How to watch and what to know about South Dakota State football at North Dakota
South Dakota State continues its North Central Conference reunion tour on Saturday with a trip to Grand Forks, where the Jacks will take the field as the No. 1 team in the country for the first time in program history.
And the Fighting Hawks would love nothing more than to make the Jacks' stay at the top of the polls a short one.
With UND fighting for their own playoff lives and coming off a bye, the Jacks can’t afford to exhale after consecutive rivalry wins over South Dakota and North Dakota State. They’ve got to rise to the challenge again.
“I think it’s really important (to stay focused),” said Jacks defensive tackle Caleb Sanders. “Especially with the long season we have without a bye week (the Jacks’ open date is the final week of the regular season). Every week is important to make sure we’re keeping our foot on the pedal, getting better every day.”
Said Bison coach Bubba Schweigert: “We’ve got to be able to handle the moment. I’ll give our guys credit – we’ve handled a lot of moments up to this point and done a good job with that. But this one we’ll need to do a good job again.”
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (6-1) AT NORTH DAKOTA (4-2)
WHEN/WHERE: 3 p.m. Saturday at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks, N.D.
TV: Midco Sports Network
ONLINE: ESPN+ and Midco Sports Plus
RADIO: WNAX-AM 570; Jackrabbit radio affiliates
COACHES: SDSU – John Stiegelmeier (26th year, 191-112); UND – Bubba Schweigert (9th year, 51-42)
SERIES: UND leads 47-35-5
LAST TIME: SDSU won 24-21 last year in Brookings
LAST WEEK: SDSU beat North Dakota State 23-21; UND was idle
RANKINGS: SDSU is ranked No. 1; UND is No. 20
About University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks
It’s easy to forget now, but in the Division II days, North Dakota was virtually the equal of North Dakota State – they were the two powerhouses of the NCC. The program formerly known as the Fighting Sioux won eight NCC titles between 1993 and 2006, and were Division II national champions in 2001.
Their transition to Division I has been mostly successful, with a Great West conference title in 2011, a Big Sky title in 2016 and a share of the 2021 spring season championship. They’ve been to the FCS playoffs three times (2016, 2019, 2020/21). The Hawks were 5-6 last year, and are a game behind SDSU for first place in the Valley this season.
More:After big Dakota Marker win, time for No. 1 South Dakota State football to finish the job
The Hawks opened the season with a 38-17 loss to Nebraska in which they were tied late in the third quarter. They have close wins over Northern Iowa, Northern Arizona and Youngstown State, suffered a 34-17 loss at Southern Illinois, and put an impressive beatdown on Missouri State, coming back from down 21-10 to win 48-31.
The Hawks offense has been solid, ranking third in the conference with 28.8 points per game and fifth in total offense at 372.2. But their defense has struggled, allowing 30.7 points and 440 yards a game. They’ve been especially susceptible to the pass, allowing nearly 290 yards through the air.
The Jacks are plenty familiar with veteran quarterback Tommy Schuster, who’s completing 69 percent of his passes for 1,425 yards and eight touchdowns with two picks, while Tyler Hoosman has emerged as a rushing weapon, with 473 yards (fifth in the conference) and seven touchdowns.
Ben McNaboe has 4.5 sacks for the UND defense.
The Hawks are 2-0 at home this year and have won 17 of their last 18 in the Alerus Center. SDSU’s last win there came in 2013. Prior to that, the only South Dakota team ever to win there was USF, in 2009. The Cougars were defending NAIA national champions that year, and won it again after upsetting UND.
About the South Dakota State Jackrabbits
SDSU is coming off a win in their biggest game of the year; now they have to avoid the proverbial letdown.
That UND is a good team makes that important enough. That they’re coming off a bye week gives the Hawks even more of a potential advantage.
More:South Dakota State football is new No. 1 in FCS for first time in school history
That said, SDSU was brilliant in the second half against the Bison last week, overcoming a two-score halftime deficit to outscore the Bison 16-0 in the second half in the Fargodome. That came one week after a thoroughly efficient effort in a 28-3 win over USD.
The Jacks' defense struggled mightily against the pass in the first half against NDSU, and the Hawks likely took note of that, but SDSU made adjustments in the second half and surely will go into this one prepared for UND to try to beat them through the air.
The Jacks are getting NFL-bound tight end Tucker Kraft back this week from a long injury absence, but running back Isaiah Davis (who’s second in the Valley with 740 rushing yards) is questionable after hurting his shoulder in Fargo. The Jacks are hopeful he can play, while linebacker Jason Freeman, safety Chase Norblade and receiver Landon Wolf could also be back this week.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: How to watch, what to know about South Dakota State vs North Dakota
