Gibbs stays calm under pressure

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BROOKINGS – South Dakota State has trailed at halftime in two games this season. 13-7 at Minnesota in the first game of the season and 14-3 at Youngstown this past weekend.

In each game redshirt freshman quarterback J’Bore Gibbs brought his team back from behind to take the lead and against the Penguins he led them to a 38-28 win. Gibbs finished with 285 total yards and three total touchdowns against YSU. All of his touchdowns came in the second half.

“I don’t really pay attention to the clock. I just look (at the play clock) and when it’s going down or if I need to hurry or not. The points I don’t really care about, not that I don’t care about them, but I don’t worry about it as much. Like I’m not ancy. I just do my job and that’s all I can do. Just score. If I do my job, it’ll play out itself,” Gibbs said.

From head coach John Stiegelmeier to junior wide receiver Cade Johnson, everyone has one word to describe Gibbs and it’s that he’s calm.

“Ever since I can remember, even in little league and stuff, that’s just how I’ve been,” Gibbs said. “When things don’t go my way or things don’t go right way. It’s just play and it will work out eventually if we all work. So I just look for that and focus on the task.”

Gibbs has played in four games this season and is 52-for-81 with 714 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Stiegelmeier said Gibbs’ calmness is an everyday thing.

“That’s his personality. That’s his genetic, his DNA … He’s going to be consistent. That doesn’t make it perfect. It just means he handles the highs and the lows and levels those out,” Stiegelmeier said.

Gibbs seems to have found a connection with Johnson. The two connected for a 81-yard touchdown against the Penguins that gave the Jacks their first lead of the game.

Johnson has 16 receptions for 317 yards and three touchdowns in the four games played with J’Bore and said he is a great leader.

“He’s cool and calm. He’s never really yells a lot. He’s just really poised back there and you don’t really see that a lot from redshirt freshman. I mean sometimes I have to take a step back and be like ‘ok yeah he’s a freshman.’ He’s a really good leader and he’s getting better every day, which is what we want,” Johnson said.

SDSU will play its second-straight road game when they travel to Terre Haute, Ind., to take on the Indiana State Sycamores. They will then return home for arguably their most important game of the season when No. 1 North Dakota State comes to town. For Gibbs, he’s ready to take on the No. 1 team in the country, but as of right now he’s focused on beating the Sycamores.

“It’s all Indiana State,” Gibbs said. “For me personally, I’m not worried about NDSU right now. We have to travel, it’s another away game. We have to go into someone else’s home and win and that’s my main focus right now.”