Mason feels in control of offense heading into new season

BROOKINGS – Chase Mason is entering his final year of college football, but it will be his second season as the leader of the offense and he’s worked hard to have complete command of that unit.

Mason’s first season as SDSU’s starting quarterback began strong as he started the first seven games and the Jackrabbits went 7-0. He then suffered a non-contact foot injury on the first drive of the game against Murray State on Oct. 18 and would miss the next five games. The Jacks went 1-4 in that span.

In the first six games of the season, Mason averaged 225 pass yards per game and had 11 touchdowns and just one interception while completing 66.7% of his passes. He also had three rushing touchdowns in that stretch.

Mason made his return in the first round of the FCS Playoffs and he lit up New Hampshire in a 41-3 victory as he threw for 230 yards and three touchdowns. SDSU’s season came to an end one week later in a second round loss to Montana but Mason threw for a season-high 356 yards and had one touchdown.

Mason has always been known as a can’t miss physical prospect, but the past year and a half has been all about getting better mentally. He said remembering the offensive playbook with ease was his goal this offseason.

“I think [I wanted to put more work in] mentally,” Mason said. “You have to know [the offense] like the back of your hand. You can’t just know it somewhat. It’s just reviewing it every day and then coming out in the summer and taking every single day in the summer in player led practice seriously. 

“Then take walkthroughs seriously as well, because that translates to when you come out here and it’s full speed. It’s getting those reps that you don’t always [think about] a lot. That’s what you have to take seriously to kind of develop those habits.”

The Jackrabbits are now two weeks through fall camp and SDSU head coach Dan Jackson Jackson said Mason has looked great, both physically and mentally.

“He’s looked awesome,” Jackson said. “He’s throwing the ball really well. You know, I think his operation of the offense has grown drastically. He’s changing protections and checking plays. You also can see his confidence because he’s trying some [different] throws. Yeah it’s in practice, but when the game slows down for you and you have some confidence about you, you can try some things.”

Jackson has always expressed confidence in his starting quarterback and has noted how much Mason has grown since he was handed the keys to offense in the spring of 2025. He said Mason did a great job of studying the game this offseason, but he also has improved his leadership.

“He studied and watched some tape [this offseason]. He learns a lot from watching other people. I mean, we’ll pull up [pro football focus] and watch other quarterbacks and how they’re operating. … He spends his time learning football and then he also understands [the leadership aspect]. He has other things that spark his interest. He’s golfing. He’s used a lot of time for leadership and spending time with his teammates and cooking out for them. So, the game of football he’s improved on, but he’s also improved as a leader too,” Jackson said.

That leadership also grew last season when he was unable to practice or play when he was injured. He said being hurt allowed him to learn more and made him realize you have to be attentive all the time, which is something he’s relayed to the other quarterbacks at SDSU.

“I mean, it’s never easy playing quarterback, but like, even getting hurt this past year, I was able to kind of take a step back and look at football in a different way, so that helped me a lot too. … There’s only one quarterback that plays, so you have to be taking mental reps all the time when you’re not in there,” Mason said.

When Mason got hurt last season, the Jacks did not have an experienced backup quarterback to lean on. They went with Luke Marble in the first two games and it did not go well with a blowout loss to North Dakota State and a loss to Indiana State who went 3-9 last season.

Head coach Dan Jackson decided to start true freshman Jack Henry in the final three games of the season and the offense started to look competent, especially in an overtime win over North Dakota in the regular season finale.

Heading into this season, the backup quarterback position is up for grabs as Henry and Northern Illinois transfer Josh Holst have been battling in fall camp. Mason said he likes that there’s a competition going on behind him because when he was a backup to Mark Gronowski in his first three seasons at SDSU, competition made each of them better.

“It’s cool. I mean, competition is what breads excellence here. And if there wasn’t competition, it wouldn’t be fun. I loved competing with [Gronowski] when he was here as well, and that made me better. That made him better. I expect those two will make me better as well,” Mason said.

One of the things that Jackson wanted Mason to work on besides having a full grasp on the offense was being able to be more productive in the run game. Whether that’s through design runs, scrambling or protecting himself, Jackson said he wants Mason to create more.

Mason acknowledged that and said staying healthy is one of his top priorities this season.

“I think [I need to be a little more decisive] and then just protect myself when situations occur. I mean, you can’t always dictate what is going to happen, but there’s times and places to run and scramble as well. So, I feel super comfortable. I think it’s just being comfortable in the pocket and knowing when it’s time to run, knowing when it’s time to drop it off, things like that. It’s been fun,” Mason said.

Mason was named to the Payton Award Preseason Watch List last month. That award is given out to the top player in the FCS at the end of the season. Mason will begin his quest to bring the Jacks another National Championship on Aug. 29 when Stetson comes to Brookings.