Goal remains the same for SDSU at start of fall camp

BROOKINGS – After a disappointing end to last season, the South Dakota State football team started its fall camp for the 2022 season on Friday.
The Jackrabbits fell to Montana State, 31-17, in the FCS Semifinals on Dec. 18, 2021, just six months after losing to Sam Houston State in the FCS Championship after a spring season due to COVID. SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier said his team went about this offseason differently than the one last summer.
“I think the combination of playing for a National Championship and then five months, or whatever it was, later you lose [in the semifinals], I think that recipe has some unique emotions. You know, you didn’t have a lot of time to [process the spring]. They’re motivated. Our strength coach has done a great job, not only with the physical part of it, but reminding them what we can do here at South Dakota State. We’re trying to take more of a positive approach. After the spring we took kind of a negative approach. We put the score [of the championship game] on t-shirts and that was a reminder.  And we got to the semifinals and didn’t get it done, and we’re just talking about getting to Frisco,” Stiegelmeier said.
Mark Gronowski, who started every game for the Jacks during the spring season, will be back at quarterback after sitting out in the fall due to a knee injury. Gronowski threw for 1,565 yards and 15 touchdowns in 10 games in the spring, while completing 57% of his passes. He also ran for 577 yards and seven touchdowns.
Gronowski didn’t take any live reps during spring practices because the coaches and trainers did not want to risk him getting injured again. Now that he’s had almost a full week of practices and taking live reps, he said he feels great.
“For the first practice I was a little bit rusty, just trying to get back in the feel of it. Because it was the first live practice [for me] in 15 months, which is crazy. It feels good to be back and playing again, and my body feels great too,” Gronowski said.

Gronowski is part of an offense that returns a lot of talent at its skill positions. SDSU’s top four leading receivers are back in senior wide receiver Jaxon Janke, junior tight end Tucker Kraft, senior Jadon Janke and senior tight end Zach Heins. Jaxon Janke caught 722 passes for 1,165 yards and five touchdowns last season, while Kraft caught 65 passes for 780 yards and six scores. Jadon Janke led the team in receiving touchdowns with nine.
Both Kraft and Jaxon Janke were named to the Walter Payton Award preseason watch list, which is awarded to the top offensive player in the FCS. Along with those two, junior running back Isaiah Davis was named to the list as well.
In his first two seasons, Davis served as the backup to Pierre Strong Jr., but ran for 1,519 yards and 17 touchdowns. He only played in seven games last season due to an injury.
The one question mark on the offense will be the offensive line. The Jacks saw six players from the offensive line graduate last season, including three starters. The two players that will be returning starters are both on the left side of the line in senior Mason McCormick at left guard and senior Garret Greenfield at left tackle. Stiegelmeier said having those two guys helping the new starters will be key as they head into the new season.
“Those guys are so comfortable with playing football and playing football together, and I think like [Gronowski] gives people confidence, Mason and Garret give our offensive line confidence,” Stiegelmeier said.
Sophomore Gus Miller will move over from right guard to center. Junior Evan Beerntsen is expected to start at right guard, but was in a boot at practice on Tuesday. John O’Brian, a junior transfer from Bowling Green, was taking first-team reps in his place. Bo Donald is expected to start right tackle.
Stiegelmeier said one of the concerns with his team is depth along the offensive line.
“… We’re not real deep [on the offensive line]. We’re going to have to develop some guys, and we will. But there’s nothing like playing, and you want to develop them in the fall, but when you line up against Iowa [in the first game], that’s a tough way to do it,” Stiegelmeier said.
On the defensive side of the ball, SDSU will have to replace five starters and impactful ones at that. But the guys that will be replacing those starters are all upperclassmen. Stiegelmeier said he thinks the defensive unit is ready to step up.
“We had a lot of good football players in front of [those guys] and I think they’re ready. I think they’re eager and they’ll do a good job,” he said.
SDSU’s goal every season is to get to Frisco, Tex., and win a National Championship, which is something they’ve never done as a program. The road to that goal begins on Sept. 3 when the Jacks travel to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes at 11 a.m. Jaxon Janke said he thinks that the upperclassmen are motivated because of coming so close to that goal the past two seasons, but they have to take it one week at a time.
“For the upperclassmen, there’s definitely motivational factors that come from the previous seasons you have. But whatever happened the year before has no effect on the upcoming year and how that’s going to go. So, basically it’s being able to put it in your head that this is game is the important thing in my life so far and the ultimate goal is just to win and you have to repeat that every single week,” he said.