BROOKINGS – South Dakota State will open Missouri Valley play on Saturday with a very tough test as the Jackrabbits travel to Missouri State to take on the No. 4 ranked Bears.
Missouri State is coming off of a 38-27 loss to Arkansas, who is ranked 10th in the AP Top 25. The Bears led for the first three quarters but were then outscored 21-3 in the final frame.
MSU is in the third season of a turnaround led by head coach Bobby Petrino. A long time FBS coach that included stops at Arkansas, Western Kentucky and two stints at Louisville, Petrino took over an MSU program that had gone 1-10 in 2019. In his first two seasons the Bears went 13-9 and back-to-back FCS Playoff appearances.
“I’m very impressed with everything about [Missouri State’s] program and the thing that has most impressed me is how fast coach Petrino has built that thing up,” said SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier. “… I think in some sports [a turnaround] happens a lot easier. I think in football, because you build a football program, normally it takes more time. We’ve seen that year in and year out, where guys who are really good coaches start off and have losing seasons, but then they get the program to where [Petrino] has it. So, I’ve said it a number of times, I’ll say it again, I’m very impressed with Missouri State’s football program and what coach Petrino has done.”
After going 8-4 last season and losing by one point in the first round of the FCS Playoffs to UT Martin, Missouri State is off to a 2-1 start and is ranked No. 4 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. Petrino and the Bears are looking to make a statement Saturday and show people that they are one of the best in not only the Missouri Valley, but the FCS as a while.
Fifth-year Missouri State defensive end Kevin Ellis said Saturday’s game against the No. 2 ranked Jackrabbits is a great opportunity for the Bears.
“It’s definitely a big opportunity this week and we’re looking forward to, we’re not looking past any games, but we’re looking forward to holding that trophy up at the end of the year. … I’m definitely looking forward to going out there and playing them. I feel like it will be a great opportunity for us a team to see where we are and where we stand at,” Ellis said.
MSU has the second ranked offense in the Missouri Valley through three games, averaging 419 yards per game. The Bears’ offense is led by senior transfer quarterback Jason Shelley.
Shelley spent his first three seasons at Utah before transferring to Utah State. He played one season with that Aggies, which was the COVID season before transferring to MSU. In his first season with the Bears he was named the Missouri Offensive Player of Year after throwing for a school-record 3,347 yards and had 3,789 yards of total offense, which was also a program record.
So far this season he is leading the MVFC in passing with 920 yards, seven touchdowns and no interceptions, while completing 62.9% of his passes. His leading receiver is Tyrone Scott who has 321 yards and four touchdowns on the season.
Stiegelmeier said SDSU won’t be able to complete stop the Bears, but the Jacks will have to limit big plays and try to get stops if they want to come away with the win in the conference opener.
“[Missouri State] is very skilled, starting with the quarterback. Not only is he very athletic, but he’s a great decision maker. So, I don’t know if you use the term ‘stop them’. I think the goal would be to prevent the big play and make them settle for something less than they want to in a play and be patient and look for an opportunity to get a sack or get an interception or just get a stop. But their stats and their performance speak for itself and they’re players really, really good on offense,” Stiegelmeier said.
The Jacks (2-1) are coming off of a 45-17 win over Butler in their last nonconference game of the season. SDSU racked up 463 total yards of offense after having 370 in its first two games. The Jacks scored a touchdown on each of their first three possessions against the Bulldogs and Stiegelmeier said it was encouraging to see the offense get out to a hot start.
“I think just the first series against Butler, when we went right down the field and [quarterback Mark Gronowski] was on and our blocking was on and [Davis] was running as well or better than he ever has. I think all of that adds to the result of the game and us feeling better. But you know us as coaches, we can take a win and make our players feel bad, or we can take a loss and make our players feel good. It’s really in the closed room where we build the confidence and show guys where we can get better when we’ve had a good game,” Stiegelmeier said.
Gronowski started to look more like he did in the 2021 spring season, where he won Missouri Valley Offensive Player of the Year, against Butler. He went 17-for-25 with 279 yards and three touchdowns and added 55 yards and a score on the ground.
“I think [Gronowski’s performance] is somewhat dependent on the coaching staff,” Stiegelmeier said. “[Tuesday’s practice] was not sharp. And it’s not because Mark Gronowski didn’t try, or our offense didn’t try. We put a lot of new stuff in and so there is a lot on the quarterback in terms of a new read here, a new formation here, and a long with being a mechanical engineer and having real tough classes, his mind as full. So, we as coaches have to either whittle that down or not add anymore and just give him continued reps at that stuff. I expect that to happen [on Wednesday]. I expect Mark to play at a real high level, that’s the type of young man he is.”
SDSU has already been bit by the injury bug in this early season. Tight end Tucker Kraft will miss his third-straight game with an ankle injury and Stiegelmeier said it is a long term injury and he won’t be back any time soon. The Jackrabbits will also be without linebacker Isaiah Stalbird, who will be missing his third-straight game as well.
Stiegelmeier said on Wednesday that he doesn’t expect to get any of his guys back for this weekend’s game.
This will be SDSU’s second road game of the season. The Jacks began the season with a 7-3 loss at Iowa and penalties really hurt them as SDSU had 12 penalties for 66 yards. A lot of those penalties were of the pre snap variety and Stiegelmeier said he thinks that won’t be as much of a problem on Saturday because the SDSU coaching staff will have its players ready for the tough environment in Springfield, MO.
“I do [think that we won’t have as many issues with false starts and snaps]. I thought we wouldn’t be a problem at Iowa, but we didn’t create, we weren’t able to create that type of environment [in practice] and that’s on us as coaches. We’re looking forward to the environment. We’re looking forward to the build-up of the game and we want to go down and start off league play playing the best football and see what happens, because it’s going to be a real challenge against [Missouri State],” Stiegelmeier said.
Kickoff between the Bears and Jackrabbits is scheduled for 2 p.m. You can watch the game on ESPN3 and listen to it on the Jackrabbit Sports Network.
