BROOKINGS South Dakota State will continue to embark on the path toward winning back-to-back national titles on Saturday as the Jackrabbits host Villanova in the FCS quarterfinals at 11 a.m.
It will be the third time in seven years that the Jacks and Wildcats have met in the playoffs. SDSU beat Villanova 10-7 in Brookings in the second round in 2016 and the Jacks topped the Wildcats 35-21 in the quarterfinals in Philadelphia two years ago.
SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers said it will be a tough test for the Jacks on Saturday.
Many of these guys, especially on the offense, are still [at Villanova] from 2021 when we played them, and that was a tough game when we [went to Philadelphia]. So, our guys will be on edge and we will practice relentlessly to get this done. This will not be an easy game. Were well aware of that and we need to be ready to be our best this weekend, Rogers said.
A winning streak will be snapped on Saturday as the top-seeded Jackrabbits have won 26-straight games and the No. 8 seeded Wildcats have won seven in a row. SDSU shutout Mercer last weekend and Villanova beat Youngstown State 45-28.
GOING TO THE GAME?
What: FCS Quarterfinals
When: SATURDAY, 11 a.m.
Where: At Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings
The series (third meeting): The previous two meetings also came in the playoffs and SDSU won both.
2023 records: SDSU 12-0; Villanova10-2
TV: ESPN
Radio: AM 910 KJJQ
Game notes: The Jacks have won 26 straight games and the wildcats have won seven straight.
SDSU is top five in the FCS in both scoring offense and scoring defense. Villanova is top 10 in both total offense and total defense.
The Jacks have shutout two of their past three opponents in Mercer last week (41-0) and Youngstown State on Nov. 11 (34-0).
Villanova comes into the game with a 10-2 record and their losses this season were to FBS opponent Central Florida and No. 5 seeded UAlbany. The Wildcats are in the top 10 in both total offense (eighth) and total defense (seventh). They have an explosive offense as they lead the FCS in plays of 25 yards or more with 71, including seven in last weeks win.
Rogers said in order to limit the explosive plays the Jacks are going to have to make sure they keep an eye on where the ball is at all times.
Everybody has to do their job and make sure they dont lose their eyes. [Villanova] does a good job of doing some unique things, but also are really balanced. Our defense has to do a good job, just like I say every week, of keeping leverage on the ball, tackling in the open space, attacking the ball in the air and not losing our eyes in coverage, Rogers said.
Villanova is ninth in rushing in the FCS, averaging 220.3 yards per game. The Wildcats ground attack is led by a pair of running backs in Jalen Jackson and DeeWil Barlee. Jackson has 914 yards and eight touchdowns and Barlee has 658 yards and six touchdowns. Quarterback Connor Watkins also has 328 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.
Watkins has thrown for 2,607 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions, while completing 58.17% of his passes. His main target has been Rayjuon Pringle, who has 955 yards and eight touchdowns this season. Jaylan Sanchez also has 716 yards and six touchdowns. Each of them are averaging over 25 yards per catch.
Rogers said both phases of the Wildcat offense will be tough to match up against.
They have a really good quarterback. I think the quarterback does a good job of taking whats given to him and then he has the ability to run and create on his own. And then they have elite wide receivers, some of the best that weve seen this far. I think the running backs as a whole have just gotten better. Two of those guys were guys that took carries the last time we played them, Rogers said.
As explosive as the Wildcat offense has been, theyll be going up against the top defense in the country on Saturday. SDSU is first in the FCS in total defense, giving up 256.8 yards per game and first in scoring defense, giving up just 10.3 points per game.
The Jackrabbits have shutout two of their last three opponents and SDSU sophomore safety Tucker Large said hes seen the defense slowly get to its best gear as theyve entered the playoffs.
Weve slowly just molded into our best selves. Its the playoffs now, so we have to be playing our best ball. Theres eight teams left and we just have to keep playing our best ball, he said.
SDSU quarterback Mark Gronowski did not play against the Wildcats in 2021 as he missed the whole season due to a knee injury. However, he was with the team and watched film that season and he said the Wildcats defense looks fairly similar to two years ago and SDSU will need to get out to a fast start.
They pretty much run the same defense as they did two years ago. I know we struggled with them in the first half the last time we played them. We just have to be ready to go from the start and be ready to go right away. If you let a team hang around, theyre going to think that they have some life in them and theyre going to be fighting harder. But if you get them on their heels early, teams end up quitting pretty quick, Gronowski said.
The Jackrabbit offense has been great for most of the season, but has specifically kicked things into high gear over the past five games. Theyve averaged 36 points and have averaged 475.7 yards of offense in that span.
SDSU has a number of seniors that came back for a fifth or sixth year after the program won its first national title last season. The goal since the end of last years national championship has been to go back-to-back, but Gronowski said theres an extra emphasis on getting that second national title since SDSU has so many players that came back for one last ride.
Weve been really enjoying these past couple weeks together and all weve been fighting for is just five more days with each other. We have to fight for each other. These are a lot of guys that Ive grown up in the program with and they treated me like one of their own when I was a freshman and they were upperclassmen. Its really cool to see how theyve grown as players and as people. I mean, were just trying to fight for five more days for them each week, Gronowski said.
The winner of Saturdays matchup will play the winner of No. 4 seeded Idaho and No. 5 seeded UAlbany. You can watch the game on ESPN or listen to the game on AM 910 KJJQ.
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