2015 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

2015 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football
NCAA Division I First Round, L 17–24 vs. Montana
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 15
FCS Coaches	No. 16
Record	8–4 (5–3 MVFC)
Head coach	John Stiegelmeier (19th season)
Offensive coordinator	Eric Eidsness (10th season)
Defensive coordinator	Clint Brown (7th season)
Home stadium	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium
Seasons ←  2014 2016  →

2015 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State +^		7	–	1					13	–	2
No. 5 Illinois State +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 8 Northern Iowa ^		5	–	3					9	–	5
No. 15 South Dakota State ^		5	–	3					8	–	4
Western Illinois ^		5	–	3					7	–	6
Indiana State		3	–	5					5	–	6
Youngstown State		3	–	5					5	–	6
South Dakota		3	–	5					5	–	6
Southern Illinois		2	–	6					3	–	8
Missouri State		0	–	8					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2015 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represented South Dakota State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 19th-year head coach John Stiegelmeier, the Jackrabbits compiled an overall record of 8–4 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for third in the MVFC. South Dakota State received an at–large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where the Jackrabbits lost to Montana in the first round. The team played home games at Coughlin–Alumni Stadium in Brookings, South Dakota.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	11:00 am	at Kansas *	No. 16	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FSN	W 41–38	30,144
September 12	6:00 pm	Southern Utah *	No. 9	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	W 55–10	13,423
September 26	5:00 pm	Robert Morris *	No. 6	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD	Midco/ESPN3	W 34–10	12,153
October 3	6:00 pm	No. 3 North Dakota State	No. 5	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD (Dakota Marker)	Midco/ESPN3	L 7–28	17,348
October 10	6:00 pm	No. 19 Indiana State	No. 8	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD	Midco/ESPN3	W 24–7	9,347
October 17	3:00 pm	at No. 11 Youngstown State	No. 7	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	MVC TV/ESPN3	W 38–8	14,974
October 24	2:00 pm	No. 22 Northern Iowa	No. 6	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD	Midco/ESPN3	L 7–10	16,042
October 31	2:00 pm	at Missouri State	No. 14	Plaster Sports Complex Springfield, MO	MVC TV/ESPN3	W 39–0	3,729
November 7	2:00 pm	No. 2 Illinois State	No. 11	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD	Midco/ESPN3	W 25–20	9,081
November 14	2:00 pm	at South Dakota	No. 5	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (rivalry)	Midco/ESPN3	W 30–23	10,345
November 21	1:00 pm	at Western Illinois	No. 5	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	L 24–30 2OT	1,853
November 28	2:00 pm	at No. 16 Montana *	No. 10	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	L 17–24	14,575
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

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Game summaries

At Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Jackrabbits	17	14	3	7	41
Jayhawks	7	7	14	10	38

See also: 2015 Kansas Jayhawks football team

Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	7	0	0	3	10
#9 Jackrabbits	3	24	7	21	55

See also: 2015 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

Robert Morris

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonials	0	10	0	0	10
#6 Jackrabbits	7	13	7	7	34

See also: 2015 Robert Morris Colonials football team

North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#3 Bison	7	14	7	0	28
#5 Jackrabbits	0	0	7	0	7

See also: 2015 North Dakota State Bison football team and Dakota Marker

Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Sycamores	0	0	7	0	7
#8 Jackrabbits	0	14	0	10	24

See also: 2015 Indiana State Sycamores football team

At Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Jackrabbbits	7	10	7	14	38
#11 Penguins	2	3	3	0	8

See also: 2015 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Panthers	0	3	7	0	10
#6 Jackrabbits	0	0	7	0	7

See also: 2015 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

At Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Jackrabbits	10	12	10	7	39
Bears	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2015 Missouri State Bears football team

Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#2 Redbirds	7	0	7	6	20
#11 Jackrabbits	0	13	6	6	25

See also: 2015 Illinois State Redbirds football team

At South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Jackrabbits	3	7	0	20	30
Coyotes	7	0	13	3	23

See also: 2015 South Dakota Coyotes football team and South Dakota–South Dakota State football rivalry

At Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
#5 Jackrabbbits	0	10	0	7	7	0	24
Leathernecks	3	0	7	7	7	6	30

See also: 2015 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

FCS playoffs

First round – at Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Jackrabbits	0	0	10	7	17
#16 Grizzlies	7	17	0	0	24

See also: 2015 Montana Grizzlies football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	16	9 (8)	7 (8)	6 (6)	5 (6)	8	7	6	14	11	5	5	10–T	15
Coaches	15	10 (1)	8 (2)	7 (1)	7 (1)	9	7	6	13	11	5	5	12	16

References

1. "South Dakota State Jackrabbits Schedule 2015". ESPN . Retrieved January 17, 2024.
2. "2015 Football Schedule". South Dakota State University Athletics. Retrieved January 17, 2024.