2021 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

2021 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football
NCAA Division Semifinal, L 17–31 at Montana State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 4
FCS Coaches	No. 5
Record	11–4 (5–3 MVFC)
Head coach	John Stiegelmeier (25th season)
Offensive coordinator	Jason Eck (3rd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Brian Bergstrom (3rd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Jimmy Rogers (3rd season)
MVP	Pierre Strong Jr.
Home stadium	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
Seasons ←  2020 2022  →

2021 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^		7	–	1					14	–	1
No. 14 Missouri State ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
No. 16 Southern Illinois ^		5	–	3					8	–	5
No. 18 South Dakota ^		5	–	3					7	–	5
No. 4 South Dakota State ^		5	–	3					11	–	4
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^		4	–	4					6	–	6
Indiana State		3	–	5					5	–	6
North Dakota		3	–	5					5	–	6
Western Illinois		2	–	6					2	–	9
Illinois State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Youngstown State		2	–	6					3	–	7
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2021 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represented South Dakota State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 25th-year head coach John Stiegelmeier, the Jackrabbits compiled an overall record of 11–4 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 defeated UC Davis in the first round, Sacramento State in the second round, and Villanova in the quarterfinals before losing to Montana State in the semifinals. The team played home games on campus at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, South Dakota.

After the season, offensive coordinator Jason Eck was hired as the head football coach at the University of Idaho.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	8:00 p.m.	at Colorado State *	No. 3	Canvas Stadium Fort Collins, CO	FS1	W 42–23	32,327
September 11	6:00 p.m.	Lindenwood *	No. 2	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	W 52–7	15,162
September 25	12:00 p.m.	at Indiana State	No. 2	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN	ESPN+	W 44–0	6,652
October 2	6:00 p.m.	Dixie State *	No. 2	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN+/Midco	W 55–7	14,427
October 9	2:00 p.m.	No. 8 Southern Illinois	No. 2	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN+/Midco	L 41–42 OT	12,216
October 16	12:00 p.m.	at Western Illinois	No. 7	Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN+	W 41–17	2,827
October 23	2:00 p.m.	No. 20 Northern Iowa	No. 6	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN3	L 17–26	16,889
October 30	1:00 p.m.	at Youngstown State	No. 10	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	W 47–16	9,423
November 6	2:00 p.m.	No. 2 North Dakota State	No. 9	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (Dakota Marker)	ABC ND/ESPN+/Midco	W 27–19	18,122
November 13	2:00 p.m.	at No. 19 South Dakota	No. 4	DakotaDome Vermillion, SD (rivalry)	ESPN+/Midco	L 20–23	9,068
November 20	2:00 p.m.	North Dakota	No. 12	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN+/Midco	W 24–21	8,132
November 27	2:00 p.m.	No. 14 UC Davis *	No. 11	Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN+	W 56–24	3,681
December 4	8:00 p.m.	at No. 8 Sacramento State *	No. 11	Hornet Stadium Sacramento, CA (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN+	W 24–19	10,031
December 11	1:00 p.m.	at No. 6 Villanova *	No. 11	Villanova Stadium Villanova, PA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	ESPN+	W 35–21	3,401
December 18	1:00 p.m.	at No. 7 Montana State *	No. 11	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I Semifinal)	ESPN2	L 17–31	20,457
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^{[1] [2]}

Roster

2021 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 6 Chris Oladokun Sr RB 20 Pierre Strong Jr. Sr FB/TE 34 Michael Morgan Jr TE 85 Tucker Kraft So OL 60 Mason McCormick Jr OL 74 Garret Greenfield Jr WR 10 Jaxon Janke Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 12 Logan Backhaus Sr LB 32 Adam Bock So DE 22 Tolu Ogunrinde Sr DE 48 Quinton Hicks Jr DE 50 Noah Jessup Fr DE 53 Caden Johnson So DE 54 Chandler Carter Fr DE 56 Levi Vanden Bos Fr DE 90 Randy Keumogne So DE 92 Kevin Brenner So DE 93 Max Baloun  Fr DE 94 Cade Terveer Jr DE 95 Zac Wilson So DE 96 Mitch Eichacker  Fr DE 97 Reece Winkelman Sr DT 2 Isaiah Stalbird Jr DT 52 Jarod DePriest So DT 55 Thomas Stacker Sr DT 65 Matthew Borowicz Jr DT 69 Krockett Krolikowski Sr DT 73 Coby Maeschen Fr DT 77 Aaron Wolfcale-Holsten Fr DT 88 Brandon Lane Jr.  Fr DT 91 Xavier Ward Sr DT 98 Ryan Van Marel Jr DT 99 Caleb Sanders Sr CB 1 Malik Lofton Sr CB 5 DyShawn Gales Jr CB 7 Dalys Beanum So CB 13 Christopher Rhodes Fr CB 15 Timothy Croskey Fr CB 17 Abe Hoskins III  Fr CB 20 Myles Taylor Fr CB 21 Don Gardner Sr CB 26 Steven Arrell  Fr CB 39 Aydan Dautermann Fr S 6 Michael Griffin II Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 97 Cole Frahm Sr	Head coach John Stiegelmeier Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Ranking movements

Main article: 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

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

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2022 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
4	127	Pierre Strong Jr.	RB	New England Patriots
7	241	Chris Oladokun	QB	Pittsburgh Steelers

References

1. "South Dakota State Jackrabbits Schedule 2021". ESPN . Retrieved January 17, 2024.
2. "2021 Football Schedule". South Dakota State University Athletics. Retrieved January 17, 2024.