BROOKINGS South Dakota State has played three games and now it is time for the Jackrabbits lone bye week this season.
The Jacks have gotten off to a 3-0 start after beating No. 24 Sacramento State, No. 4 Montana State and Drake. SDSU has looked impressive at times but the Jacks have had their fair share of ups and downs. Lets take a look at what have been the positives and what have been the negatives.
Positives
Defense
The Jackrabbit defense has been solid in the first quarter of the season as they rank eighth in total yardage, giving up 260 yards per game. SDSU ranks 22nd (118.3 yards per game) in rush defense and 13th (141.7 yards per game) in pass defense.
SDSU is 10th in third down percentage as teams are 11-of-39 on third downs for the season. The Jacks have also given up just one conversion on fourth down in the opponents six attempts. SDSU has forced six turnovers and the Jacks are tied for the fifth-most sacks in the country with nine.
Junior defensive lineman Dawson Ripperda said there have been glimpses of the Jackrabbit defense of the past two seasons, which was one of the best, if not the best in the FCS, but the Jacks need to stick to focusing on the details if they want to continue that.
The first two games, we showed up and we were the same defense weve always been. We showed glimpses of greatness. I think we just need to go back to practice and work on the details and discipline and little things like that. Our chemistry is there. Were the tightest group that weve had in a long time, Ripperda said.
Chase Mason
While Mason has not filled the stat sheet, hes looked like an experienced quarterback through the first three starts of his career.
Mason has thrown for 589 yards and five touchdowns in the first three games, but hes completed 71.2 percent of his passes and has not thrown an interception so far.
Nine players have caught a pass so far but it looks as though hes found a favorite target in Lofton OGroske. OGroske has caught 23 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns, which leads the team.
Mason has been the second-leading rusher on the team so far with 115 yards on 40 carries. If you eliminate sacks he would have 172 yards on 29 carries, which is almost six yards per carry.
Dan Jackson
The first-year head coach has not hurt his team with his decisions so far this season. There have been no questionable play calls or decisions on whether to go for it or kick that have left me confused.
SDSU went for it four times in the game against Drake and converted just once, but none of those felt like they were crazy decisions. After the game he talked about what went into his decision making.
I think [going for it on fourth down] is who we are as a team. Those [decisions against Drake], there’s a plan going into the week. Those arent things that you make the decision during the game, at least not for us. So, those are things that week talk about on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We practice plays. There wasnt a debate on any of those and they were clear go situations when you look at the numbers. We just have to execute those. There are definitely some people that are a lot more aggressive than we are. Im probably more in the middle, Jackson said.
Being the head coach of a Division I college football team is hard and Jackson has made the transition smoothly. Hes 3-0 and seems to have the team buying into what he is preaching. They have the belief of a team that can win a National Championship despite not always looking like one through the first three games of the season.
Negatives
Running back depth
Mason being the second-leading rusher on the team so far is not surprising, but what may be a concern for the Jackrabbits is the lack of production behind him and leading-rusher Julius Loughridge.
SDSU has run for 574 yards so far this season and Loughridge and Mason have combined for 456 of them. Loughridge and Mason have had 75 percent of the carries so far this season and if it stays that way, its hard to see both staying healthy for all 12 games of the regular season.
Behind Loughridge in the running back room are two true freshmen in Corey Blair Jr. and James Basinger and sophomore Brenden Begeman. Basinger and Blair each scored their first career touchdown in last weeks 37-21 win over Drake. Blair ran for 50 yards on six carries and Basinger had 20 yards on six carries.
Loughridge said he liked what he saw from the two freshmen against Drake and is excited to see more from them as the season moves along.
I most definitely [feel like theres a lot of potential]. With the offensive line that we have up front, I feel like anyone can run behind them. Those young guys are all very talented and Im excited for when they get their opportunity. [Against Drake, Blair and Basinger] had their opportunity and they played their tails off. Im very happy for them, but I feel like everyone has a chance to go in there and shake some heads for sure, Loughridge said.
Special teams
South Dakota State has been sound in special teams during its decade-long run of being one of the top teams in the FCS. Coaches always talk about special teams being the forgotten third part to football and how if youre making mistakes in that phase of the game, it can come back to bite you.
SDSU hasnt had it bite them yet, but the Jacks have had special teams blunders in each of the first three games.
In the season opener against Sacramento State, Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda fumbled a punt, which led to the Hornets only three points of the game. Graduate senior kicker Eli Stader, who joined the team a week and a half before the season began as a transfer from Northwestern College, missed two kicks in the opener. He missed a 37-yard field goal in the first half and then missed a 48-yard field goal at the beginning of the fourth quarter that would have put the game out of reach.
Stader would miss again in the Jacks second game of the year as he failed to make it from 36 yards out in the third quarter of the Jacks overtime win against Montana State. Senior punter Max Pelham, who transferred from Mankato State, also made a mistake against the Bobcats as he dropped the ball while trying to kick it in the fourth quarter. He eventually got the kick off but it only went two yards and was picked up by a Bobcat and ran into the end zone to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter.
Staders struggles continued against Drake as he lined up for a 38-yard field goal midway through the fourth quarter. He pulled the kick to the left and missed his fourth kick of the year. All of the misses have come from 30 yards or longer.
SDSU got the ball back right away with an interception and failed to pick up a first down, setting up another opportunity for a field goal. This time it was from 37 yards out and Jackson decided to go with freshman Ryan Harrington. Harrington split the uprights and may have taken over the kicking duties in the process.
Jackson did not make a declaration as to who would be kicking field goals moving forward after the game. He said he wanted to give Harrington an opportunity and the Jacks have to take advantage when they can score points.
I just kind of felt like Ryan had been kicking the ball well in practice, and in games hes been doing such a great job on kickoffs. When we have opportunities to score points, we need to do that, and making field goals is a part of that. I wanted to give Ryan an opportunity and was excited that he took advantage of it and stepped up. As a young guy, to run out there with confidence and bang it through, I was happy for him, Jackson said.
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