Following a road victory over a fellow top-five opponent last week, the South Dakota State football team returns to Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Saturday to face Western Illinois in the Jackrabbits’ Missouri Valley Football Conference home opener.
Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. Saturday’s game is designated as the Precision Ag Bowl, as well as the annual Hall of Fame Game. The five newest members of the Jackrabbit Sports Hall of Fame will be recognized at halftime. The Jacks Tailgate show starts at 12 Noon on 570 WNAX.
The Jackrabbits, ranked second in this week’s Stats Perform media poll and third by the Football Championship Subdivision coaches, improved to 3-1 overall after posting a 28-14 victory at No. 4/6 Missouri State on Sept. 24. SDSU scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to secure the win.
Western Illinois, meanwhile, is in search of its first win of the season under first-year head coach Myers Hendrickson. The Fighting Leathernecks, 0-4 overall, dropped a 52-17 decision at home to Northern Iowa last weekend to open MVFC action.
THE SERIES: Saturday’s game will mark the 18th meeting on the gridiron between the Jackrabbits and Western Illinois. The series dates back to a 28-21 Fighting Leatherneck victory at SDSU’s Coughlin-Alumni Stadium in 1976.
Overall, SDSU leads the all-time series by a 12-5 count on the strength of winning 11 of the last 12 matchups, including a seven-game winning streak from 2008-14.
Since moving to the Football Championship Subdivision, SDSU?holds an 11-2 series advantage. Both of Western Illinois’ victories since 2007 have been in overtime games on its home field. The Leathernecks claimed a 29-26, four-overtime victory in the 2007 season opener, adding a 30-24 double-overtime win in the 2015 regular season finale.
In last season’s matchup, Oct. 16, 2021, in Macomb, Illinois, SDSU broke loose from Western Illinois with a 21-point third quarter to defeat the Fighting Leathernecks, 41-17.
The outburst was keyed by a blocked punt for touchdown on the first possession of the second half. Kinser Madison broke through the line to block the punt at the WIU 15, and Canyon Bauer scooped up the football at the 9-yard line and carried it in for the touchdown and a 20-10 Jackrabbit lead.
Pierre Strong, Jr., scored on a 17-yard touchdown run and Jaxon Janke found the end zone from 21 yards out on a pass from Chris Oladokun later in the third quarter. Strong capped the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
JACKS PICKED SECOND IN VALLEY: South Dakota State has been picked to finish second in the 2022 Missouri Valley Football Conference race, according to a preseason poll conducted among the league’s coaches, sports information directors and a select media panel that was announced in early August.
Defending league and national champion North Dakota State earned the top spot in the poll with 446 points and 39 first-place votes, followed by the Jackrabbits with the other two first-place votes and 407 points. Missouri State (355), Southern Illinois (306) and Northern Iowa (304) rounded out the top five.
Since joining the MVFC at the start of the 2008 season, SDSU has been picked to finish second in the league standings on seven occasions and was tabbed as the favorite in 2021.
