Sep. 19—BROOKINGS — They all matter, but 2nd-ranked South Dakota State 's Missouri Valley Football Conference opener with No. 9 Youngstown State was the first for the Jackrabbits this year that felt truly consequential.
The wins over Stetson and New Haven were foregone conclusions. A win over Northwestern would've been a huge feather in the cap, but the loss doesn't mean much in the big picture.
But this one was big. Beau Brungard , the reigning Walter Payton Award winner, in his senior year, coming to Brookings looking for a signature win with a Penguins team that's clearly on the rise. The Penguins have been a solid team under Doug Phillips, but this was their opportunity to show they've moved from playoff team to national championship contender. From second tier to first tier. They wanted it, that was palpable in their body language and their intensity on the field.
They didn't pull it off, because the Jackrabbits were just better, grinding up 309 rushing yards in a 27-20 win in front of 18,541 Dykhouse Stadium fans.
"They did a great job," Phillips said of the Jackrabbits. "I felt off rhythm the whole day, and I give them credit. We weren't able to get the run game going, they were able to get the run game going. I just felt like we were off, like we weren't working on all cylinders, and they had a lot to do with that. Good team. Great team."
The Jacks (3-1) started slow in last week's win over New Haven, but were extremely efficient in the final three quarters. That carried over into this one. The Jacks put together a beauty of an opening drive, going 84 yards in 11 plays and taking a 7-0 lead on a Josiah Johnson touchdown run, and after a stop they were back in business, with Chase Mason firing lasers to his receivers and getting the Jacks back into the red zone. But Corey Blair lost a fumble out of the back of the end zone, resulting in a touchback.
Instead of a 14-0 lead, the Penguins (2-2) converted the turnover into a field goal to make it 7-3. It stayed pretty close the rest of the way, and that's a credit to the Penguins, but it's tempting to wonder how the game would've gone if SDSU had punched in that second drive to make it 14-0.
"I know it finished with 27 points but there's a lot of ways that game can go to where it's closer to 50," said coach Dan Jackson. "We were able to run the ball consistently, we made adjustments in the game. I'm so proud of our offensive staff. I thought there was a clinic put on by our offensive coaching staff."
The Jacks' defensive coaches didn't have a bad night, either.
Brungard is as dangerous a dual-threat quarterback as you'll find, and while early in the game the Penguins used some designed runs to give themselves some favorable 2nd downs, those eventually dried up, and Brungard never really got loose. His longest run of the night was 11 yards. Brungard threw for 292 yards, but other than a jump-ball that went for a 45-yard gain late, there weren't many big plays.
Containing a running quarterback is often less about coming up with a creative gameplan than getting all 11 defenders to be as assignment-sound as they possibly can and to tackle well, and the Jacks did those things.
Phillips credited the Jacks for staying in their passing lanes. Jackson pointed to his defensive line consistently collapsing the pocket and the linebackers using their speed to chase him down or force him out of bounds.
Defensive tackle and captain Logan Green said holding the Penguins to 20 points was certainly a strong showing.
"I think the defense executed the plan well," said Green, who had a drive-killing sack in the first half. "(Brungard) didn't take off and run that much, which was kind of an emphasis, and I thought we did a good job keeping him in the pocket and getting home a couple times and getting some good hurries on him and making him take the checkdown. And the DBs played great."
The Jacks led 17-10 at halftime and Mason had just limped off the field with a knee injury that threatened to take the air out of the stadium. The Penguins got the ball first to start the second half. Surely they sensed an opportunity to pounce. Instead, the Jacks got a stop, and Johnson busted off a 39-yard run on SDSU's first offensive play of the half. Seven plays later, Johnson's 16-yard touchdown run made it 24-10.
The sophomore running back ended up with 238 yards on 30 carries to bring home the win. He's the first Rabbit to rush for 200 yards in a game since Isaiah Davis and the first to carry 30 times since Zach Zenner .
Mason's status is certainly reason for concern. Jackson was cautiously optimistic after the game that it's not a season-ending injury, but that hasn't yet been ruled out.
But that's something the Jacks can worry about later. For now, they can celebrate winning one of the biggest games in the FCS this year, and doing it by being the physical, disciplined and connected team Jackson insists upon.
"Every win is important," said offensive tackle and captain Quinten Christensen. "But tonight was a fun one. Nothing's perfect, but we came out with a W and that's all that matters."
