CFB PREVIEW: Pieces in place for SDSU to take next step
The South Dakota State football team enters the 2016 season pursuing a fifth straight berth in the Division I FCS playoffs, but also more than that.
The thing about making the playoffs four years in a row is that while it’s a noteworthy accomplishment, the shine wears off if it remains the high-water mark.
Or, as Jackrabbit center Jacob Ohnesorge puts it: “The standard here has changed. Ten years ago they would’ve been thrilled to go to the playoffs four years in a row. Now that’s kind of thought of as average, and we don’t want to be an average program.”
Indeed, SDSU made only one playoff appearance in its entire Division II era (1979), but have now made themselves regular postseason participants in FCS football. And if that wasn’t enough to raise the expectations for 2016, there’s the $65 million Dana J Dykhouse Stadium that becomes SDSU’s new home this fall. It’s a spectacular facility, immediately one of the best in college football’s second tier. But if the Jacks are going to fill it they have to win games.
“The stadium is amazing,” acknowledges head coach John Stiegelmeier. “But we’ve talked to our guys – you don’t want to be remembered just as the team that opened the new stadium. You want to be remembered for what you did inside the stadium.”
The pieces are in place for the 14th-ranked Jacks to make sure something special happens inside the stadium.
SDSU brings back all of the skill players from an offense that averaged 28 points and 411 yards per game last year, as well as the bulk of a defense that quietly emerged as one of the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s best. There are question marks – notably the offensive line and at cornerback – but SDSU looks very similar to the team that went 8-3 last year before losing at Montana in the first round of the FCS playoffs.
All last season the Jacks talked of their pursuit of a top-8 playoff seed and first round bye, and they ended up falling just short of it. One-score losses to Northern Iowa and Western Illinois in which self-inflicted wounds loomed large meant the Jacks were essentially two or three plays away from going 10-1 in the regular season and earning that bye. And they know it.
“We’ve never been a top-8 seed and we were so close,” said All-American wideout Jake Wieneke, who caught 72 passes for 1,472 yards last year. “But that’s not the end goal. Our goal is to win a national championship, whether we’re a top-8 seed or not. We don’t want this season to end like it did last year. That hurt.”
The battle for the starting quarterback spot was a point of focus all through camp, with sophomore Taryn Christion edging senior captain Zach Lujan for the job. Both signal-callers were successful last year, and while Christion looks poised to become one of FCS football's biggest stars, the Jacks would still be in good hands if he went down and Lujan took over.
At running back, last year’s committee of Brady Mengarelli (742 yards), Kyle Paris (428 yards) and Isaac Wallace (198 yards) returns, while the quarterbacks will have more quality targets to throw to than ever before. Wieneke is one of the most prolific pass-catchers in the nation, but SDSU expects to be far deeper at the position this year, with Connor Landberg, Marquise Lewis, Adam Anderson and Alex Wilde joining all-conference tight end Dallas Goedert to keep opposing defenses busy.
The talent in place at the skill positions means the onus will be on the offensive line to pave the way. A group that was inconsistent last year is working under a new position coach in Jason Eck, and graduated three starters from last year. Ohnesorge returns as the anchor, while junior Charlie Harmon hopes to take a step forward after starting every game at left tackle last year. There are high hopes for Nick Carr at right tackle, as the 6-8, 310-pound senior looks to stay healthy after losing his junior year to a knee injury.
On defense the Jacks will be strong in the middle, with senior Cole Langer and junior Kellen Soulek forming one of the top interior 1-2 punches in the country. Jared Blum and Christian Banasiak give the Jacks a pair of lean and athletic rushers on the edge to go with them.
Senior captain Jesse Bobbit anchors a linebacking crew that loses TJ Lally but still returns three seniors in Bobbit, Dallas Brown and Cody Hazelett, as well as a handful of hungry upstarts looking to take on a larger role.
There’s an intriguing mix in the secondary, where SDSU returns both its starting safeties in Nick Mears and Nick Farina, as well as experienced backups Chris Balster, Alex Romenesko and Makiah Slade. At corner, sophomore Jordan Brown, junior college transfer Anthony Washington and freshman Zy Mosley get the first crack at replacing graduated starters Jimmie Forsythe and Je Ryan Butler.
Sophomore Brady Hale is back at punter, while kicking duties will go to either Chase Vinatieri or Sam Koob. They’ll once again work with reliable senior longsnapper Thayer Trenhaile.
As similar as this year’s Jackrabbit team is to last year’s, they’re by no means guaranteed to equal last year’s level of success. Instead of bottom-feeding Kansas, their season-opening FBS game is at 13th-ranked Texas Christian. And they head on the road to face No.1 North Dakota State, No. 8 Illinois State and No. 5 Northern Iowa.
“I don’t know if you can just say, ‘If we run the ball better we’ll be a top-8 seed, or if we play better defense’, because there’s so many good teams,” Stiegelmeier said. “We just have to be better at everything. We have to move up a level in every area of our program.”
Follow Matt Zimmer on Twitter at @ArgusMattZ .
Zimmer: It's Taryn's time, but Jacks still need Lujan
ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA STATE
COACH: John Stiegelmeier (20th year, 128-90)
2015: 8-4
RETURNING STARTERS: 7 offense, 7 defense
STRENGTHS: Defensive line, quarterback, wide receiver
WEAKNESSES: Offensive line and cornerback are unproven
TOP RETURNERS: WR Jake Wieneke (jr., 6-4, 215), TE Dallas Goedert (jr., 6-5, 250), C Jacob Ohnesorge (jr., 6-3, 280), DT Cole Langer (sr., 6-2, 295), DT Kellen Soulek (jr., 6-5, 310), LB Jesse Bobbit (sr., 6-2, 235)
OUTLOOK: The Jacks have plenty of weapons returning from a team that was a couple plays away from a 10-win season last year. Whether or not their offensive line and inexperienced secondary can develop into strengths may determine if this team can take the next step.
SCHEDULE
Sept. 3 at TCU, 7 p.m.
Sept. 10 DRAKE, 6 p.m.
Sept. 17 CAL POLY, 6 p.m.
Sept. 24 BYE
Oct. 1 WESTERN ILLINOIS
Oct. 8 at Southern Illinois
Oct. 15 at North Dakota State
Oct. 22 YOUNGSTOWN STATE, 2 p.m.
Oct. 29 at Illinois State, 2 p.m.
Nov. 5 MISSOURI STATE, 2 p.m.
Nov. 12 SOUTH DAKOTA, 2 p.m.
Nov. 19 at Northern Iowa, 4 p.m.