Jackrabbits aim for repeat in FCS
FRISCO, Texas — Jimmy Rogers never dreamed of playing at South Dakota State University, and he certainly never anticipated becoming head coach of the Jackrabbits.
The kid from Arizona who was a standout linebacker and captain of SDSU’s first playoff team in 2009, then defensive coordinator for its first national title team last season, is now the first-year head coach as the top-seeded Jackrabbits (14-0) try to repeat in the Football Championship Subdivision.
They take a 28-game winning streak into Sunday’s showdown against No. 2 seed Montana (13-1) at Toyota Stadium, where kickoff is set 2 p.m. Eastern on ABC.
“My reality becoming a dream means I wanted to do it at the highest level, and we’ve taken South Dakota State to the highest level,” Rogers said. “To be the head coach of it, I never envisioned that 18 years ago. … But I did envision winning national championships here.”
Less than two weeks after the Jackrabbits beat Missouri Valley Conference rival North Dakota State University last January to become champions in John Stiegelmeier’s 26th season as head coach, he retired and Rogers was immediately named his successor.
“I don’t think during the season there was ever really kind of that we’re playing for his last year-type vibe,” linebacker Adam Bock said.
Rogers’ coaching career began as an SDSU graduate assistant in 2010. He played his final game in the first round of the 2009 playoffs, when the Jackrabbits led 48-21 late in the third quarter before Montana scored 40 unanswered points.
“It sticks with me,” Rogers said.
The Grizzlies, champions of the Big Sky Conference, then went on to lose in the FCS title game for the second
year in a row, ending coach Bobby Hauck’s first stint as their coach. They are in their first title game since, and first in Frisco, where the championship game has been played since the 2010 season.
Sunday’s matchup will make Frisco the longest-serving host of the game. Chattanooga’s Finley Stadium was the site for 13 games from 1997 to 2009. The NCAA contract for the game in Frisco has two more years after this, plus an option for the game at the end of the 2026 season.
“Each of the last two (Montana) teams, ’21 and ’22, had potential to be where we’re sitting now,” said Hauck, who returned to the Grizzlies in 2018. “Last year in particular, I think it was a matter of playing four of the top five (teams) on the road over a six-week span. That’s a tall task, especially for a team that was injured as we were.”
The Grizzlies’ 27 playoff appearances are the most in the lower tier of Division I football. They were national champs in 1995 and 2001, as well as runner-ups in 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2009 — the last three of those under Hauck.
All three of SDSU’s title games have come in the past four seasons, and the Jackrabbits have two lopsided shutout victories in their current playoff run — 41-0 over Mercer in the second round and 59-0 over Albany in the semifinals last month. Those games sandwiched a 23-12 win over Villanova in a game affected by wind gusts of up to 45 mph.
Montana, after opening the playoffs with a 30-point win over Delaware, needed overtime to beat Furman, then two overtimes to win its semifinal against rival NDSU
“We’re a hard-nosed, tough team that fights our tail off,” said Grizzlies senior defensive tackle Alex Gubner, an AP FCS All-America first-team selection.
Texas native and Central Arkansas transfer Clifton McDowell is 11-0 as Montana’s starting quarterback. His 751 yards rushing are a modernday record for a quarterback at Montana, and he has 1,861 yards and 13 touchdowns passing.
Mark Gronowski will start his third national title game as South Dakota State’s quarterback. The All-American has thrown for 2,883 yards and 28 touchdowns with only four interceptions this season.
Gronowski was a freshman during the pandemic-delayed 2020 season, when SDSU made its first title game in the unusual finale in May 2021. He tore the ACL in his left knee on the opening series, then missed the entire 2021 season that fall before returning last year.
Isaiah Davis has consecutive 1,400-yard rushing seasons for the Jackrabbits since missing the last half of the 2021 season injured. He had 305 all-purpose yards (178 rushing, 114 on kickoff returns and 13 receiving) as a freshman in the title game to cap the 2020 season.
ABC is televising the FCS title game for the fourth time in five years. It will remain on that over-the-air network as part of a $920 million, eight-year agreement between the NCAA and ESPN announced this past week that includes exclusive rights to 40 championships.
“Sometimes people think, well, ABC’s not that big a deal. It’s a big deal,” said Ty Halpin, the NCAA director of championships and alliances for Division I football. “Montana fans and SDSU fans are going to find the game wherever it is. … We’re trying to get to those people that maybe don’t really watch FCS football very often to grow what we’re doing.”