BROOKINGS South Dakota State will be heading to Frisco for the third time in the past four seasons as the Jackrabbits blew out UAlbany 59-0 in the FCS semifinals on Friday night.
That was an awesome win, said SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers. It was a dominating victory in really every phase of the game for us.
SDSU, who has now won 28-straight games, dominated from the opening whistle as the Jacks scored five touchdowns in their first six possessions and led 35-0 at halftime. SDSU junior quarterback Mark Gronowski said the Jacks came into the game with extra motivation and confidence because a lot of the players would be playing their last game in Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
I think it was just the seniors. They were motivated to play in their final game at [home] and all of them shined out today and we were just having fun out there today. When the energy started coming and all of those fans started coming into the building, you could really start to feel it. We were all super confident, Gronowski said.
SDSU went 74 yards in 11 plays on its first drive and it was capped off with a six-yard touchdown pass from Mark Gronowski to Zach Heins. That put SDSU up 7-0 just under seven minutes into the game.
UAlbany worked its way into Jackrabbit territory on its first drive but Tucker Large came up with an interception on third down and the Jacks took over at their own 42. Gronowski then connected with Jadon Janke for a 40-yard gain and that put SDSU in the red zone again. Three plays later Isaiah Davis trotted into the end zone untouched from three yards out to make it 14-0 with just over two minutes left in the quarter.
SDSU got the ball back in the second quarter and made it look easy once again. Mark Gronowski ran for 32 yards inside the UAlbany five yard line and the next play Isaiah Davis ran over a Great Dane defender and dragged him into the end zone. That put SDSU up 21-0 just under four minutes into the second quarter.
Davis finished the day with 107 yards on 15 carries. It was the seventh-straight playoff game that he went over 100 yards.
The Jackrabbit defense forced another punt and it was Large who made a big play once again. He picked up the punt off a bounce and made the first man miss and took it 79 yards to the house to make it 28-0 with eight minutes left in the first half and the Jacks could sense that they had already broken the spirit of their opponent.
I was debating [picking the ball up], but it kind of just bounced right to me and I saw it bounce and saw the long snapper coming in front of me and I thought I could make him miss, Large said. Then I just followed some blocks and went down the sidelines and ended up scoring.
The only blemish of the first half came after DyShawn Gales intercepted Poffenbarger. SDSU worked its way into UAlbany territory but had to settle for a field goal. Hunter Dustman came on for a 50-yard attempt and it was blocked.
However, the Jackrabbit defense would get the ball back for the offense and that would allow SDSU to score more points before the end of the half. Dalys Beanum had the third interception of the half for the Jacks and Gronowski then found Jadon Janke for a 36-yard touchdown to make it 35-0 at halftime.
The Jackrabbit defense would then get in on the scoring. UAlbany got the ball to start the second half and Isaiah Stalbird forced a fumble. Jason Freeman picked up the loose ball and ran 34 yards to the end zone to make it 42-0 37 seconds into the second half.
Freeman, Beanum and Gales are all seniors and Large said those three forcing turnovers and the SDSU defense getting a shutout meant a lot.
Weve got a really good team. Our seniors deserve so much right now and Im glad we could get it done. We had a chip on our shoulder to make another statement and that was our biggest goal, Large said.
Gronowski found Heins again for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. This one was a 25-yard score and SDSU then pulled its starters. That didnt mean the Jacks were done scoring though as Griffin Wilde took a screen pass from Chase Mason 71 yards to the end zone. A Dustman 27-yard field goal made the final 59-0.
SDSU had 556 total yards of offense. Gronowski finished 15-of-19 for 265 yards and three touchdowns. He also ran for 50 yards. Jadon Janke had six catches for 151 yards and Heins had four catches for 50 yards. Wilde had two catches for 85 yards.
UAlbany had 298 yards of offense but only had 117 yards at halftime. Freeman led the Jackrabbit defense with nine tackles, half of a tackle for a loss and the fumble return for the touchdown. Stalbird had seven tackles and the forced fumble. Quinton Hicks had two tackles and 1.5 sacks.
All three of those guys were seniors as well. Rogers got emotional after the game when talking about this senior class because of the fact that a lot of them made the decision to come back for one more season at SDSU due to the COVID eligibility rules.
[It being a lot of their final games at home] played into [the performance]. Guys were emotional and it played a factor. This isnt easy to do. We have great players and they work extremely hard to be who they are. Im going to miss them. This is a really uncommon group, Rogers said.
Heins final play at Dana J. Dykhouse stadium was the touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. He said his final game in Brookings was extra special since the Jacks had the game in hand heading into the fourth quarter.
It was emotional. Especially because we knew the outcome going into the fourth and some of the starters had gotten pulled at some point. We were really able to soak in that moment, soak in that crowd with it being the last time we played in that stadium, he said.
SDSU will play Montana on Jan.7 at 1 p.m. CSTin the national championship. This will be the first time the Grizzlies have been in the FCS title game since 2009.
The Jacks are looking to become the fifth school in FCS history to win at least back-to-back titles. Rogers said it would mean a lot to all of the players to become two-time FCS champions.
Getting [to the championship game], weve done that and weve won it. The confetti has fallen on our head and weve watched it fall on somebody else’s. It means the world to this football team to get it done for [the seniors], Rogers said.
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