2018 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

2018 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football
NCAA Division I Semifinal, L 21–44 at North Dakota State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 3
FCS Coaches	No. 3
Record	10–3 (6–2 MVFC)
Head coach	John Stiegelmeier (22nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Eric Eidsness (13th season)
Defensive coordinator	Clint Brown (10th season)
Home stadium	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^		8	–	0					15	–	0
No. 3 South Dakota State ^		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^		5	–	3					7	–	6
Indiana State		5	–	3					7	–	4
Western Illinois		4	–	4					5	–	6
Illinois State		3	–	5					6	–	5
Youngstown State		3	–	5					4	–	7
South Dakota		3	–	5					4	–	7
Missouri State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Southern Illinois		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2018 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represented South Dakota State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 22nd-year head coach John Stiegelmeier, the Jackrabbits compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing second in the MVFC. South Dakota State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where, after a first round bye, the Jackrabbits defeated Duquesne in the second round and Kennesaw State in the quarterfinals before falling to fellow MVFC member and eventual national champion, North Dakota State, in the semifinals. The team played home games on campus at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, South Dakota.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Award	Player	Position	Year
Walter Payton Award[1]	Taryn Christion	QB	SR
Buck Buchanan Award[2]	Christian Rozeboom	LB	JR

Preseason MVFC poll

The MVFC released their preseason poll on July 29, 2018, with the Jackrabbits predicted to finish in second place.^[3]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	North Dakota State	390 (39)
2	South Dakota State	270
3	Northern Iowa	258
4	Youngstown State	248
5	Illinois State	248
6	South Dakota	206
7	Western Illinois	163
8	Southern Illinois	139
9	Missouri State	90
10	Indiana State	41

Preseason All-MVFC Teams

The Jackrabbits placed seven players at eight positions on the preseason all-MVFC teams.^[4]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:00 p.m.	at Iowa State*	No. 3	Jack Trice Stadium Ames, IA		Cancelled[a]
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Midco	W 45–14	14,614
September 15	6:00 p.m.	Arkansas–Pine Bluff*	No. 3	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	Midco	W 90–6	14,526
September 29	2:30 p.m.	at No. 1 North Dakota State	No. 3	Fargodome Fargo, ND (Dakota Marker)	ESPN+, Midco	L 17–21	18,846
October 6	6:00 p.m.	Indiana State	No. 3	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	Midco	W 54–51 OT	10,318
October 13	2:00 p.m.	Youngstown State	No. 2	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	Midco	W 36–7	14,357
October 20	4:00 p.m.	at No. 25 Northern Iowa	No. 2	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA	ESPN3	L 9–24	12,013
October 27	12:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Illinois State	No. 7	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN3	W 38–28	12,144
November 3	2:00 p.m.	Missouri State	No. 7	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	Midco	W 59–7	5,869
November 10	1:00 p.m.	at Southern Illinois	No. 6	Saluki Stadium Carbondale, IL	ESPN+	W 57–38	4,433
November 17	2:00 p.m.	South Dakota	No. 5	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (rivalry)	Midco	W 49–27	8,517
December 1	2:00 p.m.	Duquesne*	No. 5	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	W 51–6	3,042
December 8	1:00 p.m.	at No. 2 Fifth Third Bank Stadium Kennesaw, GA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN3	W 27–17	3,262
December 14	7:00 p.m.	at No. 1 North Dakota State*	No. 5	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Semifinal)	ESPN2	L 21–44	18,286
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[6][7]

Roster

2018 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 1 Jacob Brown Jr QB 2 J'Bore Gibbs Fr QB 3 Taryn Christion Sr RB 5 Blair Mulholland So RB 8 C. J. Wilson Fr OL 60 Mason McCormick Fr OL 64 Garret Greenfield Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 2 Christian Rozeboom Jr S 3 Joshua Manchigiah So S 6 Makiah Slade Sr LB 7 Seven Wilson So S 33 Michael Griffin II Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 4 Chase Vinatieri Jr	Head coach John Stiegelmeier Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	0	0	8	6	14
No. 3 Jackrabbits	7	17	14	7	45

Arkansas–Pine Bluff

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Lions	6	0	0	0	6
No. 3 Jackrabbits	28	21	21	20	90

At North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 3 Jackrabbits	7	0	10	0	17
No. 1 Bison	0	14	0	7	21

Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Sycamores	10	7	7	24	3	51
No. 3 Jackrabbits	7	14	21	6	6	54

Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Penguins	7	0	0	0	7
No. 2 Jackrabbits	9	7	7	13	36

At Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Jackrabbits	3	0	0	6	9
No. 25 Panthers	0	7	7	10	24

At Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 7 Jackrabbits	7	21	7	3	38
No. 11 Redbirds	7	0	0	21	28

Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	7	0	0	7
No. 7 Jackrabbits	7	31	7	14	59

At Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 Jackrabbits	10	20	20	7	57
Salukis	3	14	21	0	38

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Coyotes	7	0	7	13	27
No. 5 Jackrabbits	28	7	7	7	49

FCS Playoffs

Duquesne–Second Round

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dukes	0	0	6	0	6
No. 5 Jackrabbits	7	17	20	7	51

At Kennesaw State–Quarterfinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Jackrabbits	3	14	3	7	27
No. 2 Owls	3	0	0	14	17

At North Dakota State–Semifinals

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 5 Jackrabbits	7	0	14	0	21
No. 1 Bison	7	7	21	9	44

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	7	7	6	5	5	3
Coaches	3	3	3	3	3	4–T	5	2	8	7	6	5	5	3

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
7	223	Jordan Brown	CB	Cincinnati Bengals

References