TerryVandrovec

Spring ball wrap

No, spring football did not go as planned for South Dakota State.

The Jackrabbits wound up leaving two practices on the table - of the allowed 15 - in light of co-defensive coordinator Jay Bubak resigning on top of more inhospitable weather. That was after the spring game was canceled and several other workouts were postponed or moved.

Coach John Stiegelmeier’s final assessment of the highly unusual spring season:

“We got some stuff done,” he said. “We didn’t get enough done, but we’ve got a long summer ahead. Our players know the drill - our defense and our offense and all that stuff. 
“To me, it’s kind of like being down at halftime - are you going to do what you’ve done or are you going to find a way to play a little better?” 

There won’t be much of a wait for that - summer workouts begin June 3. In advance of that, position coaches will offer up drill suggestions or other pieces of advice as they can’t oversee sessions per NCAA rules. Because of the missed spring work, simulated full-speed work will be emphasized.

Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.

Week 10 wrap

Some final notes from South Dakota State’s 20-17 loss at North Dakota State on Saturday:

The Bison have won 10 in a row against ranked teams and are 19-3 in their last 22 games at home.
And the Jacks STILL have just one win in Fargo since 1964. This was the fourth close call in the John Stiegelmeier era - two by three points and two by seven points.

The SDSU offense gained just 209 yards, a season low by 96. What’s more, it put up a total of 27 yards on 18 plays in the first and third quarters. That’s compared to 182 yards on 37 plays in the second and fourth quarters. Oddly enough, that’s an extension of a season trend. The Jacks have scored a total of 75 points in the first and third quarters this season compared to 137 in the second and fourth quarters.
Meanwhile, SDSU has totaled 39 points in its last three road games with 20 of those coming in the 2-minute drill at the end of a half.

Jacks sophomore RB Zach Zenner was held to 43 yards rushing, the fifth week in a row that he’s posted a season low. He’s totaled 179 yards on 48 carries over the last three games.
Still, he has moved into fourth-place in school history for rushing yards in a season, passing Dan Sonnek. The top three spots belong to SDSU legend Josh Ranek.
Zenner is now No. 2 in the FCS at 1,539. The leader is Miguel Maysonet of Stony Brook, who ended the regular season at 1,721.

SDSU senior linebacker Ross Shafrath posted 15 tackles against the Bison, the third time this season he’s tallied 15 or more. That pushes his season total to 118, the most by a Jack since 1989. And 76 of those are solo stops, unofficially the most since SDSU began keeping that stat in 1976. Shafrath is tied for the lead in the FCS at 7.0 solo tackles per game.

NDSU QB Brock Jensen threw a pretty noteworthy interception in the third quarter. It was the first time since 2004 in this series that the winning QB got away with throwing a pick. It was also the first time this season that Jensen threw more than none and less than three picks, and was the first interception in the career of SDSU redshirt freshman CB JeRyan Butler.
Jensen made a mark more with his legs than his arm, rushing 14 times for 67 yards. Both numbers were season highs - and not by coincidence. Bison coach Craig Bohl said the team had been holding some designed runs in its back packet for this game, figuring SDSU was susceptible to that. He declined to expound on the specifics.
But Stiegelmeier countered by pointing out that Jensen recorded 56 yards on a single run, and that play should have been a 5-yard gain - a safety missed a tackle and a linebacker over-ran the play.

SDSU sophomore kicker Justin Syrovatka hit a season-best 46 yarder Saturday, his only attempt. That was his seventh make in a row this season with three of those coming from 40 or more.

After throwing 13 picks over the first eight games, Jacks QB Austin Sumner hasn’t thrown a pick in the last two games (while throwing three touchdowns). He also didn’t throw a pick last year vs. NDSU, but is 0-2 in the series.

NDSU has given up exactly 17 points in each of the last three games and in four of the last five. Meanwhile, SDSU has scored exactly 17 points three times this season, going 1-2 in those games.
This was the lowest combined score in the series since a 24-0 win by NDSU in 2003.

Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.

Countdown to … North Dakota State

Here are some notes leading up to No. 16 South Dakota State traveling to No. 1 North Dakota State for the Dakota Marker and at least a share of the Missouri Valley Football Conference title. I’ll have live coverage Saturday from Fargo starting at 2 p.m.:

NDSU is not only No. 1 in the FCS in total defense in giving up 180.7 yards per game, it’s there by a wide margin. The second-best team is allowing 277.1.
The Bison have allowed just one opponent to rush for 100 yards and one opponent to pass for 200 yards.
However, while they’re plus-10 in turnover margin for the season, they’re at minus-1 over the last four weeks. They lost one in that stretch and two others could have gone either way.

SDSU mixed up its travel routine a bit, opting to leave earlier than usual for Fargo. Probably not a bad idea since the Jacks have just one win there since the John Kennedy was in the White House. That came in 2008. What does coach John Stiegelmeier remember most about that game? That the Jacks fared better in turnover margin and special teams than they had in the past. It didn’t hurt that they had a few borderline heroic performances, too, from Ryan Berry, Ryan Crawford, JaRon Harris and Kyle Minett, to name a few.

Saturday is senior day in Fargo. The Bison will honor seven seniors. Yes, just seven. And only four are on this week’s two-deep chart.
By comparison, NDSU has two two-deepers from Sioux Falls: Sophomore WR Trevor Gebhart and sophomore DE Mike Hardie. Gebhart has 30 catches for 333 yards with one score, while Hardie has 15 tackles plus two sacks and two fumble recoveries.

By my count, SDSU is facing a defending national champion for the ninth time since 1984. Six of those have been against NDSU and all at the D-II level.
The Jacks are 0-8 so far with the most recent being 2002 against North Dakota, a 21-13 defeat.

Jacks LB Ross Shafrath leads the FCS in solo tackles per game at 7.2, and is on pace to break the school record in that category. He attributes that to the fact that LB Chris Tracy plays more pass coverage, leaving Shafrath and T.J. Lally in the box and in position to make stops.
“Everyone is doing their 1/11th,” he said.

The NDSU defense has allowed just nine trips inside the red zone through nine games this season. Unofficially, opponents have run just 19 plays inside the Bison 20-yard line compared to 98 plays inside their own 20-yard line. 

Injury update: SDSU WR Jason Schneider and LB Robbie Jelsma are fine after getting dinged up at Southern Illinois, leaving OL Josh Kage (knee) as the only player who played last week and won’t this week.

The Bison have lost just 2 of their last 24 games and both have been in Fargo. Coach Craig Bohl admitted to being perplexed by that.
“Our fans are certainly into the ballgame,” he said. “And why that has occurred, I can’t put my finger on it. We’ve played just well enough to get beat in both of those games. We’re still believing we have a nice homefield advantage, and we need to utilize that.”

Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.

Too Much TV: Patty Viverito

I hope you’re hungry for more football talk because that’s what we’re serving up again this week on the Too Much TV podcast.

Our latest guest: Patty Viverito, commissioner of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. She gets into - amongst other things - her league’s playoff positioning heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

Here’s the link.

Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.

Week 9 wrap

A few final thoughts from South Dakota State’s crucial 16-12 win at Southern Illinois on Saturday:

Despite posting a non-offensive score for the fifth week in a row, the Salukis were held to their lowest point total since a 24-3 loss to Indiana State on Sept. 29. That game was also in Carbondale, where SIU is just 8-7 since opening its new stadium.
Meanwhile, SDSU now has three wins when scoring 17 or less and three wins when scoring 30 or more. You could look at that in a couple of ways: The Jacks are versatile or semi-inconsistent.

John Stiegelmeier became the second coach in SDSU history to reach 100 career wins, joining Ralph Ginn, who posted 113 in 22 seasons. The feat isn’t as rare within the Missouri Valley Football Conference, however, as five of the 10 current coaches have hit the mark. The others: Joe Glenn, USD, 189; Dale Lennon, SIU, 136; Terry Allen, MSU, 122; Mark Farley, UNI, 102.
The SDSU players gave Stiegelmeier the game ball after the win, and quarterback Austin Sumner said that getting to that landmark was motivating.

Still, no coach is above reproach, and the Jacks had a couple of head-scratching situations prior to their game-winning drive.
On third-and-4 from its 11-yard line with less than 5 minutes left, SDSU ran a QB option play to the right with Austin Sumner, who isn’t known for his running ability. Why? According to Stiegelmeier, that was the same play called when Sumner gained a career-high 24 yards earlier in the game. The problem was that SIU came out with a totally different defensive look and blew up the play. In fact, Stiegelmeier felt that Sumner was lucky to retain possession.
On the very next play, the Jacks then lined up to go for it on fourth-and-3 despite being at their own 12 and possessing all three timeouts. But they were called for delay of game and then punted.
Asked about that just minutes after the game, Stiegelmeier said he indeed planned to run a play and wasn’t sure what held up the play. Receiver Trevor Tiefenthaler said the thought behind that was SDSU needed only 3 yards, and the Jacks were confident their defense would have given up only a field goal if the conversion failed.

SDSU has won three in a row in the series since laying an egg against the Salukis in a 2009 home game for the Valley title.

Injury update: Stiegelmeier said that what happened to the right knee of OL Josh Kage in the fourth quarter was “not good.” He was less sure about the status of WR Jason Schneider (left ankle). Reserve LB Robbie Jelsma also had to be helped off the field, suffering what appeared to be a concussion on kick coverage.

SIU came in ranked last in the Valley in rushing offense (111.8 yards per game) yet tallied 131 yards by halftime against the normally stout SDSU run defense. Thirty-six of those came on fly-sweep runs by receiver LaSteven McKinney, who had just 15 rush attempts in the first nine games. The Jacks adjusted to that as the game went on, giving up just 44 yards rushing in the second half and forcing McKinney to fumble.

The Salukis came up empty on four drives that moved inside the SDSU 35-yard line, punting three times and missing a field goal (it was blocked by Jacks DT Andy Mink) late in the first half. One of those stalled due to a penalty. SIU was flagged a season-high 10 times for 63 yards.

Several SDSU players moved up the career charts Saturday. Sumner is now 10th in career passing yards, passing Noel Bouche (3,947); receivers Aaron Rollin and Tyrel Kool are tied with each other for 8th in career catches at 120; and Rollin is 10th in career receiving yards at 1,662.

An update on the Valley postseason situation with two weeks left in the regular season: NDSU and Illinois State virtual locks with eight D-I wins, including one each against Football Bowl Subdivision squads. No Valley team has ever been left out with eight D-I wins. The Bison and Redbirds meet next week in Bloomington-Normal, too.
Indiana State can still get to 8-3 with a win in its finale at Youngstown State in two weeks, but one of those is against a lower-level foe.
The Penguins are also in the mix at 5-4 and an FBS win. They finish at struggling Western Illinois before hosting the Sycamores.
SDSU is in decent shape in that it has the potential to get to nine wins and boasts head-to-head victories over Indiana State and Youngstown. The Jacks go to No. 1-ranked North Dakota State this week with the winner clinching at least a share of the league title before hosting last-place South Dakota to close the regular season.

Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.

Countdown to … Southern Illinois

Some news and notes leading up to the Jackrabbits’ contest at Southern Illinois. I’ll have live coverage starting at 1:30 p.m. Saturday:

On the injury front, SDSU continues to improve. Reserve LB R.C. Kilgore is the only player unavailable this week. OLs Jon Fick and Alex Parker rebounded well from their first action of the season and are in position to continue gaining reps.
For the Salukis, starting safety Carlton Lewis is out and OLs Ethan Wirth, Tanner Crum and Richard Wilson are questionable.

SDSU RB Zach Zenner has rushed for at least 87 yards in every game, while SIU hasn’t had a back go for more than 82 in any game. As a team, the Jacks lead the Valley in rushing at 201.1 yards per game. SIU is last at 111.8. Strangely enough, SDSU is also last in the league in sacks allowed.
The Salukis top rusher (by one yard) is sophomore Mika’il McCall, who began his career at the University of Iowa. The three-star appeared in two games in 2011 before being suspended for violating team rules.

The Jacks may have set an unofficial record for pink jerseys - an indication that a player failed to meet some sort of responsibility - this week at practice. However, true freshman LB Charles Elmore and kickoff specialist Jay Carlson were the only offenders who see regular playing time.

Led by North Dakota native Dale Lennon, the SIU staff has plenty of ties to this area. Included: offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer (formerly the head coach at the University of Sioux Falls) and defensive line coach Austin Flyger (who played for Augustana and the Sioux Falls Storm and coached at Northern State).

The Salukis have just one game left after this, meaning their best hope is to finish 7-4. Does Lennon think that would be enough to get them into the playoffs?
“We need things to go right,” he said. “We lost control of our own destiny when we lost to North Dakota State, so right now our goal is to win on Saturday. We can’t even look beyond anything because we need to find a way to win against South Dakota State.”

SDSU and SIU have four common foes so far. The Jacks beat Indiana State, Youngstown State and Missouri State, but lost to Northern Iowa. The Salukis beat Youngstown State, Missouri State and UNI, but lost to Indiana State.
SIU does not play South Dakota this season, while SDSU does not play Illinois State.

The conditions for Saturday: Game-time temp of 54 degrees with showers and 12 mph winds. The Salukis are averaging 10,784 fans.

A fair number of SDSU players and coaches are hanging on to their Hobo Day beards out of superstition. That includes head coach John Stiegelmeier, who is one win away from 100 for his career - all at his alma mater.

Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.

Countdown to … Youngstown State

Some news and notes in advance of South Dakota State hosting No. 22-ranked Youngstown State for Hobo Day on Saturday. I’ll have live coverage starting at 1:30 p.m.:

With a month left in the regular season, five of the 10 teams in the Missouri Valley Football Conference are within one game of first place. What’s more, most of them will play each other down the stretch - and no team has ever won the Valley with three conference losses.
A quick reset on what’s ahead in terms of head-to-head play between contenders. Indiana State is arguably in the best position given its remaining schedule and a win over NDSU:
Southern Illinois (4-1): at NDSU, vs. SDSU
Indiana State (4-1): none
NDSU (3-1): vs. SIU, vs. SDSU
SDSU (3-1): at SIU, at NDSU
Illinois State (3-2): at Indiana State, vs. NDSU

There’s not much separation between the Jacks and the Penguins in the main metrics. YSU is 22nd in the FCS coaches poll; SDSU is essentially 26th. SDSU is 117th in the Sagarin Ratings, four spots ahead of the Penguins. SDSU is 13th in the Gridiron Power Index, while YSU is 21st.

The Jacks are 4-0 against the Penguins since joining the Valley in 2008. Three of those victories have been by double digits, including both meetings in Brookings.
On a related note, SDSU remains the only school in the league with natural grass on its field. The conditions didn’t seem too bad on Wednesday, considering Brookings High had played two games there in the previous week, but an inch of snow subsequently fell. Temps on Saturday are expected to be in the upper 30s to low 40s with 12 mph winds and a 20-percent chance of rain.
Meanwhile, it was 82 degrees in Youngstown on Thursday, and the Penguins plan to conduct their Friday walk through indoors in Sioux Falls.
“That’s what you make it out to be,” Penguins coach Eric Wolford said. “You can make anything you want to be an issue, and we’re not going to let the field be an excuse for us not playing well.”

The latest injury update from SDSU: Every regular than safety Skyler Luxa was in uniform Wednesday, and he hasn’t been ruled out yet. Andrew Brown will start if Luxa can’t go.
Reserve LB R.C. Kilgore is likely out this week and beyond due to injury.
OLs Alex Parker and Jon Fick could potentially see their first action of the season Saturday, although their reps would be limited. Andrew Mueller is also available. He was last week, too, but didn’t see any time.
LB Ross Shafrath is probable, but has been wearing a yellow non-contact jersey this week after making a wobbly exit against UNI in the fourth quarter.
DLs Doug Peete and Andy Mink are in better shape than they were last week, while WR Tyrel Kool is questionable after aggravating a season-long knee injury. He practiced Wednesday, too, and without a brace.

The Jacks will have some recruits on campus this weekend and many more for the home finale vs. South Dakota on Nov. 17.

SDSU and YSU rank 1-2 in the Valley in rushing offense and 2-3 in rushing defense. Other noteworthy stats and comparisons:

• YSU has scored 30 TDs compared to 13 by SDSU.
• YSU leads the Valley in sacks allowed (6) and the Jacks are last (21).
• YSU is second in third-down conversions (53.4) and SDSU is second in third-down defense (33.3)
• Neither team has a player in the top 10 in the league in catches or receiving yards, while YSU has only one player in the top 40 in tackles (LB Travis Williams is 29th at 40).
• Both teams have candidates for the Rice Award (SDSU LB T.J. Lally; YSU WR Andre Stubbs) and the Payton Award (SDSU RB Zach Zenner; YSU QB Kurt Hess and RB Jamaine Cook).
  

Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.

Countdown to … Northern Iowa

Some news and notes leading up to South Dakota State at Northern Iowa. I’ll have live coverage from the UNI-Dome starting at 3:30 p.m. Saturday:

Earlier this season, the Panthers had their run end of 99 consecutive weeks in the Football Championship Subdivision polls, a Missouri Valley Football Conference record. That streak began late in the 2004 season.

SDSU TE Vince Benedetto missed most of practice this week to return home to Illinois for the funeral of a close friend, but is expected to return in time for the game. Jacks assistant Shannon Moore said that the junior had the best game of his career last week despite playing just hours after the death.

As expected, SDSU OL Alex Parker took some reps with the team Tuesday for the first time since the preseason. But OL Jon Fick did, as well, something that coach john Stiegelmeier wasn’t expecting. If either or both of them play this week, it will be in very limited fashion. But OL Andrew Mueller should return in a less limited role.

Despite its 1-5 record, UNI has outscored opponents 183-162 on the season, with an edge in every quarter except the second. How does that add up? The lone win was 59-0 over NCAA Division II Central State. The Panthers were supposed to play FCS Savannah State that day, but that club backed out so as to be able to pick up a guarantee game against Florida State.

UNI has three of the top 10 tacklers in the league. However, two of them - Wilmot Wellington and Garrett Scott - are defensive backs, indicative of teams being able to advance the ball into the second and third levels on a regular basis.

The Panthers are averaging 14,010 fans at home this season, 17th in the FCS. The UNI-Dome has a capacity of 16,342.
SDSU is 25th in average attendance at 12,148.

Several folks in the SDSU athletic department used to work at UNI, including athletic director Justin Sell and senior associate athletic director Leon Costello. Both will be making the trip to Cedar Falls.

SDSU is vying to become the 29th team to start 4-0 in Valley play. Of the previous 28, only one finished lower than second in the final standings, 23 earned playoff berths and 20 won or shared the conference crown.

The Jacks have allowed just 10 touchdowns this season. Four of those came in the opener against Kansas and three others came on defensive scores. In other words, SDSU has allowed three offensive TDs in five games vs. FCS foes.

UNI boasts the top passing offense in the Valley, while SDSU has the top pass defense efficiency. On the plus side for the Panthers, they have four receivers with at least 21 catches, 286 yards and two TDs. However, they’re averaging just 25:10 in time of possession, ninth in the Valley.

The Panthers have two South Dakotans: WR Phil Wright, a redshirt junior from O’Gorman, and Ty Soulek, a true freshman OL from Yankton.

Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.

Valley Football teleconference 10/16

Here’s the recap of this week’s Missouri Valley Football Conference coaches call:

Coming off an impressive comeback win against Youngstown State, Illinois State (6-1, 3-1) hosts Missouri State (1-6, 1-3). The Redbirds rallied from 28-7 down to beat the Penguins, while the Bears gained their first win over the year last week by putting up 17 points in the final 6 minutes to storm past South Dakota.
ISU coach Brock Spack said that senior Matt Brown is “right there with those guys” in terms of the quarterbacks he worked with during a long tenure as an assistant at Purdue.
MSU beat the Coyotes with a change at quarterback – Kierah Harris was in for Ashton Glazer – and without top running back Ryan Heaston due to injury.

Western Illinois (3-3, 1-2) hosts No. 21 Indiana State (5-2, 3-1). The Sycamores got back in the top 25 – and the conference race – by beating then No. 1 North Dakota State 17-14 in Fargo. The key to that contest was a pair of pick sixes by CB Johnny Towalid – the second player in league history to do that twice in a single game. Offensively, ISU had only one field goal and one third-down conversion yet it ended a 10-game win streak by the defending national champion Bison.
“Defensively, they’re more multiple than several teams we’ve faced this year,” WIU coach Mark Hendrickson said.
Sycamores coach Trent Miles isn’t worried about his team being too high this week – the NDSU film showed plenty of issues.

Southern Illinois (4-3, 3-1) travels to YSU (4-2, 1-2) for a game that will air on ESPN3. The Salukis have won two in a row, while the Penguins have lost two straight – both on the road.
“That just makes the challenge for us even a little great,” SIU coach Dale Lennon said.
Bryan Presume had a 100-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the Salukis’ win over Northern Iowa – one of two 100-yard plays in the league last week.
YSU coach Eric Wolford feels OK about how his team has responded to the latest loss.
“We went out and practiced yesterday – the kids were in great spirits,” he said. “When you are in a conference like ours, so many times the games come down to 4-5 plays.”

USD hosts (sort of) No. 4 NDSU at 6 p.m. in Sioux Falls, a contest that will air on Midco Sports Net. There are plenty of Bison fans with tickets in hands.
“Hope it’s a home game – it’s in our state,” Coyotes coach Joe Glenn said.
USD (1-5, 0-3) is one of two teams without a Valley win, losing all three contests by seven points or less in its first year in the league. The Coyotes will stay in Vermillion until game day.
NDSU (5-1, 2-1) is coming off its first loss since winning the national title last year.

And, finally, No. 20 South Dakota State – the lone unbeaten in the league at 3-0 and 5-1 overall – travels to Northern Iowa, a homecoming contest that will air at 4 p.m. on Mediacom. The Panthers have lost four in a row and are 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the league. Now they have to contend with Zach Zenner, the leading rusher in NCAA Division I football
“Zach’s a heck of a player, man, he just plays hard, plays the game the way it supposed to be played,” UNI coach Mark Farley said. “I think South Dakota State is very sound, and their offensive line is doing a great job for them. They’re a solid football team and winning a lot of games right now.”
However, the Jacks haven’t won in Cedar Falls since joining the Valley in 2008.
“They’re one of those teams that any of their games, it’s one play, and it makes a difference in the game,” SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier said. “They could easily be 4-2. That’s the world we live in as football coaches and as football programs.”

Terry Vandrovec also posts regular updates on his Twitter page.