2024 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

2024 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football
MVFC co-champion
NCAA Division I playoffs
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 2
FCS Coaches	No. 2
Record	12–2 (7–1 MVFC)
Head coach	Jimmy Rogers (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Ryan Olson (1st season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Danny Freund (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Jesse Bobbit (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium

2024 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 South Dakota State +^		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 3 North Dakota State +^		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 4 South Dakota +^		7	–	1					11	–	2
Missouri State*		6	–	2					8	–	4
No. 11 Illinois State ^		6	–	2					10	–	4
Youngstown State		3	–	5					4	–	8
Indiana State		3	–	5					4	–	8
North Dakota		2	–	6					5	–	7
Southern Illinois		2	–	6					4	–	8
Northern Iowa		1	–	7					3	–	9
Murray State		0	–	8					1	–	11
* Ineligible for 2024 FCS playoffs due to transition to the FBS
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant As of December 19, 2024 Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2024 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represents South Dakota State University during the 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football season, as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They are led by second-year head coach Jimmy Rogers and play their home games at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, South Dakota.

Preseason

MVFC poll

The MVFC released it preseason prediction poll on July 22, 2024. The Jackrabbits were predicted to win the conference.

MVFC media poll
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	South Dakota State	482 (42)
2	North Dakota State	437 (1)
3	South Dakota	371
4	Southern Illinois	293
5	North Dakota	276
6	Illinois State	264
7	Youngtown State	255
8	Northern Iowa	227
9	Missouri State	164 (1)
10	Indiana State	68
11	Murray State	67

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	1:00 p.m.	at No. 17 (FBS) Oklahoma State*	No. 1	Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK	ESPN+	L 20–44	52,202
September 7	6:00 p.m.	No. 12 Incarnate Word*	No. 1	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	MidcoSN/ESPN+	W 45–24	19,321
September 14	6:00 p.m.	No. 14 (Div. II) Augustana (SD)*	No. 1	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	MidcoSN/ESPN+	W 24–3	19,376
September 21	6:00 p.m.	at Southeastern Louisiana*	No. 1	Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA	ESPN+	W 41–0	4,387
October 5	4:00 p.m.	at Northern Iowa	No. 1	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA		W 41–3	12,611
October 12	2:00 p.m.	Youngstown State	No. 1	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	MidcoSN/ESPN+	W 63–13	19,331
October 19	7:00 p.m.	at No. 2 North Dakota State	No. 1	Fargodome Fargo, ND (Dakota Marker)	ESPN2	L 9–13	18,807
October 26	6:30 p.m.	No. 4 South Dakota	No. 3	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (rivalry)	ESPNU	W 20–17 OT	19,351
November 2	2:00 p.m.	Murray State	No. 3	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD		W 52–6	16,376
November 9	1:00 p.m.	at No. 21 North Dakota	No. 3	Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND		W 38–7	9,797
November 16	2:00 p.m.	Southern Illinois	No. 3	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD		W 41–10	17,268
November 23	2:00 p.m.	at Missouri State	No. 3	Robert W. Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO	ESPN+	W 45–9	7,142
December 7	1:00 p.m.	No. 13 Montana*	No. 3	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	W 35–18	10,376
December 14	11:00 a.m.	No. 6 Incarnate Word*	No. 2	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN	W 55–14	8,640
December 21	11:00 a.m.	at No. 3 North Dakota State*	No. 2	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Semifinal)	ABC
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time Source:

Game summaries

at No. 17 (FBS) Oklahoma State

See also: 2024 Oklahoma State Cowboys football team

No. 1 South Dakota State at No. 17 (FBS) Oklahoma State

1 2 3 4 Total No. 1 Jackrabbits 0 6 7 7 20 • No. 17 (FBS) Cowboys 10 7 21 6 44 Date: August 31 Location: Boone Pickens Stadium Stillwater, OK Game start: 1:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 26 minutes Game attendance: 52,202 Game weather: 79 °F (26 °C), Overcast Referee: Kevin Boitmann TV announcers (ESPN+): Shawn Kenney (play-by-play) and Taylor McHargue (analyst) Source: Box score

Scoring summary 1 8:15 OSU Logan Ward 42-yard field goal (11 plays, 32 yards, 3:12) OSU 3–0 2:03 OSU Brennan Presley 6-yard pass from Alan Bowman (Logan Ward kick) (7 plays, 47 yards, 2:36) OSU 10–0 2 12:15 SDSU Hunter Dustman 31-yard field goal (8 plays, 58 yards, 4:40) OSU 10–3 8:35 OSU Ollie Gordon II 12-yard run (Logan Ward kick) (10 plays, 74 yards, 3:34) OSU 17–3 3:52 SDSU Hunter Dustman 48-yard field goal (8 plays, 45 yards, 4:43) OSU 17–6 3 10:46 OSU Ollie Gordon II 22-yard run (Logan Ward kick) (10 plays, 65 yards, 4:14) OSU 24–6 9:10 SDSU Graham Goering 21-yard pass from Mark Gronowski (Hunter Dustman kick) (3 plays, 75 yards, 1:36) OSU 24–13 6:29 OSU Rashod Owens 58-yard pass from Alan Bowman (Logan Ward kick) (6 plays, 81 yards, 2:33) OSU 31–13 2:29 OSU Ollie Gordon II 1-yard run (Logan Ward kick) (7 plays, 56 yards, 3:11) OSU 38–13 4 13:50 OSU Logan Ward 52-yard field goal (4 plays, 5 yards, 1:01) OSU 41–13 12:10 SDSU Griffin Wilde 60-yard pass from Mark Gronowski (Hunter Dustman kick) (3 plays, 78 yards, 1:37) OSU 41–20 1:10 OSU Logan Ward 25-yard field goal (4 plays, 7 yards, 1:56) OSU 44–20

Statistics	SDSU	OSU
First downs	17	23
Total yards	388	394
Rushing yards	124	149
Passing yards	264	245
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	30:47	29:13

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
South Dakota State	Passing	Mark Gronowski	20/36, 264 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Amar Johnson	9 carries, 73 yards
	Receiving	Griffin Wilde	7 receptions, 150 yards, TD
Oklahoma State	Passing	Alan Bowman	24/33, 245 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Ollie Gordon II	28 carries, 126 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	De'Zhaun Stribling	6 receptions, 83 yards

No. 12 Incarnate Word

See also: 2024 Incarnate Word Cardinals football team

No. 12 Incarnate Word at No. 1 South Dakota State

1 2 3 4 Total No. 12 Cardinals 3 7 7 7 24 • No. 1 Jackrabbits 0 17 14 14 45 Date: September 7 Location: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 24 minutes Game attendance: 19,321 Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C), Sunny, Wind W 5 mph (8.0 km/h) Referee: Jason Perkins TV announcers (ESPN+): Jay Elsen (play-by-play) & Kurtiss Riggs (analyst) Source: Box score

Scoring summary 1 6:06 SDSU Brack Peacock 37-yard field goal (9 plays, 61 yards, 3:55) UIW 3–0 2 14:57 SDSU Hunter Dustman 30-yard field goal (12 plays, 67 yards, 6:08) TIED 3–3 11:11 SDSU Greyton Gannon 41-yard pass from Mark Gronowski (Hunter Dustman kick) (5 plays, 73 yards, 1:48) SDSU 10–3 6:51 UIW Jalen Walthall 5-yard pass from Zach Calzada (Brack Peacock kick) (10 plays, 75 yards, 4:20) TIED 10–10 3:32 SDSU Graham Goering 22-yard pass from Mark Gronowski (Hunter Dustman kick) (8 plays, 77 yards, 3:17) SDSU 17–10 3 13:11 UIW Jalen Walthall 69-yard pass from Zach Calzada (Brack Peacock kick) (4 plays, 91 yards, 1:46) TIED 17–17 7:13 SDSU Griffin Wilde 11-yard pass from Mark Gronowski (Hunter Dustman kick) (11 plays, 69 yards, 5:56) SDSU 24–17 3:58 SDSU Amar Johnson 6-yard run (Hunter Dustman kick) (3 plays, 72 yards, 1:20) SDSU 31–17 4 14:22 UIW Roy Alexander 35-yard pass from Zach Calzada (Brack Peacock kick) (9 plays, 75 yards, 4:36) SDSU 31–24 10:34 SDSU Amar Johnson 3-yard run (Hunter Dustman kick) (8 plays, 59 yards, 3:45) SDSU 38–24 7:47 SDSU Griffin Wilde 25-yard pass from Mark Gronowski (Hunter Dustman kick) (4 plays, 42 yards, 1:39) SDSU 45–24

Statistics	UIW	SDSU
First downs	20	31
Total yards	419	515
Rushing yards	68	230
Passing yards	351	285
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	24:43	35:17

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Incarnate Word	Passing	Zach Calzada	31/39, 351 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Zach Calzada	7 carries, 43 yards
	Receiving	Jalen Walthall	7 receptions, 137 yards, 2 TD
South Dakota State	Passing	Mark Gronowski	21/32, 285 yards, 4 TD, INT
	Rushing	Amar Johnson	19 carries, 112 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Griffin Wilde	10 receptions, 106 yards, 2 TD

Augustana (South Dakota)

See also: Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings football

Augustana at No. 1 South Dakota State

1 2 3 4 Total Vikings 3 0 0 0 3 • No. 1 Jackrabbits 7 10 7 0 24 Date: September 14 Location: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 19,376 Source: Box score

Statistics	AUG	SDSU
First downs	12	22
Total yards	171	374
Rushing yards	24	233
Passing yards	147	141
Turnovers	1	3
Time of possession	28:16	31:44

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Augustana	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
South Dakota State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at Southeastern Louisiana

See also: 2024 Southeastern Louisiana Lions football team

No. 1 South Dakota State at Southeastern Louisiana

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 1 Jackrabbits 7 13 14 7 41 Lions 0 0 0 0 0 Date: September 21 Location: Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA Game start: 6:03pm CDT Elapsed time: 2:52 Game attendance: 4,387 Source: Box Score

Statistics	SDSU	SLU
First downs	18	13
Total yards	417	186
Rushing yards	341	94
Passing yards	76	92
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	25:52	34:08

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
South Dakota State	Passing	Mark Gronowski	7/17, 65 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	Kirby Vorhees	5 carries, 179 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	Amar Johnson	3 receptions, 37 yards
Southeastern Louisiana	Passing	Damon Sewart	9/20, 91 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Antonio Martin, Jr.	14 carries, 36 yards
	Receiving	Darius Lewis	5 receptions, 56 yards

at Northern Iowa

See also: 2024 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

No. 1 South Dakota State at Northern Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 1 Jackrabbits 7 20 14 0 41 Panthers 0 3 0 0 3 Date: October 5 Location: UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA Game start: 4:03 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:01 Game attendance: 12,611 Game weather: Indoors Referee: Jason Berg Source: Box score

Statistics	SDSU	UNI
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
South Dakota State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Northern Iowa	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Youngstown State

See also: 2024 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Youngstown State at No. 1 South Dakota State

1 2 3 4 Total Penguins 3 7 0 3 13 • No. 1 Jackrabbits 21 14 14 14 63 Date: October 12 Location: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD Game start: 2:00 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 19,331 Referee: Tyler Downs Source: Box score

Statistics	YSU	SDSU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Youngstown State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
South Dakota State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at No. 2 North Dakota State

See also: 2024 North Dakota State Bison football team and Dakota Marker

No. 1 South Dakota State at No. 2 North Dakota State
Dakota Marker

1 2 3 4 Total No. 1 Jackrabbits 0 9 0 0 9 • No. 2 Bison 0 7 0 6 13 Date: October 19 Location: Fargodome Fargo, ND Game start: 7:05 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:16 Game attendance: 18,807 Referee: Jason Perkins Source: Box score

Statistics	SDSU	NDSU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
South Dakota State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
North Dakota State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

No. 4 South Dakota

See also: 2024 South Dakota Coyotes football team and South Dakota Showdown

No. 4 South Dakota at No. 3 South Dakota State

1 2 3 4 OT Total No. 4 Coyotes 7 0 0 7 3 17 • No. 3 Jackrabbits 7 7 0 0 6 20 Date: October 26 Location: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD Game start: 6:35 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:33 Game attendance: 19,351 Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C), Clear, Wind S 15 mph (24 km/h) Referee: David Hergert TV announcers (ESPNU): Lowell Galindo (play-by-play) and Fozzy Whittaker (analyst) Source: Box score

Statistics	USD	SDSU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
South Dakota	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
South Dakota State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Murray State

See also: 2024 Murray State Racers football team

Murray State at No. 3 South Dakota State

1 2 3 4 Total Racers 3 3 0 0 6 • No. 3 Jackrabbits 14 24 14 0 52 Date: November 2 Location: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD Game start: 2:06 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:08 Game attendance: 16,376 Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C), Sunny, Wind S 10 mph (16 km/h) Referee: Tyler Downs Source: Box score

Statistics	MSU	SDSU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Murray State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
South Dakota State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at No. 21 North Dakota

See also: 2024 North Dakota Fighting Hawks football team

No. 3 South Dakota State at No. 21 North Dakota

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 3 Jackrabbits 3 28 7 0 38 No. 21 Fighting Hawks 7 0 0 0 7 Date: November 9 Location: Alerus Center Grand Forks, ND Game start: 1:06 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:06 Game attendance: 9,797 Game weather: Indoors Referee: Aaron Adams Source: Box score

Statistics	SDSU	UND
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
South Dakota State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
North Dakota	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Southern Illinois

See also: 2024 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

Southern Illinois at No. 3 South Dakota State

1 2 3 4 Total Salukis 0 0 7 3 10 • No. 3 Jackrabbits 3 28 10 0 41 Date: November 16 Location: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD Game start: 2:05 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 2:54 Game attendance: 17,268 Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C), Sunny, Wind NW 20 mph (32 km/h) Referee: Gregory Gompf Source: Box score

Statistics	SIU	SDSU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
South Dakota State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at Missouri State

See also: 2024 Missouri State Bears football team

South Dakota State at Missouri State

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 3 Jackrabbits 7 17 14 7 45 Bears 0 9 0 0 9 Date: November 23 Location: Plaster Stadium Springfield, MO Game start: 2:02 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:04 Game attendance: 7,142 Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C), Sunny, Wind S 7 mph (11 km/h) Referee: John Shay Television network: ESPN+ Source: Box score

Statistics	SDSU	MSU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Turnovers
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
South Dakota State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Missouri State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Roster

2024 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 13 Jack Amer  Fr QB 9 Jeff Becker So QB 5 Jon Bell Jr QB 11 Mark Gronowski Sr QB 7 Chase Mason Jr RB 45 Brenden Begeman  Fr RB 3 Amar Johnson Sr RB 21 Angel Johnson Jr RB 39 Isaac Kracl So RB 37 Kirby Vorhees  Fr TE 83 David Alpers So TE 44 Kevin Brenner Sr TE 88 Greyton Gannon So TE 89 Brody Gormley So TE 56 Andrew Gustad So TE 81 Joey Neumann  Fr TE 49 Davin Stoffel  Fr OL 71 Noah Atherton  Fr OL 66 Brady Beck Sr OL 61 Evan Beerntsen Sr OL 62 Kenyon Big Bow  Fr OL 70 Colby Christensen Sr OL 69 Quinten Christensen So OL 76 Bo Donald Sr OL 65 Cole Jarrett  Fr OL 68 Jackson Kerstin  Fr OL 54 Jalen Lee Sr OL 50 Gus Miller Sr OL 67 Ian Mutchler  Fr OL 77 William Paepke  Fr OL 75 Dawson Rudd So OL 64 Ethan Vibert Sr WR 15 Devon Cole Jr. Sr WR 19 Elijah Ervin Jr WR 12 Grahm Goering Jr WR 86 Patrick Hoffmann Sr WR 36 Dane Miller So WR 82 Ky Oday Jr. So WR 80 Kentrell Prejean  Fr WR 2 Marcus Preston Sr WR 84 Joe Randle  Fr WR 85 Joe Roll  Fr WR 18 Griffin Wilde So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 32 Adam Bock Sr LB 9 Caleb Francl Sr LB 47 Kytan Fyfe So LB 43 Adam Kusler Sr LB 40 Aaron Kusler Sr LB 33 Bryce Johnson So LB 0 Daeton Mcgaughy Sr LB 46 Cullen McShane So LB 41 Joe Ollman So LB 38 Trevor Scott So LB 29 Graham Spalding Sr LB 28 Chase Van Tol  Fr DE 90 Randy Keumogne Sr DE 97 Reis Kirschenman  Fr DE 58 Aidan Murphy So DE 8 Blake Peterson GS DE 99 Dawson Ripperda So DE 57 Levi Vanden Bos Jr DE 50 Nick Wells  Fr DE 95 Zac Wilson Sr DT 93 Max Baloun Sr DT 59 Grant Conaway Sr DT 52 Jarod DePriest Sr DT 51 Logan Green So DT 96 Bryce Hawthorne  Fr DT 91 Jace Sifore So DT 55 Aaron Wolfcale-Holsten Jr CB 4 Steven Arrell Sr CB 7 Dalys Beanum Sr CB 30 Cody Cotton Jr CB 13 Aydan Dautermann Jr CB 17 Abe Hoskins III Sr CB 31 Jalen B. Lee So CB 16 Noah St-Juste  Fr CB 20 Myles Taylor Jr S 23 Matthew Durrance Jr S 35 Beau Giblin  Fr S 14 Colby Huerter Sr S 3 Dontay Johnson So S 1 Tucker Large Jr S 25 Cale Reeder Sr S 27 Noah Thompson So S 26 Kolten Tilford  Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK, P 10 Hunter Dustman Sr PK, P 96 Jackson Isakson  Fr LS 37 Kaydon Olivia Jr	Head coach Jimmy Rogers (2nd year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Ryan Olson – Offensive coordinator/offensive line Danny Freund – Co-Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks Jesse Bobbit – Defensive coordinator/linebackers Pat Cashmore – Special teams coordinator Chris Meyers – Recruiting coordinator/tight ends Mike Banks – Cornerbacks Jalon Bibbs – Defensive line Jake Menage – Wide receivers Pete Menage – Safeties Robbie Rouse – Running backs Jonathan Shaeffer – Director of Football Operations Matt Jacobs – Director of strength & conditioning Kyle Saddler – Offensive quality control Brayden Gage – Special teams quality control/video coordinator Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Rankings

Main article: 2024 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	1 (52)	1 (36)	1 (44)	1 (41)	1 (40)	1 (38)	1 (36)	1 (38)	3	3	3	3	2 (1)
Coaches	1 (25)	1 (17)	1 (22)	1 (22)	1 (22)	1 (21)	1 (21)	1 (21)	3	3	3	3	2 (2)