Here are 12 milestone victories in SDSU football DI history. But there's one major milestone left to achieve

Dec. 27—BROOKINGS — South Dakota State's ascent up the Football Championship Subdivision hierarchy has been steady, the path to elite status clearly marked by wins that continued to raise the program's standard.

At first, the sustained success following a transition from Division II to Division I was a pleasant surprise. After all, the Jackrabbits weren't necessarily a D-II powerhouse, having been to the postseason just once in 1979 and rarely eclipsing six or seven wins in a season.

But now, after 15 years of climbing the FCS mountain, there's one major milestone left to be reached: a national championship.

The Jackrabbits have earned the chance at a history-making win, with South Dakota State and North Dakota State set to do battle on Jan. 8 in Frisco, Texas. However, to understand the significance of where SDSU football is in the present, it's necessary to look to the past and see how the Jacks evolved into a national power.

Here, we take a look back at a dozen of the most important milestone victories during the Division I era of SDSU football. Games are listed in chronological order.

The program's first home game as a full member of Division I following a transition that began in 2004 came against a ranked Missouri Valley Football Conference foe, No. 14 Youngstown State. SDSU, itself ranked No. 21 at the time, wasted no time in making a statement in its new surroundings.

Ryan Berry threw for 319 yards and a touchdown with Kyle Minett adding 123 rushing yards with two scores, as SDSU scored the first 27 points of the game, all in the first half, and the Penguins never threatened. Just like that, the Jackrabbits were off and running.

One of the most memorable Dakota Marker rivalry games in history, Berry tossed a 1-yard score to JaRon Harris and then found Mike Steffen on the ensuing two-point conversion with 2:20 remaining, and the Jackrabbits held on for the one-point win inside the Fargodome.

While it was SDSU's second straight win in the series (also the third win in five meetings and fourth in seven attempts for the Jacks), it was the first time emerging victorious in Fargo since the Kennedy Administration. It was also the first time since the introduction of the Dakota Marker trophy in 2004 that the road team had won.

While SDSU ended the 2009 regular season by defeating a listless WIU team that had just one win, it was an important result in that it secured the Jacks' first FCS playoff appearance and just the second postseason appearance in program history.

Perhaps more memorable was the playoff game that followed a week later, with SDSU coming up short in a 61-48 shootout at Montana. But making the postseason was an important step in the journey, and when the Jackrabbits eventually made it back in 2012, it started an active streak of 11 consecutive playoff seasons in Brookings.

Following a pair of 5-6 seasons in 2010 and 2011, SDSU was back in the playoff fold in 2012 on the strength of an 8-3 campaign. Only this time, the Jacks got to host their opening round game, and the result was the program's first playoff win in history.

In the demolition of an EIU team led by future NFL quarterback Jimmy Garappolo, SDSU running back Zach Zenner set the school record for single-game rushing, piling up 295 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries. Reggie Gandy couldn't be stopped either, turning 16 rushes into 151 yards and two scores.

Having won a playoff game in three consecutive seasons entering 2015, SDSU had established itself as a fast-budding program in the FCS ranks. Then the Jacks added what is a feather in the cap for an FCS program of any standing: an FBS win.

Quarterback Zach Lujan, now the SDSU offensive coordinator, passed for 293 yards and three touchdowns, two to receiver Jake Wieneke, who finished with eight receptions for 160 yards. Running back Isaac Wallace added 118 rushing yards and one score, as the Jacks raced out to a 31-7 first-half lead and withstood a late rally.

By defeating UNI in the 2015 regular-season finale, SDSU clinched a share of the MVFC title and the conference's automatic bid into the postseason for the first time in history. It was the Jackrabbits' first conference title since winning the Great West Football Conference in 2007, the final year of the transition to Division I.

Quarterback Taryn Christion passed for two scores, both to Wieneke, and added a rushing a receiving score, the latter of which had Wieneke as the passer. SDSU's defense also shined, forcing four turnovers, the last of which resulted in a 65-yard pick-six for defensive lineman Kellen Soulek.

UNI was the opponent again just over a year later in the second round of the playoffs. The Panthers had spoiled SDSU's Hobo Day homecoming earlier in the year with a 38-18 win, but the Jacks struck back in the win-or-go-home scenario.

It was SDSU's sixth-straight win following the earlier loss to UNI and the first time in program history the Jackrabbits had won 10 games in a season. SDSU had won nine games in a season on eight prior occasions, including four of the preceding five years.

A week later, SDSU won its 11th game of the season in the FCS quarterfinals, a victory that pushed the Jacks through to the semifinals for the first time in program history.

A pair of records fell that afternoon, with Christion surpassing Austin Sumner for the most total offense in a career at SDSU and Wieneke breaking the MVFC record for career receptions. Christion connected with Wieneke nine times for 140 yards and two scores in the game and the pair were two of the four Jackrabbits to record a rushing touchdown.

The third time really was the charm for SDSU in the FCS semifinals. After coming up short in consecutive appearances among the last four in 2017 and 2018, the Jackrabbits' return in 2020 (spring 2021) was triumphant in the first semifinal played at Dykhouse Stadium.

Behind seven sacks by the defense and a strong game by quarterback Mark Gronowski (213 total yards, three total touchdowns), SDSU cruised into the program's first national title game appearance.

Coming off the national title game appearance in the spring, in which SDSU came up moments short of a championship, the Jacks started the 2021 season with a dominant effort in the program's second all-time win against FBS opposition.

SDSU rolled to 466 yards of offense at a clip of 7.5 yards per play, paced by quarterback Chris Oladokun's 224 passing yards and three scores (one rushing) alongside Pierre Strong's 138 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries.

This season brought more program history, as a regular-season-ending win secured SDSU's first outright MVFC championship and, when the playoff bracket was revealed eight days later, the No. 1 seed in the postseason.

The Jackrabbits had been conference co-champions in 2016 and the 2020-21 spring season but went 10-1 (the lone loss was a 7-3 result at Iowa) during the regular season, the first 10-win regular season in program history, and finished 8-0 in MVFC play for the first time.

Having notched 12 wins in a season for the first time by defeating Holy Cross in the FCS quarterfinals the week before, SDSU extended its program-record win streak to 13 with a commanding effort in the FCS semifinals, earning another shot at a national championship.

The Jackrabbits held MSU's top-ranked rushing offense (331 yards per game) to just 51 yards in a game where the temperature at kickoff was 9 degrees, making it the coldest SDSU home game on record.

There's no guarantee when the next milestone win might come, but SDSU certainly has designs on writing a new chapter in its quickly-evolving history and making Jan. 8, 2023, a day to remember.