BROOKINGS – South Dakota State had its first practice of fall camp Thursday. 

The questions heading into the 2021 fall season include a quarterback competition, other position battles and vaccination rates. The Jackrabbits will have four weeks to answer these questions as they open up the season at Colorado State on Sept. 3.

SDSU had fall camp in January last season due to COVID-19 and SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier said it was nice to have it be back to a normal time.

“Fall camp is always a special time,” Stiegelmeier said. “Maybe this is a little more special because of what we’ve gone through, but it’s always like a big family reunion to be honest with you.”

Vaccination

Last week during the Missouri Valley Football Conference media day, Stiegelmeier said his team had the lowest vaccination rate in the conference. The MVFC said teams would need to have 85% of their tier one personnel vaccinated in order to avoid constant testing and contact tracing.

Stiegelmeier said they are still not at 85%, but are working to get there.

“We have made some strides. We’re going to have a meeting today with a doctor and hopefully we will all get educated on the pros and cons, and then it’s always an individual decision. Ideally we can make our lives easier by having more guys vaccinated,” Stiegelmeier said.

The NCAA released its COVID-19 guidelines for the 2021 season on Wednesday. The guidelines recommend not testing fully-vaccinated players and coaches unless they are symptomatic. Players who aren’t vaccinated will be tested three times a week. If at least 5% of a team tests positive, all close contacts and symptomatic people will need to be tested.

“I’m not surprised by [any of the guidelines] and I expect things to change as we go because that’s what’s happening in our nation right now with the delta variant picking up. Right now we’re going to do what we can to take take care of ourselves,” Stiegelmeier said.

Quarterback competition

Stiegelmeier said there is not a favorite at the quarterback position heading into fall camp. Graduate transfer Chris Oladokun seemed to be getting first team reps on Thursday. Oladokun started two seasons at Samford before coming to SDSU.

“When I’m around [Oladokun] and talking to him, I just love his personality. I love his confidence. I love how he dove in 100% into our program. He’s done exactly what we’ve wanted him to do,” Stiegelmeier said.

Sophomore Keaton Heide is also in the mix. Heide has been the SDSU backup for the past two seasons. He started the final six games of 2019 after J’Bore Gibbs had a season-ending knee injury. He also replaced Mark Gronowski in the national championship contest in May. Gronowski went down with a knee injury as well and is out for the season.

Gibbs hurt his other knee in the spring and will likely miss all of the fall. Freshman Rudy Voss, Dalys Beanum and Jon Bell are also in the mix.

“We want every guy at that position to compete and not settle for anything,” Stiegelmeier said.

Wide receiver

The Jacks have three returning receivers.

Jaxon Janke led the team in the spring with 32 catches for 473 yards and six touchdowns. His brother, Jadon, had 21 catches for 425 yards and five touchdowns. Canyon Bauer had five catches for 34 yards.

SDSU is hoping that Bauer and graduate transfer Landon Wolf can step up and become a viable third option. Wolf played his previous three seasons at Oklahoma State and caught 55 passes for 551 yards and two touchdowns. He arrived on campus last spring, but redshirted.

“I think [Wolf] showed last spring on the scout team that he’s a really good football player. He’ll be a guy that adds to our receiving core. He’s not guaranteed a starting spot, but he’s a really good football player,” Stiegelmeier said. 

Tight end

SDSU had high production from its tight ends last season and hope it will continue in the fall.

Sophomore Zach Heins led the tight ends with 12 catches for 200 yards. Redshirt freshman Tucker Kraft had seven catches for 90 yards and Blake Kunz had four catches for 80 yards.

Kunz decided not to play this season, but the other two are back.

“We’ve always been a team that’s kind of highlighted tight ends and we’ve got some good ones again. Disappointed Blake Kunz decided not to play, but I honor the decision. That doesn’t change the philosophy of how we’re going to use the tight ends, “ Stiegelmeier said.

Linebacker

The Jacks return 10 of 11 starters on defense. That lone position is one of the linebacker spots as Preston Tetzlaff graduated. Stiegelmeier said there are a lot of guys vying for that spot.

“There’s a number of guys,” he said. “Coach [Jimmy] Rogers teaches that he wants guys to know more than one position. Graham Spalding, Peyton Schafer, Kinser Masdsion, all of those guys are going to battle for the spot.”

Backhaus among Buchanan Award candidates

CHICAGO – South Dakota State linebacker Logan Backhaus was named Thursday to the official watch list for the 2021 Stats Perform Buck Buchanan Award, which is presented annually to the top defensive player in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Entering his final season with the Jackrabbits, Backhaus is coming off a 2020-21 season in which he led the team with 9 1/2 tackles for loss and ranked second with 72 tackles in 10 games. The Spirit Lake, Iowa, native also intercepted a pass and forced a fumble.

A multi-year starter, Backhaus’ career totals include 267 tackles, 24 tackles for loss, five sacks and nine interceptions.

The Buck Buchanan Award watch list will be updated periodically throughout the 2021 season. A media panel will select the recipient, who will be announced prior to the FCS national championship game in January.