BROOKINGS One year ago, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits celebrated one of their most prolific classes at Senior Day. Headlined by Jadon and Jaxon Janke, Zach Heins, Mason McCormick and Garrett Greenfeld on offense with DyShawn Gales and Isiah Stalbird on defense, the group turned the SDSU football program into a national powerhouse.
The Jackrabbits will once again celebrate its seniors when they host Southern Illinois at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and while last years class played a massive role in the history of the program, Rogers believes this group could play an even bigger role as they suit up for their final regular season game and perhaps one final playoff run in Brookings.
They have the opportunity to make it the greatest group [of SDSU seniors] this season, so thats what were working on right now, Rogers said on Tuesday. They can leave with three [national championships]. Those guys left with two. Weve got another opportunity here this weekend and thats what were excited about, playing at what should be a great crowd at Dana J.
To do that, the Jacks will have to continue to stack up victories to accomplish the goal of a third straight national title. Although SDSU is in great shape with an 8-2 record this season, they rank third in the latest coaches poll behind No. 1 North Dakota State and No. 2 Montana State. If the Jacks want to keep their hopes for a top-two seed alive, theyll need to win their final two games including Saturdays matchup against the Salukis.
Southern Illinois comes into Saturdays game with a 3-7 record and a 1-5 mark in conference play, but theyve also played the Jacks tough over the last three meetings with each game decided by less than a touchdown.
The list includes a 31-26 victory by SDSU in Brookings during a playoff game in 2020 and a 17-10 win by the Jacks in Carbondale last season. But SIU also scored a 42-41 win on Hobo Day in Brookings on 2021, leading to a level of respect Rogers has for Salukis head coach Nick Hill.
Coach Hill has done an unbelievable job, regardless of record, Rogers said. They just do a great job scheming and creating one-on-one matchups or getting the ball to their dynamic playmakers on the perimeter. A lot of those plays end up in one-on-one tackles, so were going to have to do a good job of giving different looks and do our best to minimize their big gains because if you miss a tackle, they can make you pay for it. Weve learned that from over the years.
While Rogers went on to say their games with the Salukis have been physical battles, this years matchup contains a lot of new faces.
SIU lost its top two quarterbacks this year as D.J. Williams broke his hand after three starts and Hunter Simmons broke his tibia in relief. Jake Curry has taken over and became the first true freshman to start for the Salukis since 1989, but has done well, including orchestrating a comeback after being down 28-0 in a 37-33 victory over Youngstown State last week.
I think its impressive to get into that role and be down how they were against Youngstown State and not flinch a little. The moment is not too big for him, Rogers said of Curry, who completed 19-of-26 passes for 322 yards and three touchdowns while being named the Stats Perform FCS Freshman of the Week. Obviously, hes playing carefree and I feel like hes gotten better as the season has gone on.
Rogers also went on to compliment Currys ability to throw downfield to make the comeback happen but also labeled him as a dual threat, which helped him notch a team-high 78 rushing yards with a touchdown on the ground last week.
He can kill you with his legs because he can scramble, Rogers said. He is [5-foot-9] so hes a little harder to see naturally behind the pocket. I think a guy who is fearless and is growing and keeps getting better every week could be really dangerous. So were well aware of what hes capable of and hes got great skill to throw it too.
The Salukis have also relied on other young weapons such as freshman Allen Middleton Jr., who had a career-high 102 yards on seven catches with a touchdown against the Penguins and freshmen running backs Jimmy Athans and Jerrian Parker, who each scored their first career rushing touchdowns in the victory.
Wisconsin transfer receiver Keontez Lewis is second in the MVFC with 72.2 receiving yards per game and the Salukis have done all of this in a stretch of five straight games against ranked FCS opponents but the Jacks best chance of beating SIU may be attacking them through the air.
The Salukis have some talent on defense including safety Ubayd Steed, who has 43 tackles in the last three games and linebacker Chris Presto, who had a career-high 16 tackles against Youngstown State but theyve been more prone to big plays through the air allowing 252 passing yards per game and 8.03 yards per attempt this season.
This is great news for a Jackrabbits team that showed big play potential in the passing game last week as quarterback Mark Gronowski connected with Griffin Wilde for three touchdowns in the Jacks 38-7 win over North Dakota last week.
Those are the things that you hope happen every single week, Rogers said of Wildes touchdowns which came on scores of 25 yards, 39 yards and 47 yards. Whether it happens or not, hes got to win the one-on-one and Marks got to throw it to him and they were in sync last Saturday. We got a couple looks that we wanted and surely Griff took advantage of it.
But while Jimmy mentioned the offensive lines performance and the execution of those plays to connect for big scores, he also mentioned the importance of the running game which has been led by Angel Johnson.
After missing several weeks with an injury, Angel Johnson has come on strong for SDSU the past couple of weeks, running for a career-high 132 yards and a touchdown against Murray State on Nov. 2 and 100 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries in the win over the Fighting Hawks.
While Amar Johnson and Kirby Vorhees remain in the rotation, Angel Johnsons big-play ability, which has generated 7.9 yards per attempt this season, has the Jacks wanting to get the ball in his hands more.
I think everybody knew he was explosive. Its just the more reps that he gets, the more comfortable hes getting seeing his reads and being able to react, Rogers said. Hes so twitchy that its like hes skipping through the holes and hes moving faster than everybody running.
Hes a special player. Works really hard. And its unfortunate that he was kind of limited earlier in the year but hes making the most of his minutes right now and were going to continue to feed him.
Its part of a game plan that doesnt look intimidating on paper but could be entertaining to watch when the teams take the field.
On Senior Day, the Jacks will have plenty of emotion going into the matchup but the business-like approach remains as they look to give that group a final piece of hardware. While Rogers commended the group for staying in Brooking in an age ruled by the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals, he also noted their willingness to stick around has helped build the culture at SDSU and could give them a final run.
Although a lot of these guys have had the opportunity to leave and leave for money, theyve stuck together and really took pride in representing South Dakota State and what weve been trying to accomplish for years. This group is a big part of getting us over the hump winning two straight national championships or just one in general, but going back-to-back was special and I know that they wouldnt be satisfied if they dont end up on that stage again in their senior year.
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