Jackrabbits get another crack at a power four opponent

BROOKINGS – South Dakota State has only beaten a power four team one time and it was back in 2015. The Jackrabbits will have a chance to do it again on Saturday when they take on Northwestern.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, the power four refers to the four conferences in the FBS that are above the rest. It’s the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC. SDSU has played against teams from those conferences 12 times and the Jacks lone win was a 41-38 victory over a Kansas team who did not win a game that season.

In the new NIL and transfer portal era of college football, FCS teams beating power four teams has gone by the wayside. No FCS team has been able to do it the past two seasons and the last upset came in week four of the 2023 season when Sacramento State beat Stanford 30-23. The year before that, only Southern Illinois beat Northwestern 31-24.

In the previous 15 years (2006-2021), an FCS team beat a power four opponent 38 times. Now, SDSU almost pulled it off in 2022 when the Jacks lost to Iowa 7-3. That was the year that the Jacks won their first of two consecutive FCS National Championships. 

Two years later, the Jacks traveled down to Stillwater, Okla., and took on Oklahoma State. SDSU hung with the Cowboys for a half but they pulled away and won 44-20. 

When SDSU came onto the scene as an FCS power in the middle of the 2010s, the Jacks gave a few power four teams scares. They trailed TCU 45-41 early in the fourth quarter in 2016, but the Horned Frogs came away with a 59-41 win. In 2019, SDSU led Minnesota 21-20 midway through the fourth quarter but the Golden Gophers scored a touchdown with under six minutes to play and held off the Jackrabbits the rest of the way.

2019 was Dan Jackson’s last year as an assistant coach for the Jacks. Jackson said the key to competing in these games against power four opponents is to treat them like any other team, which his team does no matter the opponent.

“I don’t care who we play on Saturday’s,” Jackson said. “Of course, there’s new schemes and there’s new coaches you’re playing against, and there’s different levels of talent. But I don’t see this as any [different from any other game]. I don’t know why we would treat it that way. … I mean, they have 11 guys on the field. We’re going to have 11 guys on the field.”

That message is clear to Jackson’s players. Starting quarterback Chase Mason said after a season-opening win against Stetson that he’s excited for the Northwestern game but they’re not going to put any extra emphasis on it.

“We’re going to be pumped for next week, and it’s a nameless and faceless opponent. We’re just planning on executing our game plan and what the coaches want us to do, trusting them. … I mean, it’s cool to play an FBS team, but we have full belief in our program. We should win every single game. Like I said, everyone’s nameless and faceless to us,” Mason said.

With SDSU’s prowess in the FCS, it’s been harder for the Jacks to schedule these types of games because when a power conference team plays an FCS team they have to pay them to come play. They’re called “buy games” in the college football world and it's an added insult to injury when FBS teams lose to FCS teams.

On Saturday, Northwestern will be paying SDSU $500,000. Jackson gave appreciation to SDSU athletic director Justin Sell for putting this together.

“First, hats off to [Sell] and everybody that was involved in scheduling this game,” Jackson said. We want to play a power four opponent every year, and I know it doesn’t always work out. Sometimes the trends of college football, it’s not always advantageous for power four opponents to play us, and I certainly understand that. 

“But I’m grateful that our players get the opportunity to do this. In a world where we’re talking about 30, 40 and $50 million payrolls on some of these [power four] teams playing FCS programs, it even puts more of a heightened excitement for us and having the opportunity to be able to go out and show what we can do and show that culture and execution.”

SDSU will have some opportunities against power four opponents in the coming years. The Jacks will play at Iowa State next season and take on former SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers. They will have two shots to take down Nebraska as they’ll play against the Huskers in 2028 and 2030.

Jackson said these games against power four opponents are good for recruiting and exposure because a lot of them are on national television.

“We’re excited [for Saturday], and I hope we can continue to add these powerful games. We have some really cool ones coming up, and for us, it also helps with recruiting. We recruit the Chicago area very heavily, and for us to be able to get out there and play in front of a bunch of recruits and get our name out there, [it allows] our brand to continue to grow in the midwest and nationally,” Jackson said.

Kickoff between SDSU and Northwestern is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Saturday.