# 2018 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

The 2018 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represented South Dakota State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 22nd-year head coach John Stiegelmeier, the Jackrabbits compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing second in the MVFC. South Dakota State received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where, after a first round bye, the Jackrabbits defeated Duquesne in the second round and Kennesaw State in the quarterfinals before falling to fellow MVFC member and eventual national champion, North Dakota State, in the semifinals. The team played home games on campus at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, South Dakota.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Walter Payton Award | Taryn Christion | QB | SR |
| Buck Buchanan Award | Christian Rozeboom | LB | JR |

### Preseason MVFC poll

The MVFC released their preseason poll on July 29, 2018, with the Jackrabbits predicted to finish in second place.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | North Dakota State | 390 (39) |
| 2 | South Dakota State | 270 |
| 3 | Northern Iowa | 258 |
| 4 | Youngstown State | 248 |
| 5 | Illinois State | 248 |
| 6 | South Dakota | 206 |
| 7 | Western Illinois | 163 |
| 8 | Southern Illinois | 139 |
| 9 | Missouri State | 90 |
| 10 | Indiana State | 41 |

### Preseason All-MVFC Teams

The Jackrabbits placed seven players at eight positions on the preseason all-MVFC teams.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 7:00 p.m. | at Iowa State* | No. 3 | Jack Trice StadiumAmes, IA | | Cancelled | |
| September 8 | 6:00 p.m. | Montana State* | No. 3 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | Midco | W 45–14 | 14,614 |
| September 15 | 6:00 p.m. | Arkansas–Pine Bluff* | No. 3 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | Midco | W 90–6 | 14,526 |
| September 29 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 1 North Dakota State | No. 3 | FargodomeFargo, ND (Dakota Marker) | ESPN+, Midco | L 17–21 | 18,846 |
| October 6 | 6:00 p.m. | Indiana State | No. 3 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | Midco | W 54–51 $^{OT}$ | 10,318 |
| October 13 | 2:00 p.m. | Youngstown State | No. 2 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | Midco | W 36–7 | 14,357 |
| October 20 | 4:00 p.m. | at No. 25 Northern Iowa | No. 2 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | ESPN3 | L 9–24 | 12,013 |
| October 27 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 11 Illinois State | No. 7 | Hancock StadiumNormal, IL | ESPN3 | W 38–28 | 12,144 |
| November 3 | 2:00 p.m. | Missouri State | No. 7 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | Midco | W 59–7 | 5,869 |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | at Southern Illinois | No. 6 | Saluki StadiumCarbondale, IL | ESPN+ | W 57–38 | 4,433 |
| November 17 | 2:00 p.m. | South Dakota | No. 5 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD (rivalry) | Midco | W 49–27 | 8,517 |
| December 1 | 2:00 p.m. | Duquesne* | No. 5 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | W 51–6 | 3,042 |
| December 8 | 1:00 p.m. | at No. 2 Kennesaw State* | No. 5 | Fifth Third Bank StadiumKennesaw, GA (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | ESPN3 | W 27–17 | 3,262 |
| December 14 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 1 North Dakota State* | No. 5 | FargodomeFargo, ND (NCAA Division I Semifinal) | ESPN2 | L 21–44 | 18,286 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||
* ↑ Game was cancelled due to inclement weather.

## Game summaries
### Montana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bobcats | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 14 |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 7 | 17 | 14 | 7 | 45 |

### Arkansas–Pine Bluff

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Lions | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 28 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 90 |

### At North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 17 |
| No. 1 Bison | 0 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### Indiana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Sycamores | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 3 | 51 |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 7 | 14 | 21 | 6 | 6 | 54 |

### Youngstown State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Penguins | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 2 Jackrabbits | 9 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 36 |

### At Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 2 Jackrabbits | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 |
| No. 25 Panthers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 24 |

### At Illinois State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Jackrabbits | 7 | 21 | 7 | 3 | 38 |
| No. 11 Redbirds | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 28 |

### Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 7 Jackrabbits | 7 | 31 | 7 | 14 | 59 |

### At Southern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 6 Jackrabbits | 10 | 20 | 20 | 7 | 57 |
| Salukis | 3 | 14 | 21 | 0 | 38 |

### South Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Coyotes | 7 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 27 |
| No. 5 Jackrabbits | 28 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 49 |

## FCS Playoffs
### Duquesne–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dukes | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| No. 5 Jackrabbits | 7 | 17 | 20 | 7 | 51 |

### At Kennesaw State–Quarterfinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Jackrabbits | 3 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 27 |
| No. 2 Owls | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 17 |

### At North Dakota State–Semifinals

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Jackrabbits | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| No. 1 Bison | 7 | 7 | 21 | 9 | 44 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Final |
| STATS FCS | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Coaches | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4–T | 5 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 7 | 223 | Jordan Brown | CB | Cincinnati Bengals |