Huge turnout of South Dakota State football fans makes for memorable weekend in Frisco
FRISCO – The last, and first, time South Dakota State made it to Texas for the FCS national championship, Jackrabbit fans turned out in impressive numbers to root for their team, in a season that had pushed to the spring due to COVID-19, while that pandemic was still ongoing.
This year in their return, the Jackrabbit faithful have taken things to a whole ‘nother level.
How much of an impact have the blue and yellow made here? On Friday night they turned out to a local pub in droves, and by the end of the night that establishment had run out of beer. A day later, on Saturday, even more fans came to the same place, by now established as Jackrabbit headquarters, and cleaned it out of beer again. So the thirsty South Dakotans went across the street and cleared out a liquor store.
Makes this lifelong South Dakotan proud.
Jacks fans did not dawdle in getting to Texas. The mountains of snow back home didn’t slow them down. Hundreds drove the 830 miles and many more risked the clustermuck that is flying commercial airlines, trickling in Thursday and Friday and reaching full force on Saturday. The SDSU alumni foundation held a pep rally at Frisco Hall on Saturday evening, and either they greatly underestimated the amount of fans who wanted to be there or Frisco oversold the place’s ability to host them. Thousands arrived, pushing an overflow crowd out from underneath the event tent. Hundreds left, some angry, but the team itself certainly appreciated that there were that many fans there.
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As you might expect, this event has been a weeklong Jackrabbit reunion.
Players young and old, from all eras of Jackrabbit football are on hand. A handful of players from last year’s team were at Saturday’s pep rally, including quarterback Chris Oladokun and cornerback Don Gardner, who are both in the NFL right now. As non-active practice squad players they had the OK to make the trip and didn’t hesitate to come.
I got here on Thursday, and no matter where I went, there were Rabbit fans anxious to talk about the game and tell stories. I heard from players from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Guys who played for Wayne Haensell and guys who played for John Stiegelmeier when the Jacks were still in Division II.
Former coach Mike Daly, Stiegelmeier’s mentor, emailed me his four keys to a win for SDSU (if you’re wondering, they were to win the last four minutes of the first half and first four minutes of the second, beware the QB run game, play more Cover 2 defense and avoid mistakes in the kicking game). His excitement – and nervousness – were palpable.
After the failed pep rally I went for dinner at a nearby sports bar, and sitting next to me were a trio of Jacks fans and a Bison fan. The SDSU guys turned out to be former players. One of them, former center Jeff Mounts, told me the story of how he scored a touchdown on a goalline fumble (one of his teammates egged him on to embellish the story for me).
Then came Sunday morning. I was here at about 8:30 a.m. for the 1:00 kickoff, and the parking lots were already filling up. The tailgate on the east side of the stadium was in full force. Smokers, coolers, bean bags and the like. Few places on earth are more fun and festive than a college football tailgate, but this one felt different. The energy and excitement overflowed. Jacks fans were confident, teeming with anticipation. They know this is the best chance they’ve ever had to win the program’s first national championship. They know that this year they have the better team. But they know the Bison are 9-0 in Frisco, kings of the FCS until someone can knock them off.
If they pull it off, it’ll be the perfect ending to an unforgettable weekend for South Dakota State.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: Huge turnout of South Dakota State football fans in Frisco
