South Dakota State dominates Stetson in season opener

BROOKINGS – South Dakota State made it look easy in its season opener on Saturday night as the Jackrabbits blew out Stetson 70-7 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

SDSU had 628 yards on offense and averaged 11.2 yards per play. The Jacks scored nine of its first 10 drives. SDSU head coach Dan Jackson said “it felt like Jackrabbit football from the physical side of it.”

The scoring started early for SDSU as Jack Smith took a slant pass from Chase Mason 73 yards to the end zone on the Jackrabbit’s first play from scrimmage with 13:32 left in the first quarter. 

Mason gave credit to the scout team for helping him know what to do on that play.

“I mean you can’t picture [a better start on offense],” Mason said. “We had great scout looks all week, so I’ll give the scouts that. But they worked their tails off all week and gave us a great look. So coming into [the game], we had a great plan and executed it really well. I was very satisfied with today.”

SDSU got the ball back on a fumble recovery from Chase Van Tol and then a 10-yard rushing touchdown from Corey Blair Jr. made it 14-0 just under three minutes into the game.

The Jacks pushed the lead to 21-0 just before the end of the first quarter as Josiah Johnson ran it in from 20 yards out with 28 seconds left in the opening quarter. SDSU’s special teams then got in on the scoring as Alex Uchtman took a punt 65 yards to the house to make it 28-0 with 13:30 to go in the first half.

Van Tol recovered another fumble on Stetson’s next drive and that set the Jacks up inside the Hatters nine yard line. The fumble was forced by defensive end Carter Sitzman and it was behind the line of scrimmage, where the Jacks defensive line was all game.

Jackson said what he calls the chain gang was impressive all night.

“The defensive line was impressive too. We played every defensive lineman that suited up and I thought they controlled the line of scrimmage all night,” Jackson said.

Johnson cashed in on the turnover as he found the end zone for a second time on a six-yard score to make it 35-0.

SDSU’s final score of the first half was a 27-yard touchdown from Ramon McKinney Jr. and the Jacks led 42-0 at halftime.

The Jackrabbits kept the scoring going at a rapid pace in the second half as they scored on two of their first three plays of the half. Blair took a run 52 yards to the end zone on the second play of SDSU’s first drive of the second half. Then on the first play of the Jacks’ next drive Landon Dulaney caught a pass from Josh Holst and ran 78 yards to the end zone to make it 56-0 a minute and a half into the third quarter.

Stetson got on the board with 3:37 to go in the third as Chris Stephenson ran it in from three yards out to make it 63-7.

SDSU got those points back right away though as Josh Myers became the fifth SDSU running back to find the end zone. He scored on a 27-yard run just before the end of the third quarter and SDSU took a 70-7 lead into the fourth. Neither team scored in the final quarter.

The Jacks racked up 393 yards on the ground and averaged 8.7 yards per carry. Basinger (110) and Blair (107) each went over the century mark. Johnson had 63 yards and McKinney had 53 yards.

Every single running back that suited up on Saturday night for SDSU, there were eight of them, got a carry. Five of them scored touchdowns. Blair said the running back room is very tight and they each want to see each other succeed.

“Every time, you know, we just play for one another. So anytime [the other guys] get the chance to step up, you know, it’s the next man up. So we all just take accountability for each other and just show each other the way,” Blair said. 

SDSU only threw 11 passes on Saturday night. Mason was 5-for-10 with 157 yards and Holst’s only pass was the 78-yard score.

Dulaney led the Jacks with two catches for 89 yards and Smith had two catches for 86 yards. Grahm Goering had two catches for 60 yards.

Uchtman, Dulaney, McKinney and Myers all scored their first touchdowns as Jackrabbits. It was also Holst’s first passing touchdown in the yellow and blue.

Jackson mentioned that it was a special night for a lot of guys because there were many players who saw action on Saturday who did not see the field in 2025.

“It was really cool. These guys work extremely hard. You know, the rigors of being a college football player, and we treat them well. I don’t know if you get a better experience in the country than you do at South Dakota State, but it’s a lot of work, and you’re putting in that work because you want to play on Saturday’s,” Jackson said.

The 70 points were the most for the Jacks since they beat Drake 70-7 at Target Field in 2023. The program scoring record was set in 2018 when SDSU beat Arkansas Pine-Bluff 90-6 in Brookings.

There was an obvious talent discrepancy between the two teams on Saturday night, but Jackson said that doesn't matter when he’s evaluating the performance because he grades his team with a whole body of work, both with practice and games.

“I trust our players because they just see them every day,” Jackson said. “You know, I don't really care so much who we're playing. I see how our guys play and compete at practice all the time. You have a talented team that's got some depth, and so practice is really competitive and it's fun. And so I know what we have, and I think Stetson certainly showed us some things.”

SDSU will face a much tougher opponent next weekend as the Jacks will take on Northwestern of the FBS and Big Ten on the road. Kickoff in Evanston, Ill. is scheduled for 7 p.m.