Showdown Series: USD, SDSU football square off for first time since 2019

With two weeks left in the regular season, at least six teams from the Missouri Valley Football Conference are still alive for a playoff berth and at least a share of the conference title.

That includes South Dakota and South Dakota State, who square off Saturday at the DakotaDome for a 1 p.m. kickoff in the latest chapter of the Showdown Series. The Jackrabbits are 7-2 and ranked 7th in the nation. The Coyotes are 6-3 and ranked 17th. Both teams are 4-2 in league play.

SDSU has dominated the rivalry in the Division I era, but USD won the last meeting, a 24-21 squeaker in 2019 at the Dome that snapped a 10-game losing streak in the series for the Coyotes. If the Jacks win Saturday, it will move them one step closer to a potential playoff seed and first-round bye. If the Coyotes win, it likely secures a playoff spot for them.

This would be a huge game if it didn’t happen to be between a pair of in-state rivals who played to a 6-6 tie in their first meeting, in 1889. But because it is, a sellout crowd is expected, and the environment should be electric.

“You really see the intensity everyone brings to it,” said USD wideout Caleb Vander Esch. “There’s always a lot of energy and juice in the crowd. Everyone always circles this one on the calendar when the schedule comes out.”

When they’re on their game, the Jacks are as good as anyone in the FCS. They knocked off NDSU last week, when the Bison were undefeated and ranked second in the nation. They also have a 42-23 win over FBS Colorado State to their credit. But the only other winning teams the Jacks have played this year have beaten them. Their losses to Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa both came at home, however. SDSU has been dominant on the road, scoring 40 or more points in all four of their road games and winning them by 19, 44, 24 and 31 point deficits.

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Pierre Strong has been perhaps the best player in the country, with 1,142 yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground, while quarterback Chris Oladokun has been productive as the new quarterback, spreading the ball around to receivers Jaxon and Jadon Janke and tight ends Tucker Kraft and Zach Heins. They also might be getting running back Isaiah Davis back for this one after the spring star missed the last two months with a shoulder injury.

Defensively the Jacks got a spark last week from the return of All-American cornerback Don Gardner, helping them continue what’s been a solid season on that side of the ball. The Jacks allow 17.4 points and 315.9 yards per game.

Interestingly enough, the Coyote defense has been a mirror image, if not in style then in effectiveness. USD has allowed the exact same number of yards as SDSU (315.9 per game) and are a shade better in scoring defense (17.1). They’ve made huge strides in stopping the run and getting to the quarterback, as the linebacking corps of Jack Cochrane, Brock Mogensen and Jacob Matthew has led the way for a unit that opened the year in a 3-4 base formation but has since moved more to a 4-3. They’ve also admirably weathered the loss of cornerback Myles Harden.

On offense, USD’s running game has been much improved thanks to the efforts of Travis Theis and true freshman Nate Thomas, while second-year freshman Carson Camp has 13 touchdown passes against just two interceptions. The Coyotes average 195 passing yards per game and 190 on the ground.

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“There’s gimmicky teams and then there’s kind of the straightforward teams and South Dakota State’s one of those straightforward offenses,” said Matthew, who has six sacks on the season, tied with Nick Gaes for the team lead. “They’re not really gonna dink and dunk the ball around and pretend to be something they’re not. They believe in their guys and they’re going to line them up. We believe in ours and we’re going to line them up. At the end of the day, we’re going to see who’s better.”

The Jacks missed out on their chance to host the Coyotes in 2020 when the season was postponed to the spring and then USD’s scheduled trip to Brookings was called off for COVID-19 issues. Because of the uncertainty that characterized the spring season, the loss of the rivalry wasn’t felt as heavily as it probably would’ve been in a normal year.

But they’re happy to have this game back, and SDSU should be motivated. Not only did they lose their last meeting, they played that game with their backup quarterback and tailback. That didn’t exactly decide the game – Keaton Heide threw for 308 yards and Mikey Daniel ran for over 100 in stepping into the starting lineup, but prepping for this year’s game has been a busy endeavor. There’s much to be taken from the last matchup because of how many players are still around, but plenty of new things to digest from all the new faces.

USD coach Bob Nielson said his staff would “look at what (they) did right, what they did wrong, what they could’ve done better and what they need to tweak,” and SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier said his staff would largely do the same. Their offense practiced indoors this week with artificial noise to prepare for a potentially hostile crowd.

“We are using the 2019 film as part of our breakdown but obviously putting a lot more stock in what they’ve done recently,” Stiegelmeier said. “When I watch that film it feels like it was 10 years ago, not two years ago, but they have made some changes. Their quarterback is different. They’re playing great, great defense – it’s going to be a battle.”

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (7-2, 4-2) AT SOUTH DAKOTA (6-3, 4-2)

WHEN/WHERE: 1 p.m. Saturday at the DakotaDome in Vermillion

TV: Midco Sports

ONLINE: Midco Sports Plus

RADIO: WNAX-AM 570; Jackrabbit radio affiliates; KVHT-FM 106.3, KQSF-FM 95.7

COACHES: SDSU - John Stiegelmeier (25th year, 181-109); USD - Bob Nielson (6th year, 28-32)

SERIES: SDSU leads 55-53-7

LAST TIME: USD won 24-21 in 2019 in Vermillion

LAST WEEK: SDSU beat North Dakota State 27-19; USD beat Western Illinois 42-21

RANKINGS: SDSU is ranked 7th in the FCS poll; USD is ranked 17th

KEY PLAYERS: SDSU – RB Pierre Strong (1,142 yards, 14 TDs), QB Chris Oladokun (1,991 yards, 16 TDs), WR Jaxon Janke (38 rec., 686 yards, 2 TDs), TE Tucker Kraft (45 rec., 543 yards, 5 TDs), LB Adam Bock (74 tackles), DE Reece Winkelman (4.5 sacks); USD – RB Travis Theis (601 yards, 7 TDs), RB Nate Thomas (505 yards, 4 TDs), QB Carson Camp (1,566 yards, 13 TDs), WR Carter Bell (34 rec., 583 yards, 5 TDs), LB Jack Cochrane (65 tackles, 3 INT), LB Jacob Matthew (6 sacks), DL Nick Gaes (6 sacks)

ETC: Both teams are ranked going into the Showdown Series meeting for the first time since 2017 when SDSU was ranked fifth and USD was 15th....USD's win over the Jacks in 2019 ended a 10-game losing streak in the rivalry and was their first over SDSU since the 2000 season....USD has two wins over ranked teams this year (North Dakota was 13th when the Coyotes beat them, UNI was 16th)....SDSU is No. 1 in the Valley in scoring offense (40.7) and third in scoring defense (17.4). USD is fifth in scoring offense (29.7) and second in scoring defense (17.1).

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota, South Dakota State football square off: Showdown Series