South Dakota football moving past two-straight wins, Hail Mary in return to Brookings

The last time South Dakota State beat South Dakota, senior left tackle Alex Jensen was a tight end. He played “maybe one snap” in that game. But even watching from the sideline as a redshirt and, mostly, watching the game as a sparsely-used tight end the following year, the magnitude of the rivalry is easy to sense. Especially, in watching two-straight losses.

Now, since 2019, it’s the Jackrabbits that have seen those two-straight losses. And last year’s loss was one of the most shocking in its history. It won the game, then seconds were added back on the clock, then a Hail Mary as time expired out of the hands of USD quarterback Carson Camp sent the Coyotes to the playoffs and their opponents off to the locker room in disbelief.

Many of the young players on the Coyotes have never seen a loss to SDSU. But South Dakota players don’t plan to ride the wave of the two-straight wins in their return to Brookings for the first time since 2018 Saturday at 2 p.m.

“I think that’s kind of in the past and you’ve got to move on from that,” Jensen said.

More:The Hail Mary a year later: 5 facts you might have forgotten about

He said the goal, every week in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, is to go 1-0. After losing three of their first four, the Coyotes (1-3, 0-1 MVFC) have motivation to do that beyond this matchup coming against their biggest rival.

“I think this is a big game in a lot of respects,” South Dakota head coach Bob Nielson said. “It's a big game because it's the South Dakota-South Dakota State rivalry game. It's a big game for both of us based on where we're at in our seasons, even though our records are different. … We understand the challenges we've got going into the week.”

South Dakota is coming off a game against a similarly-challenging opponent in North Dakota State and for a half, the Coyotes looked like they’d be able to keep up. USD went to halftime with a 17-10 lead after scoring two touchdowns in the final five minutes of the second quarter against the Bison. But, as has been the case in a lot of USD’s games this season, they didn’t play a complete game.

In their first two losses, to Kansas State and Montana, the Coyotes had moments where its defense stifled their competition. And in its win over Cal Poly right before the matchup with NDSU, USD had moments of offensive explosion. But each game was mixed with inconsistencies that either tanked South Dakota’s chances or made the score look more favorable to its competition (in the case of Cal Poly) than it should have.

More:South Dakota State vs. South Dakota football rivalry: A look back at the FCS matchups

Nielson said he expects SDSU to create a lot of those same challenges. The Jackrabbits defense has been strong, especially against the run. Nielson said after the Coyotes' win over Cal Poly that the commitment to the run, despite a lack of success, was what opened up some passing lanes for USD in a career performance for Camp.

Nielson, actually, expects a bit of the inverse against South Dakota State. Nielson said they’re so strong at the line of scrimmage that creating pressure on the perimeters in the passing game will be key.

In past games, South Dakota has been able to play good defense, take advantage of its offensive chances and, of course, keep the game close enough to leave room for something amazing at the end. But even if that ending last season is intertwined with the hype surrounding the rematch, it may be more important for the Coyotes to look past the finish than anyone else. South Dakota defensive back Myles Harden said it shouldn’t “impact anything.”

“This is a whole new game, whole new year, a whole new team,” Harden said. “So we can't go in thinking that.”

Follow Sioux Falls Argus Leader reporter Michael McCleary on Twitter @mikejmccleary.

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota football facing SDSU after 2 straight wins vs. Jacks