Cohesion leading to historic success on the ground for SDSU

BROOKINGS – If you’ve watched the South Dakota State offense this season, you know they’ve done one thing great, and that’s run the football.

Dan Jackson talked about wanting to be a team that could lean on the run game in the offseason, and that has come to fruition so far this season as SDSU is leading the country in rush yards per game at 259.3. 

Through 10 games this season, the Jacks are on pace to have the best rushing attack in the Division I era at SDSU. The next highest output per game in a season came in 2024 when the Jacks averaged 236.1 yards per game on the ground.

The success on the ground is night and day from last season where the Jacks averaged 154.3 yards per game on the ground, which ranked 59th in the FCS. 

Most of the time when a running back talks about his success, he first gives credit to his offensive line. Senior offensive tackle Quinten Christensen returned the favor this time, saying the credit goes to the running backs, who are highlighted by sophomores Josiah Johnson and James Basinger.

“I mean first, I got to credit the backs,” Christensen said. “A lot of them have done a lot of growing up and they’ve really dove into the playbook. I think [running backs] coach [Deonte Cooper] has done a great job of getting those guys along and just the whole group has matured exponentially. So, I think that’s been big.”

Johnson has been the featured back this season with 1,061 yards and 12 touchdowns on 173 carries. Basinger has been a home run hitter, averaging 10.1 yards per carry, and has rushed for 744 yards and 10 touchdowns.

This year, the Jacks have had seven games where their longest rush has been more than 40 yards. In four of those games the longest run was more than 60 yards. Last season, SDSU didn’t have any rushes for more than 60 yards.

Christensen said the Jacks have bought in, not only on the offensive line, but the offense as a whole, on being a team that runs the football. That’s what’s led to the explosive run plays on the ground this season.

“The offensive line, the tight ends, and even the receivers, guys are just really taking pride in doing their job and blocking as hard as they can. For us, when we hit a big run, that's kind of our big deal. Everybody has just adopted this deal where like, we’re going to run the ball and we’re going to do our job at the highest level, whether our name is on the stat sheet or not,” Christensen said.

Offensive coordinator Eric Eidsness is in his second year as offensive coordinator under Dan Jackson and Christensen said he thinks Eidness has done a good job of adjusting to his personnel this season.

“Coach [Eidsness], just in terms of the scheme, he’s been really good. I think he’s played to our strengths a little bit this year, and just people are getting more comfortable too. So, it’s been really nice,” Christensen said.

Christensen said before the season that the way the offensive line performed in 2025 ate at him every day and they didn’t meet the expectations of the “605 Hogs” before them. So far this year, the offensive line and the run game has met the SDSU standard, and more.

But the job is not finished. There’s still two games left in the regular season and the playoffs are ahead for the Jacks, and Christensen knows that.

“Obviously, we have stuff to work on every week, but I think the guys are playing hard, playing physical, and really enjoy blocking for some good running backs. … I think we’re on track now, but we just have to keep doing everything day by day, week by week, and I think we’ll get to where we want to go,” Christensen said.

SDSU will look to continue its success on the ground on Saturday when it plays at Southern Illinois at 1 p.m.