on 67 catches with a single-season school-record 17 touchdowns in 2018. He has matched his receptions total from a year ago with 67 thus far in 2019.
The other Jackrabbits to post consecutive 1,000-yard seasons on the receiving front are:
Jeff Tiefenthaler 1985 (1,056 yards) and 1986 (1,534)
Jake Wieneke, 2014 (1,404); 2015 (1,472); and 2016 (1,316), and
Dallas Goedert, 2016 (1,293) and 2017 (1,111).
Johnson’s 89-yard touchdown catch and run in the fourth quarter of the Nov. 2 game at Missouri State was the 27th of his career, which broke a tie with Josh Davis (2002-05) for sole possession of third place in SDSU history. Johnson has caught a touchdown pass in eight of the last 10 games.
The 89-yard touchdown at Missouri State came on a forward pitch from running back Pierre Strong, Jr., and was the longest pass play by the Jackrabbits since Austin Sumner connected with Jake Wieneke on a 91-yard touchdown on Nov. 8, 2014, at Indiana State.
DANIEL FINDS PAYDIRT: Senior running back Mikey Daniel scored a rushing touchdown in the first four games of the 2019 season, vaulting the Brookings native into the Jackrabbit career top 10 in the category.
After scoring on a 27-yard run in the Nov. 23 regular season finale at South Dakota, Daniel enters Saturday’s game with 29 career rushing touchdowns — a total that ties him with Anthony Watson (2003-06) for seventh place in program history.
Daniel led the team with 11 rushing touchdowns in 2017 and ranked second on the squad a year ago with 10. His seven rushing touchdowns this season also rank second.
VINATIERI SETS SCORING RECORD: Senior Chase Vinatieri established a new Jackrabbit career standard for most points via kicking in South Dakota State’s Oct. 5 Hobo Day victory over Southern Illinois. With four points in the game, Vinatieri upped his career total to 322 kicking points, passing both Justin Syrovatka (319 points from 2011-14) and Parker Douglass (321 points from 2004-07) in the contest.
Vinatieri has made 46 field goals and has tallied a school-record 220 extra points in his four-year career to now stand at 358 career kicking points. His career scoring total is actually 370 points as he has scored a pair of rushing touchdowns on fake field goal attempts — at Montana State in 2017 and versus Indiana State in a 2018 game at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
Vinatieri put together consecutive 100-point seasons in 2017 and 2018 with respective totals of 103 and 114 points.
Prior to Douglass setting the career kick scoring record, Chase Vinatieri’s uncle, Adam, held the record with 185 points from 1991-94. Adam Vinatieri has since gone on to set the NFL career scoring record with 2,673 points while playing for the New England Patriots (1996-2005) and Indianapolis Colts (2006-present).
TWO TOP 100: South Dakota State produced a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game for the first time in three seasons in its 38-10 victory over Drake on Sept. 14. Pierre Strong, Jr. led the way for the Jackrabbits with 129 yards on 11 carries, while C.J. Wilson added 117 yards on 10 attempts.
Both sophomores, Strong reached the century mark for the sixth time in his career, with Wilson hitting the milestone for the second time.
The Jackrabbits last had two 100-yard rushers in the same game on Nov. 12, 2016, in a home win over South Dakota as Brady Mengarelli (161 yards) and Isaac Wallace (102 yards) accomplished the feat.
Mikey Daniel became the third SDSU back this season to rush for 100 yards, posting a career-high 125 yards on 17 carries in the Nov. 23 regular season finale at South Dakota.
STRONG RUNNING: South Dakota State running back Pierre Strong, Jr. reached the 1,000-yard mark in rushing for the second year in a row during the Jackrabbits’ Nov. 9 game against Illinois State. However, the sophomore from Little Rock, Arkansas, was injured in the Nov. 16 victory over Northern Iowa and his status for this week’s game is in question after sitting out the regular season finale.
Strong has topped the 100-yard mark four times this season, including back-to-back games against Indiana State (144 yards) and North Dakota State (120 yards), and nine times during his career.
After gaining 1,116 yards en route to being named MVFC Freshman of the Year in 2018, Strong is only the seventh player in SDSU history to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons and the first to do it since Zach Zenner, who hit the 2,000-yard mark in three consecutive years (2012-14).
Following is the complete list of Jackrabbit running backs to post consecutive 1,000-yard seasons:
Pete Retzlaff, 1951 (1,016 yards) and 1952 (1,008)
Darwin Gonnerman, 1967 (1,023) and 1968 (1,023)
Les Tuma, 1972 (1,061) and 1973 (1,052)
Josh Ranek, 1998 (1,881) and 1999 (2,055)
Kyle Minett, 2008 (1,289), 2009 (1,304) and 2010 (1,208)
Zach Zenner, 2012 (2,044), 2013 (2,015) and 2014 (2,019)
Pierre Strong, Jr., 2018 (1,116), 2019 (1,004)
GETTING DEFENSIVE: South Dakota State limited Long Island University to 123 yards of total offense and only eight first downs in a 38-3 victory on Sept. 7. That was the lowest yardage total surrendered by the Jackrabbits since giving up a mere 90 yards to Indiana State on Sept. 19, 2009. The eight LIU first downs were the fewest by an opponent since the 2018 home opener, when Montana State managed only six first downs against the SDSU defense.
The Jackrabbits currently rank sixth among FCS teams in scoring defense (17.0 points per game allowed) and ninth in total defense (299.5 yards per game allowed). SDSU has held four opponents to one touchdown in a game and has limited the opposition to less than 300 yards of total offense five times in 2019.
In addition, the Jackrabbit defense has held an opponent to less than 100 passing yards on three occasions, including an 85-yard performance by Northern Iowa on Nov. 16.
PICK-SIX: Junior cornerback Don Gardner turned his first career interception into a 42-yard return for touchdown to spark the Jackrabbits’ comeback victory at Youngstown State on Oct. 12. His interception return for touchdown was the second by an SDSU player this season.
Gardner added a 24-yard fumble return for touchdown to spark a 21-point fourth quarter in the 38-7 regular season win over Northern Iowa.
Senior linebacker Christian Rozeboom recorded SDSU’s first pick-six this season in the Jackrabbits’ 43-7 victory over Southern Utah on Sept. 21. His touchdown was part of a 15-point third quarter by the Jackrabbits and covered 27 yards.
The interception return for touchdown by Rozeboom versus SUU was the second of his career. His first career interception return for touchdown came against Western Illinois in the 2016 conference opener and covered 37 yards. Rozeboom and fellow linebacker Logan Backhaus lead active Jackrabbit players with eight interceptions.
As a team, the Jackrabbits have tallied at least one interception in all 12 games this season and 18 of 19 games dating back to the 2018 campaign. SDSU intercepted a season-high three passes versus Northern Iowa in their first meeting Nov. 16.
The Jackrabbits rank fourth among FCS programs with 17 interceptions this season. The interceptions have been spread among 10 different players, with linebacker Logan Backhaus and safety Michael Griffin II sharing the team lead with three.
WINNING THIRD DOWN: South Dakota State limited Southern Illinois to 1-of-14 on third-down attempts in their Oct. 5 matchup at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. It marked the first time the Jackrabbits held an opponent to one third-down conversion in a game since a 1-for-13 effort against Northern Arizona in a 2013 playoff game.
SDSU nearly duplicated the feat a month later at Missouri State, holding the Bears to 2-for-13 on third-down attempts in their Nov. 2 matchup.
For the season, the Jackrabbits have limited their opponents to a 34 percent (58-of-173) success rate on third-down attempts.
Offensively, SDSU is converting 43 percent of its third-down attempts, 60-of-140. The Jackrabbits were successful on their final six third-down attempts in the Oct. 12 road win at Youngstown State.
SACK ATTACK: South Dakota State ranks 24th among FCS programs with 32 sacks through 12 games — an average of 2.67 per game. The Jackrabbits notched a season-high eight sacks Oct. 19 at Indiana State, which was the most in a game by an SDSU squad since tallying nine in the 2009 season opener against Georgia Southern.
Thirteen different Jackrabbit players have recorded at least a half-sack this season. Sophomore defensive end Reece Winkelman leads the team with 5.5 sacks, followed by freshman defensive end Quinton Hicks with 4.5. Ryan Earith and Xavier Ward are tied for third on the squad with four sacks each.
LIMITED RETURNS: South Dakota State has all but eliminated the return game punts this season. Opponents have minus-2 yards on six punt returns (in 44 punts) this season, allowing the Jackrabbits lead all FCS programs for punt return defense with an average of -0.33 yards per return this season.
The longest punt return allowed by SDSU this season was eight yards in the Aug. 29 season opener at Minnesota. The Jackrabbits also rank 14th in net punting at 39.25 yards per attempt, with punter Ben Dinkel ranking 30th individually with an average of 41.5 yards per punt.
SDSU also ranks eighth in kickoff return defense with an average of 15.84 yards allowed per attempt this season.
BLOCK THAT KICK: The Jackrabbits recorded their first blocked kick of the 2019 season as Tyler DeMartra blocked a Drake punt in the third quarter of their Sept. 14 game. SDSU went on to block three more kicks — one punt and two field goals — a week later versus Southern Utah.The punt, which was blocked by Jadon Janke, resulted in a safety. Xavier Ward and Logan Backhaus were credited with the blocked field goals.
After blocking a North Dakota State field goal attempt on Oct. 26, SDSU enters this week ranked ninth for the most blocked kicks by a Football Championship Subdivision team this season with five.
SDSU has been strong on special teams in recent years, including ranking third in the Football Championship Subdivision during the 2018 season with eight blocked kicks.
Seven Wilson led the way with three blocked kicks, including a pair of blocked punts in the FCS?playoff opener against Duquesne. Krockett Krolikowski was credited with a pair of blocked kicks.
CLIMBING THE LADDER: South Dakota State head coach John Stiegelmeier is steadily moving up the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s career victories list.
With the Jackrabbits’ 38-7 victory over Northern Iowa on Nov. 16, Stiegelmeier broke a tie with former MSU and Northern Iowa mentor Terry Allen for second place in career league wins with 66. Stiegelmeier has led the Jackrabbits to a 66-30 record (.688 winning percentage) in MVFC games.
Stiegelmeier also stands with 98 victories over the 12 seasons SDSU has been a member of the MVFC, starting in 2008.That ties him for third place among league coaches for all-time wins as a league member with Randy Ball, who coached both Western Illinois (1990-98) and Missouri State (1999-2005).
Northern Iowa’s Mark Farley leads both categories with 156 overall wins and 99 league victories in 19 seasons, starting in 2001. Allen is second in overall wins with 112.
ECK HONORED: South Dakota State University offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Jason Eck was named in November as the 2019 recipient of the Football Championship Subdivision Assistant Coach of the Year Award by the American Football Coaches Association.
One assistant coach from each of the five divisions of college football was selected for their dedication to their teams and communities. A total of 53 nominees from the Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Championship Subdivision, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA were nominated in 2019.
Eck is in his first season as the Jackrabbits’ offensive coordinator after previously serving as offensive line coach and run game coordinator since joining the staff in 2016. SDSU has compiled a 38-13 record over the past four seasons and is in line for its eighth consecutive postseason appearance in 2019. The Jackrabbits led the nation in yards per play during the 2018 season and are currently averaging 32.3 points and 400.2 yards of total offense per game. SDSU ranks 17th among FCS teams in rushing with an average of 212 yards per game.
In addition, Eck has led efforts for the Jackrabbit football team’s annual “Get in the Game” bone marrow donor registry drive through Be the Match and the Andy Talley Bone Marrow Foundation. He has served on the AFCA’s Awards-General Session Committee and has been a presenter at the organization’s annual convention.
The Assistant Coach of the Year award was first presented in 1997 and was created to honor assistant coaches who excel in community service, commitment to the student-athlete, on-field coaching success and AFCA professional organization involvement.
GREENEWAY REPEATS ON ACADEMIC TEAM: South Dakota State University offensive lineman Evan Greeneway was named Nov. 14 to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 Team.
A senior tackle from Yankton, Greeneway was a repeat selection to the honor squad after compiling a 3.73 undergraduate grade-point average as a civil engineering major. Greeneway, who is in his first semester of graduate school, will advance to the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration in December.
Selections to the Academic All-District 6 Football Team were based upon a vote of sports information directors in Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Candidates must be at least a sophomore in athletic and academic standing, a starter or key reserve on his team and carry at least a 3.3 GPA. Team members, from both Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision programs, are selected by position with a total of 26 players from 14 different institutions named to the squad.
JACKRABBIT BLOODLINES: Several South Dakota State football players have strong family ties to South Dakota State Athletics.
• Fullback Turner Blasius’ father, Justin, was an NCAA Division II national wrestling champion in 1994.
• Senior wide receiver Jacob Brown is the younger brother of Jordan Brown, who was an All-America selection in 2018 and who was selected in the seventh round of the 2019 National Football League draft by the Cincinnati Bengals.
• Senior kicker Chase Vinatieri is the nephew of former Jackrabbit and NFL career scoring leader Adam Vinatieri, currently of the Indianapolis Colts. Chase Vinatieri made 13-of-14 field goal attempts during the 2017 season to lead the nation in field goal percentage (.929). He shares the SDSU record for longest field goal at 57 yards, a feat he accomplished in a game last season at Northern Iowa.
• Identical twins Jadon and Jaxon Janke are redshirt freshman wide receivers for the Jackrabbits this season.
JACKS IN THE PROS: At the start of the 2019 football season, two former South Dakota State standouts were on the opening day rosters of National Football League teams, continuing the Jackrabbits’ long tradition of developing players into pro prospects.
Headlining the list is Adam Vinatieri of the Indianapolis Colts. Vinatieri became the NFL career scoring leader during the 2018 season — his 23rd in the league. His career totals include 599-of-715 on field goal attempts, 83.8 percent, and 2,673 career points. He holds the career field goals record and ranks second in career extra points with 874.
Currently the oldest player in the NFL at age 46, Vinatieri now holds the all-time NFL record with 21 100-point seasons. In all, he holds 16 NFL records.
Vinatieri has earned a reputation as one the most consistent and clutch kickers in the NFL. After two Pro Bowl selections (2002, 2004), he left New England following the 2005 season as the team’s career scoring leader with 1,058 points. In 2015, he became the first player in NFL to score 1,000 points for two different teams.
Where Vinatieri has truly excelled is in the postseason. He holds the distinction of being the only kicker in NFL history to play in five different Super Bowl games, and made a field goal in four of those contests. He kicked last-second game-winning field goals in Super Bowl XXXVI against St. Louis and Super Bowl XXXVIII versus Carolina, as well as a game-tying 45-yard field goal in a snowstorm versus Oakland in the 2001 AFC?Playoffs. In 32 postseason games, Vinatieri’s totals include 56-of-69 on field goals, and he shares the NFL?single-game postseason record with five field goals — a feat he has accomplished twice. Vinatieri’s field goal totals also are NFL postseason records, as are his 238 points.
In his second year with the Philadelphia Eagles is tight end Dallas Goedert, who became the first Jackrabbit selected in the NFL Draft in eight years as he was a second-round pick by the defending Super Bowl champions in 2018.
Goedert played in all 16 games for the Eagles in his rookie season, collecting 33 receptions for 334 yards with four touchdowns. So far this season, Goedert has 37 receptions for 355 yards and has scored four touchdowns.
After being released at the end of training camp by the Detroit Lions, running back Zach Zenner has had stints with the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals in recent weeks.
During a highly decorated career at SDSU from 2011-14, Zenner became the first player in the history of Division I football to rush for 2,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. He signed a free agent contract with the Detroit Lions following the 2015 NFL Draft and played in 36 games over four seasons.
Zenner finished the 2016 season with a team-best four rushing touchdowns and ranked second on the squad with 334 rushing yards. In 2018, Zenner rejoined the team in November after being released earlier in the season and tallied 265 yards with three touchdowns, posting a career-best 4.8 yards per carry.
Former Jackrabbit quarterback Taryn Christion recently spent a week on the practice squad of the Pittsburgh Steelers after competing in training camp with the Dallas Cowboys this summer after signing as an undrafted rookie free agent. Christion has since been drafted by the upstart XFL’s Los Angeles Wildcats, while defensive tackle Kellen Soulek was claimed by the league’s St. Louis BattleHawks.
Three other former Jackrabbits were in training camps this summer with NFL teams, but were later released, including offensive lineman Bryan Witzmann. A standout for the Jackrabbits from 2010-13, Witzmann was with Cleveland in training camp and has since been signed by the Carolina Panthers. He played the second half of the 2018 season for the Chicago Bears. Previously with Kansas City, Witzmann earned a starting role with the Chiefs in 2017 — his second year with the team. He also has spent time with Houston, New Orleans, Dallas and Minnesota.
Making his professional debut in 2019 was cornerback Jordan Brown, who was released despite being a seventh-round draft choice by the Cincinnati Bengals. His selection marked the first time the Jackrabbits had players drafted in back-to-back seasons since 1975-76.
Brown has since been signed to the practice squad of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Also signing a rookie free agent contract shortly before the start of training camp was offensive lineman Tiano Pupungatoa with the Minnesota Vikings.
In addition, offensive lineman Jacob Ohnesorge played in the short-lived Alliance of American Football for the Arizona Hotshots and later earned a tryout with the Arizona Cardinals, while wide receiver Jake Wieneke led the Montreal Allouettes of the Canadian Football League in touchdown receptions this season with eight.
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 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 superstars 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 25-4 record at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium during its first four seasons of operation, including a 4-0 mark in Football Championship Subdivision playoff games. The Jackrabbits went undefeated at home in 2018 with a 7-0 mark and won 15 games in a row at DJDS before being downed by North Dakota State, 23-16, on Oct. 26, 2019. The stadium attendance record of 19,371 was set that day.
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. The stadium won the 2017 Alliant Build America Award from the Associated General Contractors of America South Dakota Building Chapter.
STIG SHOW: The John Stiegelmeier Radio Show airs each Monday throughout the 2019 football season.
The show is scheduled to air at 6 p.m. on the Jackrabbit Sports Network, originating with flagship station WNAX 570 AM in Yankton. In addition, the weekly show also will be streamed online free of charge at GoJacks.com.
Hosted by Tyler Merriam, the John Stiegelmeier Radio Show will also feature interviews with Jackrabbit student-athletes and assistant coaches. Jackrabbit fans are encouraged to attend the show in person at Cubby’s Sports Bar and Grill, 307 Main Ave., in downtown Brookings.
A LOOK AHEAD: Should the Jackrabbits win Saturday, they will advance to the FCS quarterfinals, which will be will be held either Dec. 13 or 14. SDSU would face the winner between second-seeded James Madison and Monmouth. Locations and game times for the quarterfinals will be announced following the conclusion of Saturday’s playoff games.
