History of the Dakota Marker: South Dakota State trails North Dakota State 10-8

Is the Dakota Marker rivalry between North and South Dakota State the best in Division I football’s Championship Subdivision (FCS)? You’d be hard-pressed to name a better one.

It dates back to 1903, when North Dakota Agricultural College, as it was known until 1960, beat SDSU 85-0.

That inauspicious start notwithstanding, South Dakota State dominated the early days of the rivalry, until the Bison won 27 out of 29 meetings between 1964 and 1992, which included 17 consecutive wins at one point. The Bison won eight national championships between 1965 and 1990.

That Bison dominance, and the fact that both teams had more prominent North Central Conference rivalries within their home state – the Bison with the University of North Dakota and the Jackrabbits with the USD Coyotes – meant NDSU and SDSU never really regarded each other as true rivals.

That, of course, changed when NDSU and SDSU chose to transition to Division I and USD and UND decided to stay.

The Jacks and Bison turned to each other and created the Dakota Marker trophy, a 75-pound quartzite replica of the seven-foot tall monuments that marked the border between the states when the Dakota Territory was originally split into North and South Dakota.

SDSU and NDSU quickly became Division I contenders, with the Bison having won another nine national titles. For much of the last decade, the Jackrabbits have been their biggest obstacle, and while the Bison have beaten SDSU whenever they’ve met in the playoffs, SDSU has closed the gap in the regular season meetings, when the Marker is on the line. They’ve won each of the last two meetings, and NDSU now leads the Marker series 10-8.

History of Dakota Marker rivalry game

2004: SDSU 24, NDSU 21 in Brookings

Brad Nelson hit Chris Molitor for a 22-yard touchdown with 39 seconds left to lift the Jacks to the win in the first battle ever for the Dakota Marker trophy.

2005: NDSU 41, SDSU 17 in Fargo

After SDSU scored on each of its first two possessions to take a 14-7 lead, NDSU finished the game on a 34-3 run, led by Kyle Steffes’ 141 yards and three touchdowns rushing.

2006: NDSU 41, SDSU 28 in Fargo

A back-and-forth game that decided the Great West Football Conference title, NDSU took control late, then put it away on an 84-yard punt return by Travis White.

2007: SDSU 29, NDSU 24 in Brookings

SDSU claimed the GWFC title with the win, going ahead on a 42-yard touchdown run by Cory Koenig after the Bison had stormed back from down 20-3 to take a 24-23 lead.

2008: SDSU 25, NDSU 24 in Fargo

The Jacks scored a late would-be game-tying touchdown, but on the road at the Fargodome, they decided to go for two and the win. Ryan Berry connected with Mike Steffen to stun the crowd silent and give SDSU their second straight win in the series.

2009: SDSU 28, NDSU 13 in Brookings

The Jacks scored their most convincing Division I win over NDSU against a rebuilding Bison squad (they’d go 3-8 that season). Kyle Minett rushed for 164 yards and two touchdowns to give SDSU its third straight – and last – win over the Bison.

2010: NDSU 31, SDSU 24 in Fargo

The Bison picked off four Thomas O’Brien passes and returned two of them for scores, going up by 17 before the Jacks added two late scores, their comeback coming up short.

2011: NDSU 38, SDSU 14 in Brookings

The Bison sandwiched runs of 17-0 and 21-0 around a touchdown run by a freshman running back named Zach Zenner. Dale Moss caught seven passes for 111 yards in the loss.

2012: NDSU 20, SDSU 17 in Fargo

NDSU took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter and held on in a defensive battle that saw the teams combine for less than 500 yards of offense. A late touchdown pass by Austin Sumner pulled the Jacks within three, but the Bison recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

2013: NDSU 20, SDSU 0 in Brookings

A punishing Bison defense held SDSU to -32 net yards rushing while picking up 262 yards on the ground themselves. Zach Zenner had eight carries for 1 yard.

2014: NDSU 37, SDSU 17 in Fargo

A Zach Zenner touchdown run early in the fourth quarter pulled the Jacks within a field goal at 20-17. NDSU would then close the game on a 17-0 run, highlighted by a pair of John Crockett touchdown runs. He ran for 152 yards in the game, while junior quarterback Carson Wentz ran for 100.

2015: NDSU 28, SDSU 7 in Brookings

In a battle of top-five teams, SDSU’s offense never got going against a punishing Bison defense in a game that was never close. Carson Wentz ran for 54 yards and a score and threw for another 183 and a touchdown, while the Bison defense held the Jacks to -4 rushing yards and got three sacks from Greg Menard.

2016: SDSU 19, NDSU 17 in Fargo

Taryn Christion's 2-yard touchdown pass to Jake Wieneke with one second left on the clock brought the Marker back to Brookings for the first time since 2009.

Though the Jacks needed a last-second score to win, they dominated much of the game, coming up empty in three red zone opportunities, which nearly cost them the game.

Christion was the catalyst, rushing for 141 yards and throwing for 303.

2017: SDSU 33, NDSU 21 in Brookings

The Jackrabbit defense pulled off a rare feat in this one — they made Easton Stick and the Bison offense look ordinary. SDSU picked off Stick three times, forced five turnovers and held NDSU to 337 yards of offense to keep the Marker in Brookings for another year with a convincing win.

SDSU salted away the win with a Bison-like drive, going 86 yards in 11 plays and running seven minutes off the clock before Christion connected with Dallas Goedert on a 19-yard touchdown that clinched the win.

2018: NDSU 21, SDSU 17 in Fargo

SDSU made a spirited effort to keep the Marker in Brookings for a third straight year, but Easton Stick and Co. would not be denied.

Trailing 14-7 at the half, the Jacks scored 10 straight points in the third quarter to go in front, with a 61-yard touchdown run by Isaac Wallace giving them the lead. But Stick would direct an eight-play, 80-yard drive and take in a 5-yard touchdown run to put NDSU back in the lead at 21-17, and the Bison defense made it stick.

2019: NDSU 23, SDSU 16 in Brookings

With ESPN’s College Gameday on hand for the pregame to hype the first sellout in the history of Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, the third-ranked Jacks and top-ranked, unbeaten Bison staged another classic.

SDSU led 6-3 at halftime on a pair of Chase Vinatieri field goals, but the Bison took control with a pair of third-quarter touchdowns – a 59-yard run by Ty Brooks and a 6-yard pass between future NFL’ers Trey Lance and Ben Ellefson.

The Jacks lost starting quarterback J’Bore Gibbs to what would prove to be a season-ending injury, however, and eventually had to turn to true freshman Keaton Heide, whose late touchdown run tied the game at 16. But an Adam Cofield 71-yard run with 2:32 to go proved to be the go-ahead score, and NDSU escaped with the win on their way to a 16-0, national championship season.

2020/21: SDSU 27, NDSU 17 in Fargo

A game that was delayed twice, first by the 2020 season getting pushed back to the spring by COVID-19, and later postponed a month due to positive cases in the Bison program, SDSU finally made the trip to the Fargodome on April 17, and the Jacks never trailed in earning a win that ultimately catapulted them to the No. 1 seed in the FCS playoffs and their first trip to Frisco for the national championship game (which they would lose to Sam Houston State).

With the teams tied at 17 heading to the fourth quarter, SDSU would take the lead on a 24-yard Cole Frahm field goal at the end of a 9-minute drive, then put the game away on a 5-yard score by Isaiah Davis with 2:50 to go, bring the marker back to Brookings, where it resides today.

2021: SDSU 27, NDSU 19 in Brookings

After entering the season intent on getting back to the national championship game, SDSU found itself at 6-2, and entering the Marker game on a two-game home losing streak. They needed this one for more than bragging rights, and they got it.

Pierre Strong broke loose for a 75-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game, and pretty much never looked back. They led 21-7 after Strong found Tucker Kraft on a trick play, then pushed it to 27-7 on a pair of Cole Frahm field goals before fighting off a late Bison rally.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: History of Dakota Marker: South Dakota State trails North Dakota State