South Dakota State Jackrabbits football

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represents South Dakota State University in college football. The program competes at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). The Jackrabbits play their home games at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium on South Dakota State's campus in Brookings, South Dakota.

South Dakota State is considered to be among the few perennial powers in the FCS. South Dakota State is also one of only 13 FCS schools to host ESPN's College GameDay.

For the 2019 GameDay matchup, the No. 3 Jackrabbits hosted the No. 1 North Dakota State Bison, where they would lose in a close battle 23–16 after losing their starting QB to a season ending knee injury.

The Jackrabbits currently have a 12-year streak of qualifying for the FCS playoffs, the second-longest in the country at the FCS level (the longest being North Dakota State at 13).

South Dakota State are two-time national champions. They achieved their first national championship win in school history on January 8, 2023, defeating North Dakota State 45-21.

Then a year later on January 7, 2024, they repeated by defeating Montana (13–2) with a score of 23–3 and finished with a perfect 15–0 record.

History
The Jackrabbits were an NCAA Division II program in the North Central Conference until moving to the Football Championship Subdivision in 2004.

In March 2004, SDSU initially began their Division I FCS era by being a charter member of the now-defunct Great West Football Conference (along with North Dakota State, Southern Utah, Cal Poly, UC Davis, Northern Colorado) and stayed there until 2007 when they were accepted into the Missouri Valley Football Conference and began league play in the 2008 season.

South Dakota State University has invested in their football program's facilities recently as they have some of the finest amenities and facilities at the FCS level including the largest video/scoreboard in the FCS (2015) a new 19,340-seat stadium (2016), and a large state-of-the-art student-athlete center in the north end zone (2010). Connected to the student-athlete center is one of the largest indoor practice facilities in NCAA Division I (completed in 2014). Due to the success of South Dakota State and North Dakota State football programs, the Dakota Marker game was featured on ESPN’s nationally televised College GameDay on October 26, 2019, becoming one of only a few FCS programs to be featured on the show.

South Dakota State reached the Football Championship Subdivision semi-finals six times in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively.

They advanced to their first national championship game on May 8, 2021 after defeating the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 33–3 in the national semi-finals. They played No. 2 Sam Houston State for the national championship on May 16, 2021 and lost 23–21. The Jackrabbits finished the season 8–2 and as national runner-ups.

A year and a half later on January 8, 2023 they advanced to the national championship game again where they would win their first national title over conference rival North Dakota State, 45–21.

On January 7, 2024, the Jackrabbits successfully defended their National Title when they defeated the Montana Grizzlies football team 23-3. Their victory capped a 15-0 undefeated regular season for first-year coach Jimmy Rogers, including an 8-0 Missouri Valley Conference record.

Classifications

 * 1952–1972: NCAA College Division
 * 1973–2003: NCAA Division II
 * 2004–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS

Conference affiliations

 * Independent (1889–1921)
 * North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1922–2003)
 * Great West Conference (2004–2007)
 * Missouri Valley Football Conference (2008–present)

Players in the National Football League
A total of 34 Jackrabbits have played for NFL teams, including five signed to team rosters as of March 2024.
 * Dallas Goedert - Philadelphia Eagles
 * Christian Rozeboom - Los Angeles Rams
 * Pierre Strong Jr. - Cleveland Browns
 * Chris Oladokun - Kansas City Chiefs
 * Tucker Kraft - Green Bay Packers

29 Jackrabbits have been drafted in the NFL Draft. As of 2021, Jim Langer is the only Jackrabbit to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.



Record versus Missouri Valley Football Conference

 * Records current as of November 2021

FCS Playoffs results
Through December 2023, the Jackrabbits have appeared in the FCS playoffs thirteen times with an overall record of .660. They have made 12 consecutive appearances in the FCS playoffs, currently the second-longest streak in the nation.

Division II Playoffs results
The Jackrabbits have appeared in the Division II playoffs one time with an overall record of 0–1.

Facilities

 * Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium (19,340 capacity)
 * Stiegelmeier Family Student-Athlete Center
 * Dykhouse Student-Athlete Center (Connected to the Stiegelmeier Family Student-Athlete Center in north end zone)

In 2014, South Dakota State University started construction of a new stadium on the location of the current Coughlin-Alumni Stadium. The new stadium has a total seating capacity of 19,340 with easy expansion to 22,500.

The Stiegelmeier Family Student-Athlete Center (formerly the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex) is the Jackrabbits new State-of-the-art indoor practice facility. The facility was opened on October 11, 2014. The Stiegelmeier Family Student-Athlete Center has bleacher seating for up to 1,000 spectators and can be used for football practice, track practice, softball and baseball practice, track competitions, and other events within the SDSU athletic department. The 149,284-square foot facility is the largest indoor practice facility in Division I athletics and features an eight-lane, 300-meter track which is only one of five collegiate indoor tracks of that size in the nation. Inside the track is an 80-yard football field plus end zones at each end and is composed of a soy-based Astroturf. Within the facility it has areas for sports medicine and strength and conditioning. Sports medicine features include rehab space, a training room, weight room expansion, hydrotherapy, a football team room, offices and academic advising facilities. The Stiegelmeier Family Student-Athlete Center is used by many of SDSU's athletic programs.

Single-game leaders

 * Passing Yards: Dan Fjeldheim (460, 9/28/2002)
 * Rushing Yards: Zach Zenner (295 2x, 11/24/2012, 9/7/2013)
 * Receiving Yards: Jeff Tiefenthaler (256, 9/27/1986)

Single-Season leaders

 * Passing Yards: Taryn Christion (3,714, 2016)
 * Rushing Yards: Josh Ranek (2,055, 1999)
 * Receiving Yards: Jeff Tiefenthaler (1,534, 1986)

Career leaders

 * Passing Yards: Taryn Christion (11,535, 2015–2018)
 * Rushing Yards: Josh Ranek, (6,744, 1997–2001)
 * Receiving Yards: Jake Wieneke (5,157, 2014–2017)

Media coverage
All home and road games are covered on the Jackrabbit Sports Network. The broadcast range of the Jackrabbit Sports Network covers eight states (South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, and Wyoming), and consists of the following stations:
 * WNAX 570AM (Flagship Station)
 * KJJQ 910AM
 * KRKI 99.5FM
 * KOLY 1300AM
 * KBFS 1450AM
 * KGFX 1060AM
 * KXLG 99.1FM

The Missouri Valley Football Conference and ESPN have signed a six-year media rights agreement, effective from the 2024 season. As part of the deal, a minimum of nine games will be showcased on ESPN, ESPN 2, or ESPN U throughout the contract. Additionally, the MVFC will maintain its "game of the week" digital package on ESPN+. The agreement also includes exclusive airing of additional league contests on ESPN platforms. Jackrabbits games have also been broadcast on Midco Sports Net, Fox College Sports, the Big Ten Network, Fox Sports North, ABC, and various local television networks.

Record against FBS competition
Overall 2–10.

Future non-conference opponents
Announced schedules as of June 6, 2024.