MSU fifth-year head coach Brent Vigen has led his team to the title game three times during his tenure guiding the Bobcats. On January 5, Montana State takes on Illinois State, an unseeded team out of the Missouri Valley Football Conference that has done the unfathomable. The Redbirds have won four straight road games, including beating No. 1 North Dakota State in Fargo in the second round, to reach the title game for the first time since 2014.

Montana State is riding high after beating archrival Montana for the second time in 28 days by running away from the Grizzlies in the fourth quarter to post a 48-23 win on December 20. That victory was MSU’s 13^th straight and vaults them into the title game for the first time against an opponent other than NDSU.

Beating a top 3 team twice in a month is certainly a huge launch point for Montana State and the Bobcats certainly take plenty of confidence to Nashville, Tennessee. But they also have to take care of business against the red-hot Redbirds if MSU hopes to win its first national title in 41 years.

Vigen made sure to emphasize this exact fact following his team’s most recent rivalry win. He said no less than four times in the post-game press conference following the Montana victory that his team “is not done yet.”

Illinois State won four straight games to put itself in playoff position only to lose 37-7 to No. 24 Southern Illinois in its regular-season finale to limp into the playoffs. That loss gave ISU an 8-4 regular-season record and a road game at No. 16 Southeastern Louisiana in the first round.

That Thanksgiving weekend, the Redbird defense came alive, stonewalling SELA in Hammond, Louisiana on the way to a 21-3 win. The following week, Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse threw five interceptions and North Dakota State scored on special teams, yet the Redbirds still became just the second team EVER to win at the Fargo Dome in the playoffs. ISU went for two in the final minute to earn a 29-28 win over NDSU, ensuring the Bison did not qualify for the quarterfinals of the playoffs for the first time ever in years NDSU has qualified for the FCS Playoffs.

Illinois State kept rolling in the quarterfinals, getting up early and holding for a 42-31 win over No. 8 UC Davis. The common opponents for ISU and MSU this season include the Aggies and South Dakota State. Montana State beat UC Davis 38-17 in Bozeman in early November while losing to South Dakota State in Bozeman 30-24 in double overtime in Week 2. The Redbirds beat SDSU 35-21 in Brookings the second to last weekend of the regular season with stud Jackrabbits quarterback Chase Mason still on the shelf with an injury.

ISU had no trouble with No. 12 Villanova in the semis, beating the Wildcats 30-14 to advance to the title game.

The Redbirds are the first team in the history of the subdivision to win four consecutive road games. ISU will look to win its first football national championship against Montana State.

QUICK HITS

Nickname: Redbirds

Location: Normal, Illinois

Founded: 1857 as the Illinois State Normal University, making it the oldest university in the state of Illinois. The university emphasizes teaching and is recognized as one of the top ten largest producers of teachers in the US according to the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. It is classified among “R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity”.

Enrollment: 21,994, including 19,513 undergraduates.

Endowment – $240 million

Stadium: Illinois State plays at Hancock Stadium, a venue that holds 12,440 that was most recently renovated in 2013. Since those renovations, Illinois State is 50-18 at home. The Redbirds averaged 9,212 fans per home game during its six games at Hancock this year. Opened in 1963 and named after Illinois State’s former athletic director Dr. Howard Hancock. In 1969, Hancock Stadium became Illinois’ first college stadium that featured artificial turf as its playing surface.

Famous alumni:

• Richard Roeper, film critic and writer for the Chicago Sun-Times
• Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child
• Dave Bergman, the first baseman for the 1984 World Series champion Detroit Tigers.
• Doug Collins, former head coach of the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Wizards.
• Mike Zimmer, former Minnesota Vikings head coach who has a Super Bowl ring as the DC of the Dallas Cowboys
• Gary Sinise, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor

Last meeting: First ever meeting.

THE COACH

Brock Spack, 16^th season at Illinois State

The former Purdue All-American linebacker still ranks fifth in Boilermaker history in career tackles (384). His teams have most often played with the edge of someone with a linebacker background.

Spack became Illinois State’s all-time wins leader in 2021 when he won his 87^th game. He’s won 36 more since then and enters the national title game, his second as a head coach, with a 123-78 record, including 12-6 in the FCS Playoffs.

Spack led ISU to back-to-back Missouri Valley Football Conference championships in 2014 and 2015. That 2014 team was his best until the current edition found its stride. In 2014, the Redbirds ripped No. 10 Northern Iowa 41-21 before going to Cheney and blasting No. 4 Eastern Washington 59-46. The following week, ISU beat No. 1 New Hampshire 21-18 to advance to the FCS title game. The Redbirds fell 29-27 to North Dakota State as the Bison won their fourth straight FCS title.

ISU has made the playoffs five times since that run, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2015, 2019 and this season. Spack has posted double digit wins in a single season five times in his 16 seasons at the helm.

Spack’s coaching career began as a GA at Purdue before his first full-time assistant job at Eastern Illinois from 1987 to 1990. He was the DC on Joe Tiller’s staff at Wyoming in 1995 and 1996 before following Tiller, a Montana State alum, to Purdue, where Spack was the DC from 1997 until taking over in Normal.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – OFFENSE

QB Tommy Rittenhouse, senior, 5-11, 195 — Rittenhouse started for three games as a freshman in 2022 and the last two games of 2023 before taking over as the full-time starter last season. He has started 30 straight games entering the national title game and has been the Missouri Valley’s honorable mention all-conference quarterback.

Rittenhouse has thrown for more than 300 yards on four occasions this season. He is throwing for 228 yards per game durin the playoffs and has tossed eight touchdowns. His best game came against UC Davis when Rittenhouse completed 15-of-20 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns.

This season, he has completed 64 percent of his passes for 3,257 yards and 36 touchdowns compared to 12 picks. He has an efficiency rating of 142.4.

RB Victor Dawson, 5-11, 220, senior — Wenkers Wright was the starter for most of the first half of the season. And he earned second-team all-conference during his senior season.

But since Illinois State has turned to Dawson, a Cincinnati transfer, to be its bell cow, the Redbirds have only lost once.

Dawson rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on November 1 against Northern Iowa, the first of six games with at least 98 yards over the last eight games.

In the playoffs, Dawson has been particularly durable and prolific. He rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown, including a 69-yard TD rip, against North Dakota State. The following week, he gutted out 29 carries on the way to 148 yards against UC Davis. Last week, he had his best game, rushing for a career-high 155 yards on 34 carries and scored his fifth touchdown of the season against Villanova.

Dawson enters the national title game with 1,251 yards on 249 carries. He has rushed for 852 yards on 169 carries since November 1 alone, including piling up 512 yards in the playoffs alone. He is averaging 128 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry during ISU’s epic run.

WR Daniel Sobkowicz, 6-3, 205, senior — The Arlington Heights, Illinois native has been one of the best receivers in the MVFC for the last three seasons. Last season, he became the first Illinois State wide receiver to surpass 1,000 yards since 2016 and his 1,108 yards were the fifth-most in school history.

After a first-team all-league senior year, Sobowicz had been on a next-level heater this playoffs, helping him surpass 1,000 yards again. He’s caught eight touchdowns in the last three weeks, alone. He has caught 29 passes for 403 yards and those eight scores during the playoffs, bringing his season totals to 78 catches for 1,089 yards and an FCS-best 18 touchdowns.

Sobowicz, who missed a 1,000 yards season during a sophomore season that saw him catch 10 TDs, enters his final college game with 257 catches for 3,507 yards and 40 touchdowns in his illustrious career. With just 58 more yards, he will become ISU’s all-time leading receiver. He’s already Illinois State’s all-time leader in catches and touchdown catches.

WR Luke Mailander, 5-11, 180, freshman — Coming off his redshirt year, the in-state product won the starting receiver spot opposite Sobowicz and has thrived. He earned Missouri Valley Freshman of the Year honors.

He has 43 catches for 659 yards and four touchdowns so far this season. His last touchdown catch came on October 18. In the playoffs, he has nine catches for 102 yards.  

OL Jake Pope, 6-7, 300, senior– Illinois State’s massive offensive line averages 6-foo-5 and 308 pounds among its five starters, including three seniors. Pope is the most accomplished of the group.

The former Kentucky transfer has started 41 games over the last three seasons. He was a three-star recruit and one of Florida’s Top 100 prep players coming out of national powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas. He was selected to the Blue Grey All American Bowl following his senior year.

He did not play at Kentucky, first because of youth and then because of injury. But since transferring to Illinois State and getting healthy, he’s been one of the highest graded tackles in the FCS. He earned first-team All-Missouri Valley honors this year for an offense that averaged 175 yards per game on the ground. ISU has also only given up 20 sacks in 16 games this season.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – DEFENSE

LB Tye Niekamp, 6-3, 240, junior — The Missouri Valley Defensive Player of the Year has been a tackling maniac this year for the Redbirds.

The Mike linebacker was an All-American as a sophomore and he followed that up with the most prolific season by a power conference linebacker in the FCS this season. he has 155 tackles, including 78 solo tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. He’s also forced a dumble, recovered a fumble and he had an interception against SELA. He has 341 tackles, 34.5 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and has snared five interceptions in his unbelievable career.

His father, Travis Niekamp, was the special teams coordinator and linebackers coach at Montana in 2017 and 2018 before landing at Illinois State as the defensive coordinator. Travis Niekamp was a defensive lineman at ISU from 1994 until 1997.

DB Shadwel Nkuba II, 6-1, 190, senior  — The former Louisiana transfer has not just been a tackling machine — his 76 stops are ** on the team and his 43 solo tackles are ** — but he’s also been a ballhawk.

Nkuba helped Illinois State lead the Missouri Valley with 19 interceptions and earned first-team All-MVFC honors along the way. Despite the ability to take the ball away, ISU gave up 244 passing yards per game.

DB La’Shavion Brown, 6-2, 215, junior — The former junior college transfer has been an impact player for the Redbirds, earning second-team All-MVFC in his first season in Normal. He is ISU’s second-leading tackler with 91 stops, including a tackle for loss. He’s also broken up four passes and snared an interception.

Yet the expectation remains the same for the University of Montana. The reigning Big Sky Conference champions expect to be national title contenders again a year after losing to now two-time defending national champion South Dakota State in the FCS title game last January.

“We know what we didn’t do and we know what our goal is,” Montana senior slasher Xavier Harris said in an interview on August 20. “Our goal is to finish what we started. Offense is making defense better, defense is making offense better and we are just going to hope to take that week by week, game by game and finish in Frisco with a win on the right side of things.”

Montana ripped off 10 wins in a row and 13 overall last season despite entering the year with similar uncertainty under center. Sam Vidlak and Clifton McDowell essentially traded off the duties for the first month of the season. Then in UM’s Big Sky Conference opener, Vidlak got the vast majority of the snaps at Northern Arizona, only to commit multiple turnovers and get sacked nine times in a 28-14 loss.

The following week, McDowell took over. And the rest, as they say, is history. UM ripped off seven straight league victories, including crucial consecutive road wins at UC Davis and Idaho, and capped its first Big Sky title march since 2009 with a 37-7 win over Montana State in Missoula.

McDowell earned Newcomer of the Year before coming back to earth during the playoffs. Despite his up and down postseason, Montana still managed to win three more post-season games, all at home, to book its first ticket to Frisco, Texas.

In the off-season, Vidlak transferred to Stephen F. Austin. McDowell transferred to Temple, then McNeese State. Last week, he completed 14-of-20 passes for 245 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 67 yards and a score for the Cowboys. He also turned the ball over twice and McNeese lost 26-23 to No. 21 Tarleton State in the only all-FCS Week 0 contest.

For the duration of the most recent off-season, Keali’I Ah Yat, Logan Fife and Kaden Huot have battled it out for the quarterback reps at UM. Ah Yat, the son of former Montana All-American QB Brian Ah Yat, showed flashes last season in his four games while still maintaining his redshirt his first year in Missoula. Fife is a transfer from Fresno State with a rocket arm and a penchant for risk taking. And Huot is the local boy, a Helena High product with Anaconda roots who turned a corner during spring ball to thrust himself into the competition.

“I think there’s a chance we’ll see two, maybe three (Montana quarterbacks),” Missouri State second-year head coach Ryan Beard told the Springfield Daily Citizen. “They change the game in their own ways and I think they’re all extremely capable. They all do a great job in their own right. But when you think about the quarterback it makes you think about the dynamic pieces around them.

“They have an all-conference running back (sophomore Eli Gilman), great player. Their receivers are probably the best in the Big Sky and FCS. And then look at their numbers on the offensive line. Just huge mountains of men that can move bodies.”

For much of his second tenure at Montana, head coach Bobby Hauck has favored transfer quarterbacks. UNLV transfer Dalton Sneed started in 2018 and 2019 while Boise State transfer Cam Humphrey started in 2021. San Diego State transfer Lucas Johnson manned the helm in 2022 before McDowell and Vidlak, who transferred from Central Arkansas and Boise State, respectively, were the main two quarterbacks last fall.

“Like any position, when they are splitting time and sharing the 1 and 2 reps, one guy is going to have a better day than the other one on any given day,” Hauck said. “I thought both of those guys performed well during fall camp. We are going to play them both. The offensive staff, we will sit down mid-week and have our final discussion on what that’s going to be.”

Missouri State has made the FCS playoffs four times in its history, including in 2020 and 2021 under former head coach Bobby Petrino. The Lewistown, Montana native and former Carroll (Helena) College quarterback left after the 2022 season to become the offensive coordinator at Texas A&M. He went 18-15 in two full fall seasons plus the spring of 2021 season guiding the Bears.

Last season, Missouri State struggled, posting a 4-7 record. But the mark did include a 35-16 win over No. 15 Northern Iowa the second-to-last week of the season.

Hauck said he expects the Missouri Valley Football foe to be a stiff test Saturday night.

“Older players have taken charge in a real leadership role to get us to where we need to be,” Hauck said. “This Saturday, we will find out exactly where that sits.

Missouri State’s a good football team. I think they’re a tough team. They have many returning starters and I always think that veteran football teams are good football teams. It will be a major challenge this weekend. I think by the end of October we’ll see them as a contender in the Missouri Valley. We’ll have our hands full Saturday.”

QUICK HITS

Nickname: Bears

Location: Springfield, Missouri

Founded: 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School. The institution was named Southwest Missouri State Teachers College from 1919 to 1945 then Southwest Missouri State College from 1945 until 1972. It was called Southwest Missouri State University from 1972 until 2005.

Enrollment: 23,418

Endowment: $193 million

Stadium: Robert W. Plaster Stadium – build in 1941 and renovated in 1991, the stadium currently holds 17,500 attendees.

Famous alumni: Actor John Goodman; David Glass, former Wal-Mart CEO, former Kansas City Royals owner; Former MLB All-Star Ryan Howard.

More alums: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Missouri_State_University_alumni

Last meeting: This is the first meeting in the history of the two programs. In Missouri State’s 115-year football history, it’s played three games against current Big Sky teams, most recently in 2018 when the Bears lost 40-8 to Northern Arizona.

THE COACH

Ryan Beard (second season at Missouri State, 4-7 overall)

Beard is married to Bobby Petrino’s daughter. He took over the head coaching job at Missouri State when Petrino returned to the Power 5 ranks. Beard was Petrino’s defensive coordinator from 2020-2022.

Before that, he worked within the Petrino coaching tree at Western Kentucky and Louisville before caching on as the special teams coordinator at Central Michigan on Jim McElwain’s staff in 2019.

The 34-year-old played defensive back at Western Kentucky between 2007 and 2011.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – OFFENSE

Jacob Clark, quarterback, senior, 6-5, 220

The former four-star recruit was the No. 13 ranked pro style quarterback in the country according to Rivals.com coming out of vaunted Texas powerhouse Rockwall High. He spent three seasons at Minnesota but could never crack the starting lineup.

He transferred to Missouri State ahead of the 2022 season but lost the starting QB battle to Jason Shelley, a former starter at the University of Utah who was Petrino’s starter under center for all three seasons. Last season, Clark was the main guy before suffering a season ending injury the final game of September.

In his four starts, Clark threw for 1,018 yards and 10 touchdowns against just two interceptions.

“In terms of their offense, their quarterback (Jacob Clark) is a guy that played a lot for four games before he got knocked out for the season,” Hauck said. “They’re veteran up front with four returning starters.

“Their running back is really good, good talented receivers. They have a lot of good veteran players coming back that have played a lot of football. They have a good football team.

Jacardia Wright, running back, junior, 6-foot, 220

The former Kansas State transfer has led Missouri State in rushing two years in a row. He rushed for 711 yards and nine scores in 2022 to land on the MVFC All-Newcomer team.

Last season, the powerful and speedy tailback rushed for 696 yards and six scores to earn second-team all-conference honors despite suffering a season-ending injury late in the year.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – DEFENSE

Todric McGee, safety, junior, 6-1, 205

McGee earned Kansas 5A all-state honors as a prep senior for a high school in Witchita whose mascot is the Grizzlies. He spent the next two seasons waiting his turn before his breakout campaign last fall.

In 2023, McGee was a second-team All-MVFC selection and he became the first Missouri State’s first player to eclipse 100 tackles in a season since 2021 with team-highs 102 total stops, including 59 solo tackles. He added a a pair of interceptions, 8 passes defended and two fumble recoveries.

Darion Smith, defensive end, senior, 6-4, 245

Smith, a former Charlotte transfer, is one of 27 former transfers from Division I schools in Missouri State’s roster, which also boasts 12 former junior college transfers as well. The Bears even have two former Montana Grizzlies – cornerback Dylan Simmons and running back Iverson Young.

Last season, Smith’s first in Springfield, he started 11 games and racked up 37 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and four quarterback hurries.

First, he was asked about the previous evening, referencing No. 1 South Dakota State’s 59-0 decimation of No. 5 UAlbany to earn a spot in the FCS national title game for the second fall in a row. Had he seen the Jackrabbits on film? Any initial thoughts on the reigning national champs?

“No. I have not seen them” Hauck said sternly. “I know they are good. They won last night, huh?”

Although it was clear Hauck only wanted to focus on reveling in the glory of knocking off the Goliath of the Football Championship Subdivision — Montana’s 31-29 double overtime win over North Dakota State denied the Bison its 11^th national title game appearance since 2011 — the line of questioning looking ahead to the second-ranked Grizzlies’ first trip to the FCS national title game since 2009 (and first trip to Frisco, Texas ever) continued.

The Griz have been to the national championship game seven times, including three under Hauck. This version of the Grizzlies has won 10 games in a row, including gutting out an overtime win over Furman in the quarterfinals and the double OT win over the Bison in the semis. Would the Griz be able to carry the momentum of the season and the recent torrid tear that also included wins over No. 6 Sac State, No. 5 Montana State and No. 11 Delaware since November began?

“There’s no drawback to it,” Hauck said when asked about the 22-day break between the NDSU win and the matchup in Frisco against No. 1 SDSU. “It was an unfair disadvantage for us the last time around. They moved the game, generally on Friday night. In 2008, we flew to the East Coast (to James Madison), fly back to Missoula, fly back (to Chattanooga, Tennessee), practice for a day, Tuesday morning in the snow here, then we would have to fly out Tuesday afternoon.

“Meanwhile, we would play teams from the East Coast (Richmond in 2008, Villanova in 2009) who were bussing in there, generally, getting an extra day of work. We never practiced for those games. It was logistically a nightmare. This is great for us. We get to practice. We get to sleep. We get to lift. We get a couple of days off for Christmas.

“This is an outstanding set up for us.”

The next time Hauck addressed the media, three days after the dust had settled and the No. 1 versus No. 2 national championship matchup had been set, Hauck reiterated that the time off would be a great advantage for his team as the Griz prepare to take on a Jackrabbits team that has won 28 games in a row and is in search of its second consecutive FCS national title.

“I shared with our team this morning, back when we’d done this before, we’d have our Wednesday practice on Tuesday, have lunch, then get on a plane and get ready to go play on Friday and they looked at me like that was the craziest thing they’ve ever heard,” Hauck said with a laugh on December 19.

The Griz practiced on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the week following the NDSU win then took nearly a week off. Hauck said many of his players were able to go home for Christmas.

“This is like a bowl prep,” Hauck said. “We have a bunch of guys on staff that have done a lot of that. It will be good preparation for it.

“Many of us have done this a bunch, including me, so I have all the old manuals and the plans we’ve used. I don’t know if there’s any perfect schedule, but we’ve all done it a bunch and we plan to build up more on that.”

This Montana team has emerged as Big Sky Conference champions and winners of 13 games overall despite low external expectations entering the season. In the preseason polls, Montana was picked to finish third by affiliated media and sixth by the league’s head coaches.

The Griz have done it by embracing an all-for-one mentality across their roster. Montana’s players constantly talk about “doing their 1/11^th” and taking care of business as a collective unit.

“It shows the fabric of our team,” Hauck said. “We have a good team, a good team concept. These guys like each other and they like football. The freshman don’t listen but you tell them all they better enjoy it because it will be over before you know it and now the seniors are looking at most of it in the rear view mirror with one big one left.

“Everyone is enthused to be continuing on and having a chance to keep playing. The wear and tear on the bodies when you play this many games can be counter balanced by the enjoyment of preparing for one last game as a team.”

QUICK HITS

Nickname: Jackrabbits

Location: Brookings, South Dakota – population 23,577

Founded: 1881- South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. It is the state’s largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually operating university in South Dakota.

South Dakota State University is a land-grant university founded under the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act. This land-grant heritage and mission has led the university to place a special focus on academic programs in agriculture, engineering, nursing, and pharmacy, as well as liberal arts. It is classified among “R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity”. The graduate program is classified as Doctoral, Science, Technology, Engineering, Math dominant.

Enrollment: 11,465

Endowment – $213 million

Stadium: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium – The outdoor three-quarter bowl stadium has a capacity of 19,340. The field has a traditional north-south alignment at an approximate elevation of 1,620 feet above sea level.

The facility was funded through private gifts and long-term revenue streams, including expanded club seats, loge boxes, and a premium suite level. Lead gifts totaling $12.5 million from Sioux Falls banker Dana Dykhouse and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford were announced in October 2013 and the stadium opened in 2016.

Since opening, the stadium has hosted six crowds of 19,000 or more, including a stadium record 19,431 in a 33-16 win over North Dakota State.

Famous alumni: Pro Bowl kicker Adam Vinatieri, two-time Super Bowl champion Jim Langer, Philadelphia Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem (plus two other former governors), Majority Leader of the Senate Tom Daschle.

Last meeting: The last time Montana and South Dakota State played, SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers was the linebackers coach and offensive coordinator Zach Lujan was the starting quarterback.

On November 28, 2015, Brady Gustafson threw a pair of first half touchdown passes and the Griz built a 24-0 halftime lead in Missoula. Taryn Christion, Goedert and the ‘Jacks came storming back but couldn’t really all the way, falling 24-17.

SDSU has advanced past the second round six times in the last seven years, including making the Final Four 2017, 2018 and 2021 and the championship round during the spring season (lost to Sam Hosuton State) and last season (beat North Dakota State 45-21) to send longtime head coach John Stiegelmeier riding off into the sunset.

Stiegelmeier was at SDSU from 1988 until last season, including serving as the head coach starting in 1997. The Jacks made the postseason just once (in 1979 in Division II) before its FCS debut in 2009 in Missoula.

That afternoon, South Dakota State built a 41-14 lead with 11:15 left in the third quarter and led 48-21 with 20 minutes left in the game. Montana scored 40 unanswered points on the way to a 61-48 win for the ages on the way to a national title game appearance.

“One of my daughters was telling me that was her favorite game,” Hauck said, referring to the 2009 first round triumph. “We were down by four touchdowns, I think. We crawled back into it and took a punt back for a touchdown and got ourselves back behind the 8-ball.

That run marked the last time UM played for the national championship until January 7. South Dakota State missed the playoffs in 2010 and 2011 but have been in the postseason since, winning a total of 18 playoff games along the way.

THE COACH

Jimmy Rogers, first year

Rogers has quite literally had one of the greatest rookie seasons by a head coach in the history of the FCS. It helps that he was handed a roster by John Stiegelmeier, his predecessor and the man he played college football for, that was stacked with experienced talent and coming off the first national championship in school history.

But Rogers has put his own spin on things as well, doubling down on the pride of the program and the priority of playing for something bigger than yourself.

Last season, Rogers was the American Football Coaches’ Association Coordinator of the Year after helping the ‘Jacks to 14 straight wins and a national title. This season, he won the Eddie Robinson Award as the National Coach of the Year at the FCS level.

Rogers was a standout linebacker at SDSU under Stiegelmeier’s watch, earning all-conference honors three times between 2006 and 2009 as the Jackrabbits transitioned to Division I. He was on SDSU’s first-ever FCS playoff team, a squad that lost 61-48 to Montana in the first round of the FCS playoffs in one of the craziest playoff games in the subdivision’s history.

Rogers was a graduate assistant at his alma mater for two years before spending two seasons as a GA at Florida Atlantic. He returned to South Dakota State ahead of the 2013 season and coached linebacker for the next six years. He was on the staff in 2015 when SDSU lost 24-17 at Montana, the last time the two programs played.

Rogers took over as the defensive coordinator in 2019. He’s helped coach several of the best lienbackers in SDSU history, including four-time first-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference stud Christian Rozeboom, the Jacks’ all-time leading tackler (475 stops) who went on to win a Super Bowl with the Los Angeles Rams.

Rogers is 14-0 in his head coaching career.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – OFFENSE

QB Mark Gronowski (6-3, 225, junior) — Gronowski is smooth and athletic. He’s a great leader and a consummate field general. He has an excellent arm and he can move around the pocket.

He’s the second-highest rated passer in America as the FCS level this season. He has thrown 28 touchdowns against just four interceptions and he is completing nearly 70 percent of his passes.

None of that is as impressive as his most important measurable: Gronowski is 35-1 as a starter against FCS competition, including sporting an undefeated record during fall FCS football games. His lone loss came at North Dakota in the abbreviated spring season back in 2021.

“The it factor is Mark, he’s a winner,” Rogers said. “He doesn’t ever feel like he’s down and the moment is never too big for him and he doesn’t get rattled. That’s a rare trait. I think it’s really hard to find and if you try to look for it more than you end up right. Mark had all the intangibles. We got to know his family in recruiting. We thought he was the right fit. He’s just a well-rounded individual.

“He’s a great leader, worker, teammate. The guys love him and that was from Day 1. He’s had the moxie to lead this team with an extreme level of focus when he stepped on the field to change from friend to competitor. That’s rare. It’s really rare. Most young guys these days are caught up on how do I fit in rather than coming here for a reason and competing to be he best.

“And he did that and had the moxie to show an older team at that time that he was the right fit. With that, comes reps and reps are invaluable. He’s taken full advantage of the opportunity that’s been presented to him. He’s ran with it and I think he’s probably the greatest quarterback that’s ever played at South Dakota State just because he wins. And we are blessed to have him.”

The native of Naperville, Illinois has thrown for 7,415 yards, 69 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions during his career. He’s also rushed for 1,334 yards and 26 more scores, averaging 4.8 yards per rush.

RB Isaiah Davis (6-1, 220, Senior) — Davis is the next outstanding running back in the recent impressive history of tailbacks that dominated the FCS before making it to the NFL.

Zach Zenner rushed for more than 2,000 yards in 2012, 2013 and 2014, finishing his career as SDSU’s all-time leader in rushing yards and piling up 8,211 all-purpose yards to go with 69 touchdowns. He played for six seasons in the NFL.

Davis looks to be the next in line to advance to the NFL. But the bruising, bullish yet explosively fast back has one more game in his college career to add to his already impressive resume.

Pierre Strong piled up 4,527 rushing yards and scored 40 touchdowns between 2018 and 2021, including 1,686 yards and 18 scores as a senior. He was a fourth round draft pick by the New England Patriots and is currently averaging 4.6 yards per carry for the Cleveland Browns.

In 14 starts, Davis has eight 10-yard games, including three straight in the playoffs. The former Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year rushed 27 times for 192 yards and a touchdown in SDSU’s come from behind 23-12 win over Villanova. Davis has scored six of his 17 rushing touchdowns this season in the playoffs.

This season, he has 1,491 yards and 17 touchdowns, giving him 4,461 rushing yards and 49 rushing touchdowns in his illustrious career.

TE Zach Heins (6-7, 260, senior) — South Dakota State has produced a string of top-notch tight ends as well. It started with the pair of Cam Jones, a 6-foot-5, 255-pounder who’s NFL hopes were derailed by injuries, and Dallas Goedert, who eventually overtook Jones on the way to becoming an All-American, then a second-round NFL Draft pick. He caught 28 touchdowns at SDSU and has caught 21 touchdowns in the NFL among his 286 receptions over the last five-plus seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Then came Tucker Kraft, a behemoth of a man who had 65 catches for 780 yards and six touchdowns last season before becoming a third-round NFL Draft pick by the Green Bay Packers. He has 22 catches, 276 yards and a pair of touchdowns this season as a rookie.

Heins is next. While his draft stock isn’t quite as high, most believe he’ll play on Sundays. And like Goedert & Kraft, Heins is from South Dakota.

The Sioux Falls native has 25 catches for 369 yards and seven scores this season. He has 93 catches for 1,211 yards and 18 scores in his career.

OL Garrett Greenfield (6-7, 320, senior)

OL Mason McCormick (6-5, 315, senior) — Greenfield has been a rock and an anchor, starting 55 straight games. He has earned consensus All-American honors each of the last three years and is considered an NFL prospect who could get drafted next spring.

And McCormick is arguably SDSU’s best offensive lineman and perhaps the ‘Jacks’ best player. He’s started 57 consecutive games and is a three-time consensus All-American who is also a legitimate NFL prospect. He is one of the vocal leaders and spokesman for the team.

The duo is part of a unit that has helped average 230 yards per game on the ground and has given up just 10 sacks.

The Janke Twins — The natives of Madison, South Dakota have been fixtures in the Jackrabbit offense for the last four years. This season, they have been as good as ever.

Jadon Janke is SDSU’s leading receiver entering the national championship game. He has 52 catches for 891 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns. He rolled up 10 catches for 187 yards and a score against Missouri State and followed that up with six caches for 151 yards and another touchdown last week against UAlbany. He has 165 catches for 2,745 yards and 29 touchdowns in his career.

Jaxon Janke has 47 catches for 752 yards and five touchdowns this season, including a seven-catch, 106-yard day that included a TD against Mercer in the first round of the playoffs. He has 240 catches for 3,611 yards and 29 touchdowns in his career.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – DEFENSE

LB Adam Bock (6-1, 225, senior) — When asked about Bock’s legacy and playing his final game as a Jackrabbit, Rogers said that Bock will in fact be back next year. Still, he didn’t hesitate to say that Bock is one of the best linebackers to play at South Dakota State.

Bock is a two-time first-team All-American who would’ve had a chance for more if not for injuries impacting two other seasons. In 2021, the last time Bock played a full season, he rolled up 125 tackles and added 9.5 tackles plus 2.5 sacks and two picks.

Even with missing time each of the last two, he still had 76 and 54 tackles, respectively, and has 10 tackles for loss plus six sacks over the last two falls. Bock has 333 career tackles, including 25 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks.

S Tucker Large (5-10, 180, sophomore) – The former walk-on has been one of the stars of the playoffs for the Jackrabbits.

Large had a pick-6 in SDSU’s 59-0 shellacking of UAlbany helped open up the flood gates. Large has four picks, tied for the top mark on the team. He’s also chipped in 43 tackles.

LB Jason Freeman (5-9, 215, senior) – Freeman was an NAIA standout at Olivet Nazarene University before transferring to SDSU.

He’s led the Jackrabbits in tackles for two years in a row, including rolling up 96 tackles this season. He has five tackles for loss and two interceptions for a defense that’s allowing 9.7 points per contest.

DE Cade Terveer (6-3, 255, senior) — South Dakota State has just 24 sacks, but Terveer has six of them. He also has 7.5 tackles for loss among the 67 tackles behind the line of scrimmage this year.

The University of Montana football team made the playoffs for the first time in 1982 and not again until 1988, losing to rival Idaho in the first round both times. UM raced to the semifinals of the 1989 Division I-AA playoffs but didn’t make the postseason again until 1993.

That season, a precocious young quarterback burst into the lineup, stealing the starting quarterback job from Bert Wilberger before guiding an epic comeback against South Dakota State. The following week, Dave Dickenson nearly led Montana to an upset of Oregon before losing 35-30 in Autzen Stadium.

The Griz didn’t lose again for more than two months, ripping off nine straight wins and going undefeated in the Big Sky Conference. That conference crown was the first of 15 between 1993 and 2009, a stretch that also included a subdivision record 17 straight playoff apperarances.

UM’s 7-0 league mark in 1993 helped the Griz earn the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and a first round matchup against the 18^th-ranked Blue Hens of Delaware.

On November 26, 1993, Dickenson completed 37 of 44 passes for 409 yards and four touchdowns against the Blue Hens. He led Montana on touchdown drives on three consecutive possessions to close the first half up 28-21. And he completed 15 straight passes in the second half as the shootout continued.

But UD quarterback Leo Hamlett hit Keita Malloy on a 32-yard scoring pass with 55 seconds left to lift Delaware to a wild 49-48 victory.

The Griz raced to the semifinals of the 1994 playoffs and won the first national title in program history in 1995. Many members of that 1995 title referenced the loss to Delaware as a launch point for Dickenson and the Griz.

Now, 30 years and a week later, Delaware returns to Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The Blue Hens, ranked No. 11 in the FCS entering the playoffs, moved to 9-3 this season with a thrilling 36-34 win over Lafayette in the first round on Saturday.

Delaware lost 63-7 in Week 2 at Penn State, then didn’t lose again for six weeks straight. UD lost 33-27 to Elon the first Saturday of November and then fell 35-7 to Villanova. That helped sew up the No. 8 seed for the Wildcats and dropped Delaware, one of four teams from the Colonial Athletic Association to make the 24-team FCS Playoff field. UAlbany is the No. 5 seed while Richmond is into the second round after cruising past N.C. Central 49-27 on Saturday.

QUICK HITS

Nickname: Blue Hens

Location: Newark, Delaware, population 30,601

Founded: 1743….33 years before the founding of the United States

Enrollment: 24,252

Endowment – $1.78 billion

Stadium: Delaware Stadium is a 18,500-seat multi-purpose stadium that is nicknamed “The Tub”. Coincidentally, Delaware opened the stadium in November of 1952 with a 13-12 win over Lafayette, the same team UD just defeated in the first round of the FCS playoffs. For a typical Blue Hen home game, Delaware Stadium becomes the fourth-largest city in the state, behind Wilmington, Dover and Newark itself. The Blue Hends averaged 13,917 fans per game, a number hindered by the fact that 4,039 showed up last week. The week before against Villanova, Delaware drew 17,718.

Famous alumni: President of the United States Joe Biden & first lady Jill Biden; NFL quarterbacks Joe Flacco and Rich Gannon; New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.

Last meeting: In the first round of the 1993 playoffs, No. 18 Delaware came to No. 3 Montana, the second seed in the Division I-AA Playoffs, and stunned the Griz, emerging with a 49-48 win thanks to Leo Hamlett hitting Keita Malloy on a 32-yard scoring pass with 55 seconds left.

THE COACH

Ryan Carty, second season at Delaware (16-8 overall)

The 40-year-old was a backup quarterback on Delaware’s last national championship team in 2003. That squad is part of rich history of success that includes six national titles, including five at the Division II level. UD has also won 17 conference titles and is in the midst of its 23 playoff season.

Carty exhausted his playing eligibility in 2006 and dove into coaching right away. He was hired as the running backs coach at New Hampshire by former UNH offensive coordinator Chip Kelly before Kelly took Oregon’s OC job ahead of the 2008 season. Carty coached running backs in 2008 and 2009, wide receivers in 2010 and 2011 before taking over as UNH OC in 2012.

Carty spent 2018 until 2021 as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Sam Houston, helping the Bearkats to the 2021 spring season national title. He was named the Football Scoop Coordinator of the Year that season.

The Blue Hens beat St. Francis (PA) in the first round of the playoffs last season before getting rolled 42-6 by top-ranked and eventual national champion South Dakota State.

This season, the Hens have nine wins and a shot at the quarters with the Griz standing in the way.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – OFFENSE

QB Nick Minicucci (6-2, 210, Fr.) — When Minicucci first signed with Delaware, quarterbacks coach Sean Goldrich sounded like a typical QB coach while praising the Midlands, New Jersey product.

“Nick can do it all. A true dual threat that can make every throw and extend plays with his feet. He will be a great addition to the Blue Hen Family.”

Miniucci got his shot to prove those words a lot earlier than expected. He was thrown into action against Villanova after throwing just 23 passes all season prior to that rivalry test. He finished 9-of-21 for 55 yards, a touchdown and a pick in UD’s 35-7 loss.

Last week, Minicucci rode the roller coaster, but came out on the winning side. The rookie completed 16-of-25 passes for 198 yards and three touchdowns to (sort of) off-set three interceptions. He also was part of a Blue Hen rushing attack that notched 203 yards on the ground, including 46 yards on 10 carries by Minicucci.

Saturday, Minicucci will go against one of the outstanding defenses in the Football Championship Subdivision. The Griz have given up six points per game over the last four contests and just 14.4 points per game this season. Montana is +9 in turnover margin thanks to 14 interceptions (8^th nationally) and have forced 19 turnovers overall. The Griz have 26 sacks and 66 tackles for loss.  

TE Braden Brose (6-3-250, Sr.) — Braden and his twin brother Fintan were each third-team All-CAA selections this season. Fintan is 54 pounds heavier and an offensive tackle.

Braden is second on the Blue Hens with five touchdown catches. He has 26 catches for 358 yards overall, giving him 49 catches for 637 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career.

RB Marcus Yarns (5-11, 183, Sr.) — Yarns has rushed for more than 100 yards in four different games this season and almost got to five with a 97-yard effort in Delaware’s loss to Villanova in the regular-season finale.

Last week, he mustered just 25 yards on 10 carries, but he did score a touchdown, his 15^th of the season. He was a second-team All-CAA selection and has rushed for 871 yards so far this season. The Blue Hens average 164 yards per game on the ground.

Montana is one of nine teams in the country that’s allowing less than 100 yards per game. The Griz led the Big Sky and rank eighth nationally by allowing 96.5 yards per game.

WR/PR Jourdain Townsend (5-11, 193, Sr.) – Townsend was a second-team all-conference pick as a punt returner and a third-team selection at wide receiver, giving him three straight all-conference nods offensively.

This season, he leads the Blue Hens with 41 catches for 586 yards and three touchdowns. Joshua Youngblood leads Delaware with seven touchdown catches.

He only got eight punt return chances this season but still averaged 14.5 yards per return, including an 82-yard return for a score against Hampton.

In his career, Townsend has 132 catches for 1,587 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Townsend has also taken over as the team’s primary kick returner. He had four returns for 149 yards, including an 88-yarder that did not result in a touchdown against Lafayette.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – DEFENSE

LB Jackson Taylor (6-1, 239, GR.) – The former West Chester (Division II) transfer has been one of the best graduate transfer additions in the country.

He was the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference player of the year in 2021 and 2022, earning first-team all-conference and Division II All-American honors three years in a row.

The burly, explosive linebacker has kept rolling since joining the Blue Hens. He earned first-team All-CAA honors after rolling up 11.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks among his 105 total tackles. He had double-digit tackles in wins over New Hampshire, Duquesne, N.C. A&T and Elon.

DE Chase McGowan (6-1, 264, Sr.) – After earning second-team All-CAA honors earlier this month, McGowan now sports four all-league nods during his standout career.

He has had his best season in his last one. The Stafford, Virginia native leads the Blue Hens with seven sacks and 16 tackles for loss. He’s had a tackle behind the line of scrimmage in all but one game this season, including multiple TFLS in three games, including the last two. He had two sacks on Saturday against Lafayette.

In his career, McGowan has 22 sacks and 40 tackles for loss.

S Ty Davis (6-3, 200, Jr.) – The third-year player has had a breakout season, earning third-team All-CAA honors in his first season as a full time starter.

The Mount Laurel, New Jersey product is third on the Blue Hens with 45 total tackles, including four for loss. He also has a pair of interceptions, he’s recovered three fumbles and he has 15 quarterback hurries.

BOZEMAN, Montana — Ever since an upstart version of the Bison came to Big Sky Country and abruptly halted the Big Sky champions’ desired playoff run 13 years ago, North Dakota State has haunted Montana State.

And now, after MSU came out on the wrong end of a 37-7 rivalry pounding at the hands of Montana in Missoula, and after the Bison re announced themselves as contenders with a 66-3 win over non-scholarship Drake in the 1^st first-round game, the Bison and the Bobcats will meet in the post-season for the fifth time since 2010 and the fourth time since 2018.

Back in 2010, North Dakota State earned its first FCS Playoffs win, rallying from a 17-14 deficit entering the fourth quarter to run away from the recently anointed Big Sky Conference-champion Bobcats, 42-17. The following week, NDSU lost 38-31 in overtime at Eastern Washington. North Dakota State didn’t lose a playoff game again until the semifinals of the 2016 FCS playoffs, ripping off an unprecedented five straight national titles.

This version of North Dakota State has lost multiple games during the regular season for the first time since 2010. NDSU’s 8-3 record includes losses to the other three Dakota schools (24-19 at home to South Dakota, 49-24 in Grand Forks to North Dakota and 33-16 at South Dakota State), three defeats that forced NDSU to play in the first round for the first time since its unprecedented run of nine national titles in 12 seasons began in 2011.

The Bison raced to 159 wins in the 2010s, capturing the FCS national title in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Last season when NDSU lost 45-21 to South Dakota State in the national title game, it seemed like a down season.

For North Dakota State to go on another run to the national title game in Frisco, Texas, the Bison will have to first win in Bozeman, then likely win at South Dakota in the quarterfinals and at No. 2 Montana in the semifinals.

That all starts with a matchup against a once-surging and now reeling Bobcat squad. Montana State lost two of its final four games of the season after being ranked at No. 2 in the polls for almost two months straight.

The Bobcats have seen their seasons end at the hands of North Dakota State in 2018 in the second round of the playoffs, in 2019 in the semifinals and in 2021 in the FCS national title game. Montana State has lost to the eventual national champion in each of its last four playoff appearances.

Where the Bobcats pivot from here will be an essential part of how this season is remembered. A playoff run could mean lofty expectations were accurate. A rivalry thrashing into a postseason fizzle will leave plenty of questions to be answered.

QUICK HITS

Nickname: Bison

Location: Fargo, North Dakota

Founded: 1890

Enrollment: 12,242

Stadium: The Fargodome seats 18,700 and has spent the last decade-plus as a haunted house for the rest of the subdivision. The Bison have lost just one playoff game in Fargo in their FCS history, 27-17 to James Madison in 2016. But Saturday’s game is in Bozeman, where MSU averaged more than 18,000 fans per game yet again.

Famous alumni: The non-football division doesn’t carry a ton of weight: Bob Backlund (professional wrestler) and Ilhan Omar (U.S. House of Representatives). The football guys you already know: Carson Wentz, Trey Lance, Kyle Emanuel, Gus Bradley, etc.

Last meeting: North Dakota State secured its 9th national title since 2011 with a never in doubt 38-10 win over Montana State in the 2021 national title game. The one part observers and fans still wonder about is how MSU would’ve fared had quarterback Tommy Mellott not gone down in the first quarter of that game with a leg injury that ultimately required surgery. Mellott and Sean Chambers are both healthy entering Saturday’s contest.

THE COACH

Matt Entz (fifth year at NDSU, 58-10)

Entz was the second straight NDSU defensive coordinator to take over the head coaching role when he ascended to that position in 2019, following in Chris Klieman’s footsteps. Entz didn’t break into the Division I ranks until 2010, but after three years at Northern Iowa and one at Western Illinois, Klieman, himself a UNI alum, brought him to Fargo when Klieman became the head coach in 2014.

Entz won the national title in each of the two full seasons NDSU, including an undefeated year in his debut campaign that saw the Bison go wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the country. After faltering to a 7-3 record and quarterfinal loss in the 2020 spring season, Entz guided NDSU to a 14-1 record and another national title in 2021, capped by a title game victory over the Bobcats.

Last year, NDSU lost to FBS Arizona and No. 1 South Dakota State by a combined five points in the regular season before falling 45-21 in the championship to SDSU.

Despite last year’s three losses and this year’s three losses, Entz has still won 58 out of his 68 games at the helm and has been in the Final 8 of the playoffs four years in a row, including playing for the national title in each of the last three fall seasons. A win in Bozeman could make that five straight quarterfinals for the Bison under Entz.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – OFFENSE

QB Cam Miller (6-1, 212, Sr.) — Back in 2021, Miller was an upstart freshman spitting time with former Virginia Tech transfer Quincy Patterson while guiding NDSU to its most recent national title.

Miller completed 9-of-13 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown in North Dakota State’s 38-10 national championship game victory over Montana State in the last matchup between the two national powers. That’s all the Bison needed as Kobe Johnson rushed or 106 yards and a 76-yard score, Patterson blasted his way to 89 yards and Hunter Luepke, now of the Dallas Cowboys, bulldozed in three touchdowns as the Bison rushed for 378 yards.

Now Miller is one of the most veteran players in the FCS. He will make his 46^th career start at quarterback Saturday. This season, he has thrown for 2,255 yards and 16 touchdowns against just four interceptions, completing 75 percent of his passes along the way. He’s also rushed for 625 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Miller has quietly had an outstanding career, throwing for 6,037 yards and 45 touchdowns while rushing for 1,642 yards and 34 more scores.

WR Zach Mathis (6-7, 203, Sr.) — North Dakota State has won more than any team in college football over the last 15 years because of a powerful, consistent, and unstoppable power rushing attack.

While 227-pound senior running back TaMerick Williams has plowed for 495 yards and five touchdowns (and has nearly 2,000 rushing yards with 25 TDs in his career), the Bison have moved the ball with a stout quarterback run game including Miller and Cole Payton (the 6-3, 220-pounder has 488 rushing yards, 10 TDs) and more by committee, including on the perimeter, this season.

Mathis, who hails from Tampa Bay like Green Bay Packers wide receiver and NDSU alum Christian Watson, has been one of the primary targets. He has 41 catches for 580 yards and has caught five of Miller’s 16 touchdown strikes.

Eli Green, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound sophomore, has 600 yards receiving on just 31 catches and has complimented the lanky Mathis well. NDSU rushes for 240 yards and throws for 220 per contest.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – DEFENSE

SS Cole Wisniewski (6-4, 217, Sr.) – The team captain is the latest in a long line of long, rangy safeties with a penchant for contact that roam NDSU’s secondary.

His 63 tackles and five interceptions make him an All-American candidate and has helped the Bison force 23 turnovers, including 17 picks, so far this season.

DT Eli Mostaert (6-3, 287, Sr.) – The burly defensive tackle was a sophomore All-American after rolling up 7.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss in 2021. He broke his leg three games into last season and has been fighting his way back ever since.

Still, his impact goes far beyond his numbers (three tackles for loss, a sack among his 30 total tackles) and he is the lynchpin of NDSU’s front seven.

LB Logan Kopp (6-1, 222, Soph.) – The native of St. Louis has had a breakout season for the Bison.

A year after landing on Phil Steele’s Freshman All-American team, Kopp is NDSU’s leading tackler with 68 total stops. He has 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks among those tackles. He’s also forced a pair of fumbles and snared three interceptions for an NDSU defense giving up 18.1 points per game.

On Saturday, MSU will travel to Brookings, South Dakota to take on No. 1 South Dakota State. The top-seeded Jackrabbits have the No. 1 ranking in the FCS for the first time in their program’s history and, like Montana State, are undefeated against FCS competition this season.

Montana State had the most dominant performance of its season and the most dominant performance of any of the four quarterfinal winners last week. The Bobcats rushed for 328 yards and also scored on special teams on the way to a 55-7 win over Colonial Athletic Association champion William & Mary. The Bobcats called off the dogs with five minutes to go in the third quarter or the margin could’ve been even wider.

South Dakota State got Patriot League champion Holy Cross’s best shot before pulling away in the fourth quarter for a 42-21 win. Last week’s action was tied at 21 early in the fourth quarter.

Saturday’s semifinal in Brookings is a rematch of last year’s Final Four matchup. The Bobcats dispatched of SDSU 31-17 in Bozeman to earn a trip to the FCS championship game for the first time since 1984.

“I think both teams are very similar to last year,” Montana State second-year head coach Brent Vigen said on Monday. “Not a lot of differences in how we want to do things. That’s the way they should be this time of year when it’s down to four teams.”

MSU has advanced to the last three FCS Final Fours. South Dakota State has been to five semifinals since 2017, including playing for the FCS national championship in the spring of 2021 and advancing back to the semifinals last season.

SDSU has never been to a fall national championship game. This season is South Dakota State’s 12^th FCS playoff appearance since first making it in 2009.

QUICK HITS

Location: Brookings, South Dakota

Nickname: Jackrabbits

Founded: Like Montana State, South Dakota State is a public land-grant university. Founded in 1881, it is the state’s largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota.

South Dakota State University was founded under the provisions of the 1862 Morrill Act. This land-grant heritage and mission has led the university to place a special focus on academic programs in agriculture, engineering, nursing, and pharmacy, as well as liberal arts. It is classified among “R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity”. The graduate program is classified as Doctoral, Science, Technology, Engineering, Math dominant (STEM) very similar to Montana State.

Enrollment: 11,465, including 9,717 undergraduates and an endowment $213 million.

Stadium: Dana J. Dykehouse Stadium was constructed in phases on the previous Coughlin-Alumni Stadium site and has a seating capacity of 19,340. The field has a traditional north-south alignment at an approximate elevation of 1,620 feet (495 m) above sea level.

It was funded through private gifts and long-term revenue streams, including expanded club seats, loge boxes, and a premium suite level. Lead gifts totaling $12.5 million from Sioux Falls banker Dana Dykhouse and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford were announced in October 2013 and the stadium opened in 2016.

 “I haven’t been there since the new stadium they built in 2016,” said Vigen, who played at North Dakota State from 1993 until 1997 while both NDSU and SDSU were in the North Central Conference of Division II. “I remember going back there and playing and coaching there through 2013 and it was always a challenging environment. They had good teams. That’s what it’s been over time. South Dakota State was always going to have a good team and they were always going to play hard.”

SDSU has averaged 13,254 fans per game in eight home games, including sellouts against South Dakota and Indiana State. SDSU has played three home games over the last month, averaging 6,942 fans during that span. SDSU had 6,117 fans on hand for its 42-6 win over Delaware in the second round and 6,549 fans on hand for last week’s 42-21 win over Holy Cross.

THE TEAM (12-1 this season)

The Coach: John Stiegelmeier, 26^th season at South Dakota State. 

Stiegelmeier is the only coach the Jackrabbits have ever had during its Division I era. He has been at SDSU in some capacity since 1988. He has been the head coach since 1997. South Dakota State moved into Division I in 2004.

Stiegelmeier and the ‘Jacks had modest success during their Division II days. SDSU had winning records each of its first four seasons playing Division I and won the Great West Conference in 2007 before joining the Missouri Valley Football Conference the next season.

South Dakota State’s first playoff appearance came in 2009. SDSU has only missed the playoffs twice (2010, 2011) and is working on a streak of 10 straight post-season appearances. The Jackrabbits have been to the semifinal round of the plaoyffs every year since 2017 save a second-round exit in 2019.

This is SDSU’s fourth semifinal appearance over past five fall seasons. Stiegelmeier is 194-112 during his head coaching career and has just two losing seasons (2010, 2011) since the Jacks moved up to Division I almost two decades ago.

WHAT TO WATCH — THE OFFENSE

Matt Gronowski, quarterback, 6-3, 220, sophomore — It’s not often that you lose a quarterback to the NFL Draft and still get your guy back.

Gronowski was SDSU’s team MVP and the Missouri Valley Offensive Player of the Year as a true freshman in the spring season of 2021. He threw for 1,565 yards and 15 touchdowns in 10 games to lead the Jackrabbits to the FCS national title game.

He suffered an injury that cost him the 2021 fall season in that contest against Sam Houston. Enter Chris Oladokun, a transfer to SDSU from Samford by way of South Florida who went on to become a 7^th round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers last spring. He threw for 3,164 yards and 25 touchdowns his lone season at SDSU, including for 315 yards and a score against Montana State.

“The biggest difference from last year is a change at quarterback,” Vigen said. “Oladokun is gone and Gronowski is back. As a young guy, he led his team to the national championship game so they are similar enough where their offense doesn’t change because of him.”

Gronowski has completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,555 yards, 21 touchdowns and just five picks this season. He’s also rushed for 300 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Jaxon Janke, wide receiver, 6-3, 210, senior — The steady, strong wideout has been one of SDSU’s most consistent offensive players the last few seasons. He had 72 catches for 1,165 yards on the way to earning second-team All-MVFC honors for the second year in a row last fall. This season, he is SDSU’s leading receiver again with 54 catches for 723 yards and seven touchdowns. He has 187 catches for 2,725 yards and 22 scores in his career.

Jadon Janke, wide receiver, 6-3, 210, senior — Jadon is South Dakota State’s second-leading receiver this season behind his twin brother. He has caught 45 passes for 695 yards and six touchdowns this season. He has 107 catches for 1,775 yards and 20 touchdowns in his career.

“The Jahnke twins are very impressive,” Vigen said.

Tucker Kraft, tight end, 6-5, 255, junior — Kraft is one of the most physically impressive players in college football. He is gigantic, strong and moves well for being so formidable. He was on either end of highlight reel plays last season, including being on the receiving end of a bone-crushing hit by Troy Andersen that helped shift the momentum in favor of Montana State.

Kraft has missed six games this season. He has 21 catches for 249 yards and two touchdowns.

“I think both of their tight ends are NFL types,” Vigen said. “In the blocking game, they can be dominant and in the pass game, too.”

Isaiah Davis, running back, 6-1, 220, junior — The bruising, aggressive runner was super productive while splitting time with Pierre Strong the last two seasons. He rushed for 1,519 yards and 17 touchdowns between the spring and the fall last year.

This season, with Strong now playing for the New England Patriots, Davis has rushed for 1,190 yards and 13 touchdowns to lead the SDSU rushing attack.

“Isaiah Davis is a really good back and this time of year, they want to lean on him probably more than anybody,” Vigen said.

WHAT TO WATCH — THE DEFENSE

Caleb Sanders, defensive tackle, 6-1, 270, senior — Sanders is a savvy player who uses his fundamentals and his sneaky explosiveness to dominate the interior. He has 32 tackles, including six sacks and eight tackles for loss.

Reece Winkelman, defensive end, 6-4, 245, senior — Winkelman has led SDSU in sacks for three seasons straight, including this season, where his 6.5 sacks are a team best. He also has 12 tackles for loss. In his career, he has 21.5 sacks and 42.5 tackles for loss.

Adam Bock, linebacker, 6-1, 215, junior — Bock was a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award and an All-American last season after rolling up 125 tackles and 9.5 tackles for loss. This year, he’s played in nine games, but is second on the team with 62 tackles. He has five tackles for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

SDSU comes at opponents in waves with its defense, especially along the front, Vigen said. That’s what has the Jackrabbits allowing just 2.8 yards per carry and 85 yards per game on the ground.

“First of all, they are very principled,” Vigen said. “And their guys play within that scheme very well. You don’t see a lot of plays where they have too many guys in a gap or they busted this or they busted that. Beyond that, they have good players and they play really hard.

“They have great players, they play probably 14 guys among their front seven positions, they are extremely disciplined and they play super hard. Our effort level, our physicality, our consistency has to be as good as its been.”

On Saturday, the champions of the CAA play at the champions of the BSC as the fourth-seeded Montana State Bobcats host a quarterfinal game in the FCS Playoffs against fifth-seeded William & Mary.

Montana State moved into the round of eight for the third fall season in a row thanks to a 33-25 win over Weber State in which the Bobcats rushed for 388 yards and saw All-American running back Isaiah Ifanse return for the first time this season.

William & Mary’s 13^th conference title has the Tribe into the FCS playoffs for the 11^th time, including the first time since 2015. Last week’s 54-14 win over Gardner-Webb was the eighth playoff win in program history.

Montana State and William & Mary play for the first time on Friday night at Bobcat Stadium. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m.

QUICK HITS

Location: Williamsburg, Virginia

Nickname: The Tribe

Founded: 1693, making The College of William & Mary the second-oldest college in the country, behind only New College, which was founded in 1636 and is now known as Harvard.

William and Mary is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William III and Queen Mary II is also the ninth-oldest in the English-speaking world. Institutional rankings have placed it among the best public universities in the United States.

The college educated American presidents Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and John Tyler. It also educated other key figures pivotal to the development of the United States, including the first President of the Continental Congress Peyton Randolph, the first U.S. Attorney General Edmund Randolph, the fourth U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, Speaker of the House of Representatives Henry Clay, Commanding General of the U.S. Army Winfield Scott, sixteen members of the Continental Congress, and four signers of the Declaration of Independence. Its connections with many Founding Fathers of the United States earned it the nickname “the Alma Mater of the Nation”.

George Washington received his surveyor’s license from the college in 1749 and he would become the college’s first American chancellor in 1788. The position was long held by Bishops of London and Archbishops of Canterbury, though in modern times has been held by U.S. Supreme Court Justices, Cabinet Secretaries, and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Benjamin Franklin received William & Mary’s first honorary degree in 1756.

Enrollment: 9,507 students, including 6,543 undergraduates. The school as a $1.3 billion endowment.

Stadium: The Tribe plays at Walter J. Zable Stadium. WM averaged 9,540 fans per game in six home games with a season-high of 12,506 on hand to see a 27-21 win over then-No. 6 Delaware.

THE TEAM (11-1 this season)

The Coach: Mike London, fourth season at William & Mary.
London has been a fixture in the Hampton Roads region for quite some time. The 62-year-old from West Point, New York played his college ball at Richmond (1979-1982) and started his coaching career with the Spiders in 1989 after a brief stint playing for the Dallas Cowboys.

London was the defensive line coach at William & Mary from 1991 until 1994, then returned to Richmond in 1995 for two seasons, which would become a theme of his career. He spent 1997 until 2000 at Boston College before taking the defensive line coach job at Virginia in 2001, which would also become a theme.

In 2005, London spent a season in the NFL with the Houston Texans before returning for two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Virginia. In 2008, London took over as the head coach at his alma mater.

That first season leading the Spiders, London led Richmond to the 2008 FCS national championship. The Spiders defeated the University of Montana 24-7 in Chattanooga, Tennessee to earn the first national championship in any sport for the university.

By 2010, that success helped land London a Power 5 head coaching job. He served as the head coach at Virginia for six seasons. He also was the head coach at Howard in 2017 and 2018 before returning to William & Mary.

He is 85-75 as a head coach including an impressive 6-1 in the FCS playoffs.

WHAT TO WATCH — THE OFFENSE

Darius Wilson, quarterback, 6-3, 190, sophomore — the native of the Bronx, New York has been a model of efficiency this season, completing 66 percent of his passes for 2,190 yards and 16 touchdowns. The southpaw, who was the CAA Rookie of the Year last season, has rushed for 522 yards and four touchdowns as well.

Colby Sorsdal, offensive tackle, 6-6, 310, senior — Sorsdal is the leader and the most talented player on a stout, impressive offensive front that London called “the caltalyst of our team” earlier this week.

Sorsdal was an all-league selection the last two years and exploded into All-American form this season. He was named first-team All-American by Hero Sports on Thursday.

The Tribe offensive line has helped the squad rush for a school record 3,320 yards and average 277 yards per game on the ground, the fourth best average in the nation. William & Mary is averaging 6.1 yards per rush and have given up 0.58 sacks a game, the top mark in the FCS.

“Obviously, there are dynamic players who help you win,” London said in a W&M press release. “But when you have an offensive line that can establish a run game and protect the quarterback, that’s a tremendous thing.

“To me, our offensive line has been the catalyst of a lot of things that are going on, particularly in the running game and the ability to throw the ball downfield. They’ve done a fantastic job.”

Bronson Yoder, running back, 5-11, 205, senior — Yoder has been the most prolific back in William & Mary’s three-back attack, rushing for 1,133 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has six 100-yard games this season.

Sophomore Malachi Imoh is a 5-foot-8, 185-pound slasher who’s rushed for 709 yards and nine touchdowns while averaging 8.6 yards per carry. Donovyn Lester is a 6-2, 210-pound senior who has rushed for 533 yards and eight touchdowns.

WHAT TO WATCH — THE DEFENSE

John Pius, linebacker, 6-2, 230, sophomore

The stud from nearby Arlington, Virginia has had some monster games so far this season on the way to leading the Tribe in total tackles (71) and earning Sophomore All-American honors from Hero Sports. Pius had 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks against Charlotte plus 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks against Lafayette. He has 11. 5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss this season, plus 12 quarterback hurries.

Jalen Jones, defensive back, 6-0, 185, freshman

The rookie corner is a Freshman All-American this season after leading the Tribe with four interceptions. He had three picks against Campbell in the second game of the season.

Nate Lynn, defensive end, 6-3, 255, junior

Lynn has been the best play-making defensive lineman on W&M’s defense. He has 55 tackles, six sacks and 10 tackles for loss plus 11 quarterback hurries, four forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

When the two teams played in the 2015 season opener, it was more a nod to Montana’s historical cachet than anything else; the Grizzlies’ classic 38-35 win was most notable for its suggestion of a resurrection, a notion crushed by a 37-6 reverse in the second round of the playoffs three months later in the Fargodome. That year, the Grizzlies were a speedbump on the road to NDSU’s fifth straight national title.

Seven years later, they have a chance to be more than that. The Bison, conventional wisdom says, are down slightly from their best, with their first two-loss regular season (excepting the partial spring 2020 campaign) since that 2015 run.

Of course, so are the Grizzlies, and to maintain their tenuously regained level – they’re playing for their third straight quarterfinal appearance – they’ll have to beat the closest comparison to what they used to be.

QUICK HITS

Nickname: Bison

Location: Fargo, North Dakota

Founded: 1890

Enrollment: 12,242

Stadium: The Fargodome seats 18,700 and has spent the last decade-plus as a haunted house for the rest of the subdivision. The Bison have lost just one playoff game in Fargo in their FCS history, 27-17 to James Madison in 2016.

Famous alumni: The non-football division doesn’t carry a ton of weight: Bob Backlund (professional wrestler) and Ilhan Omar (U.S. House of Representatives). The football guys you already know: Carson Wentz, Trey Lance, Kyle Emanuel, Gus Bradley, etc.

Last meeting: The 37-6 final score at the Fargodome in a second-round matchup on December 5, 2015, doesn’t even accurately convey how harshly NDSU buried the memories of Montana’s shocking season-opening win three months prior.

The Bison jumped out to a 24-0 lead and then gave their offense a rest, closing the scoring with a 100-yard kick return and their second pick-six of Brady Gustafson. Easton Stick went just 7 of 13 for 66 yards, but NDSU pounded the rock for 250 yards – Jeremiah Kose had 19 tackles for the Griz – and Montana had six net rushing yards on 19 carries.

THE COACH

Matt Entz (fourth year at NDSU, 46-6)

Entz was the second straight NDSU defensive coordinator to take over the head coaching role when he ascended to that position in 2019, following in Chris Klieman’s footsteps. Entz didn’t break into the Division I ranks until 2010, but after three years at Northern Iowa and one at Western Illinois, Klieman brought him to Fargo when he became the head coach in 2014.

Entz has won the national title in each of the two full seasons NDSU has played since his hiring, including an undefeated year in his debut campaign that saw the Bison go wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the country. After faltering to a 7-3 record and quarterfinal loss in the 2020 spring season, Entz guided NDSU to a 14-1 record and another national title last year. This year, they’ve lost to FBS Arizona and No. 1 South Dakota State by a combined five points.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – OFFENSE

QB Cam Miller (6-1, 212, Jr.)

Miller’s value lies in his efficiency — he’s throwing for just 132.5 yards per game but completes 69% of his passes, has 10 touchdowns and only two interceptions, and has added 11 rushing touchdowns.

RBs TaMerik Williams (6-1, 229, Sr.)/Kobe Johnson (5-9, 188, Sr.)

With All-American fullback Hunter Luepke “highly doubtful” to play, Williams and Johnson will carry NDSU’s offense. The two have similar numbers, but Williams is averaging nearly a yard more per carry (7.6 to 6.7) and has seven touchdowns to Johnson’s three.

OL Cody Mauch (6-6, 303, Sr.)

Mauch, NDSU’s left tackle, was named a finalist for the Walter Payton Award and is a legit NFL prospect.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – DEFENSE

DL Spencer Waege (6-5, 282, Sr.)

On a defense defined by its depth, Waege’s numbers stand out — seven sacks and 13 TFLs, twice as many as anybody else on the team. He’s a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award.

LB James Kaczor (6-0, 215, Sr.)

A former backup safety, Kaczor has a team-high 69 tackles, plus 5 1/2 TFLs.

Weber got one a few weeks later and earned payback, posting a 17-10 win over UM to advance to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs for the first time in school history.

Hill was emotional following his team’s 43-38 loss at Montana State on October 22 of this year. He didn’t mention a rematch.

But no one could’ve blamed him for hoping his team got one. And the Wildcats do get another shot at MSU, although it is a round or two earlier in the playoffs than most would’ve predicted when No. 3 Montana State beat No. 5 Weber State five weeks ago.

On Saturday, the Big Sky Conference champion Bobcats host the Wildcats at Bobcat Stadium in a matchup between the fourth seed in the FCS playoffs and the ninth-ranked team in the nation. Both teams are 10-win squads — MSU is 10-1 while WSU is 10-2 — and each has had playoff success in recent years; Weber went to the Final Four in 2019, as did MSU while the Bobcats raced all the way to the FCS national title game last fall.

Weber State earned the rematch by jolting to a 24-0 first half lead against North Dakota before hanging on for a 38-31 victory.

MSU is riding an eight-game winning streak capped by a 55-21 blowout of rival Montana to sew up its first league title since 2012. Montana State’s first playoff game of Brent Vigen’s second campaign comes against one of the best teams in the country.

“There’s some benefit to the familiarity and understanding they have the same familiarity on their side as well having played each of the last two years,” Vigen said. “The way that game played out, I assume they see themselves differently here in December and I know we do as well.

“You look back on that game certainly with a different lens than you look at with any other opponent. You try to look at the things we do well and the things we allowed team to do well and you try to correct as much as you can.”

Kickoff from Bobcat Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m. MST. Weber State is 6-5 under Hill in the playoffs and 8-7 overall. Montana State is 3-1 in the FCS Playoffs under  Vigen and are 12-10 all time in the post-season

WEBER STATE FOOTBALL

NICKNAME: Wildcats

LOCATION: Ogden, Utah

FOUNDED: 1889

ENROLLMENT: 26,681

FAMOUS ALUMNI: Damian Lillard, point guard; Ben Howland, basketball coach; David Kennedy, former Secretary of the Treasury

LAST MEETING: Montana State emerged with a 43-38 victory over previously undefeated Weber thanks in part to four Grant Sands snaps out of the back of the end-zone, resulting in safeties and two points for the Bobcats.

HEROES & SCAPEGOATS – Mellott’s record day overshadowed by errant snaps in insane Top 5 shootout

THE COACH

Jay Hill (ninth year at Weber State, 64-37)

Over nearly a decade at Weber State, Hill has engineered one of the biggest turnarounds in the FCS. The Wildcats were 2-10 in his first season and haven’t been under .500 since. The rebuild peaked with three-straight double-digit win seasons from 2017 to 2019 and an FCS semifinal appearance in the latter of those.

Weber State was 5-1 in the COVID spring season to claim a fourth Big Sky title in five years, but lost in the first round of the playoffs, and slipped to 6-5 against a tough schedule in 2021. Hill has brought the Wildcats back to the very top of the FCS again in 2022, with an eye-opening blowout of FBS Utah State in non-conference and three straight conference wins before the setback at Montana State. WSU’s other loss this season came at Sacramento State, so the Wildcats lost to the only two teams in the Big Sky that didn’t lose.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – OFFENSE

QB Bronson Barron (6-3, 215, So.)

Barron has a great arm and has stepped forward this year. He’s thrown for 2,447 yards, 20 touchdowns and just seven interceptions so far this season.

RB Dontae McMillan (5-11, 190, So.)

The Wildcats have plenty of backs in the stable with Damon Bankston and former All-American Josh Davis. McMillan is the home-run hitter with 60 yards per carry and eight rushing touchdowns, although Bankston averages 5.8 yards per carry and has 693 rushing yards compared to McMillan’s 745.

McMillan surpassed 100 yards against Montana (100) and Idaho State (139), while Bankston and Davis both went over 100 yards last week against UND. Davis had 21 carries for 129 yards and two touchdowns last week. If that production is sustainable, WSU has three elite running backs, each who are a threat to surpass the century mark at any time. And it’s feasible that multiple could do it in the same game, just like last week, for an offense averaging 200 yards per game on the ground.

WR Ty McPherson (6-0, 190, Sr.)

The second-team All-Big Sky selection finished eighth in the league in catches (53), third in yards (941) and second in touchdowns with 10 scoring grabs.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – DEFENSE

KR Abraham Williams, 6-1, 170, sophomore

The speedster from nearby Salt Lake City has four kick returns for touchdowns this season, each one for 100 yards. He’s just the second player in NCAA history with at least four kickoff returns for touchdowns of triple digits. One of those came against Montana State. His four total kickoff returns for touchdowns are a single-season record according to the Big Sky Conference media guide. Bashir Levingston (1998) and Jesse Hoffman (2010), each of Eastern Washington, held the previous Big Sky record of three KR TDs in one season.

CB Eddie Heckard, 5-10, 195, Jr.

The demonstrative Heckard was a two-time returning first-team all-Big Sky player entering the season and now a three-time first-team all-league selection following this year. He’ll have a real shot at earning first-team all-league honors four times by the time his career is over.

LB Winston Reid, 6-1, 230, Jr.

Twitter had a few former and current Wildcats clamouring that Reid deserved Defensive Player of the Year honors. He has 101 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and four sacks plus four forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception so far this season.

That wrapped a 7-4 season with no wins over ranked teams, but Montana’s name still popped up during the FCS selection show on Sunday — and, as they say, all you need to win is to have your name in the hat. The Grizzlies’ route to redemption will start with a night kickoff on Saturday against Southeast Missouri State at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in a game that will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

The Redhawks blitzed Murray State 52-22 on Saturday to finish the regular season 9-2. Despite a 5-0 conference record, they didn’t know they’d won the Ohio Valley Football Conference’s auto-bid to the playoffs until later that night, when a coin flip between SEMO and UT-Martin went SEMO’s way (both had finished with identical 5-0 conference records). Ironically, that coin flip might also have put the Griz into the playoffs. If UT-Martin had won the OVC’s auto-bid, the Redhawks would likely have taken an at-large spot ahead of Montana.

MASCOT: Redhawks. The teams at SEMO changed their names from the “Indians” in 2005.

LOCATION: Cape Girardeau, Missouri

FOUNDED: 1873

ENROLLMENT: 10,603

FAMOUS ALUMNI: Slim pickings. Cedric the Entertainer; Kerry Robinson, who features prominently in Buzz Bissinger’s book about the Tony La Russa Cardinals, “Three Nights in August”; Dan Connolly, who made second-team all-OVC four straight years before going on to to a solid career with the Patriots.

LAST MEETING: Saturday’s meeting will be the first between the two teams. SEMO lost 48-23 at Weber State in the FCS playoffs in 2018 and lost 38-17 to Montana State in September of 2019.

THE COACH

Tom Matukewicz (ninth season at SEMO, 50-51, 51-51 overall)

This is the third time Matukewicz has hit the nine-win mark in his nine seasons with the Redhawks. The other two were in back-to-back years in 2018 and 2019, which included the first (and still only) FCS playoff win in school history, a triumph over Stony Brook in 2018, as well as a conference title in 2019. They repeated the latter feat this year with a 5-0 run through the OVC, with their only losses a blowout to Iowa State in the season opener and a close, 28-23 loss to to ASUN/WAC auto-bid winner Eastern Kentucky.

Matukewicz got his first big break under former Minnesota and current New Mexico State head coach Jerry Kill, following Kill from Emporia State to Southern Illinois to Northern Illinois over the course of the 2000s. When Kill abandoned NIU for the Minnesota job, Matukewicz took over as the interim head coach and led the Huskies to a win in the 2010 Humanitarian Bowl, explaining the slight discrepancy between his SEMO and overall records above. He then spent one more year as the assistant at NIU before taking over as the defensive coordinator at Toledo for two years and picking up the head job for the Redhawks in 2014.

Matukewicz has now led SEMO to three of the four FCS Playoff appearances in school history. Two of the others ended with losses to Big Sky teams (Eastern Washington, 2010; Weber State, 2018).

PLAYERS TO WATCH – OFFENSE

RB Geno Hess (5-8, 222, Sr.)

Hess is a legit Walter Payton Award contender after back-to-back All-OVC selections entering the season, sitting third in the nation with 1,569 rushing yards (142.6 per game) and tied for first (with Sac State QB Asher O’Hara) with 19 touchdowns. He was the national player of the week last week with 327 total yards and four touchdowns against Murray State, and has 10 touchdowns in the last three games.

QB Paxton DeLaurent (6-5, 215, So.)

After two seasons at Central Methodist University, DeLaurent has been more than serviceable for the Redhawks in his debut season, with 2,407 yards (267.4 per game), 19 touchdowns and five interceptions. He’s missed SEMO’s last two games with a foot injury and appears to be questionable for Saturday. The backup is freshman Patrick Heitert, who’s thrown for 221, no touchdowns and a pick in the last two games as the Redhawks have leaned on Hess.

WR Ryan Flournoy (6-2, 197, Jr.)

With previous stops at Central Missouri and Iowa Western CC, Flournoy has emerged as half of a good receiver tandem for SEMO (Johnny King has 65 catches for 774 yards and six touchdowns). Flournoy stands out a little more as the big-play threat, with 50 catches for 823 yards and seven touchdowns. He had 15 for 256 and a score in the Redhawks’ only FCS loss to Eastern Kentucky.

PLAYERS TO WATCH – DEFENSE

LB Bryce Norman (6-0, 226, So.)

Norman was a Freshman All-American in 2021 and a preseason All-OVC selection in 2022, and has justified those picks by leading the Redhawks with 108 total tackles. No one else on the team has more than 76.

S Lawrence Johnson (6-0, 196, Sr.)

An all-around standout at strong safety, Johnson is second on the team in tackles (76), first in tackles for loss (7 1/2), tied for first in sacks (4) and first in pass breakups (8).