# 2019 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

The 2019 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represented South Dakota State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 23rd-year head coach John Stiegelmeier, the Jackrabbits compiled an overall record of 8–5 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, after a first round bye, the Jackrabbits lost to Northern Iowa in the second round. The team played home games on campus at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, South Dakota.

## Preseason
### MVFC poll

In the MVFC preseason poll released on July 29, 2019, the Jackrabbits were predicted to finish in second place.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | North Dakota State | 392 (32) |
| 2 | South Dakota State | 348 (4) |
| 3 | Illinois State | 289 (3) |
| 4 | Indiana State | 279 (1) |
| 5 | Northern Iowa | 266 |
| 6 | South Dakota | 176 |
| 7 | Youngstown State | 153 |
| 8 | Western Illinois | 128 |
| 9 | Southern Illinois | 89 |
| 10 | Missouri State | 80 |

### Preseason All–MVFC team

The Jackrabbits had five players selected to the preseason all-MVFC team.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 29 | 9:00 p.m. | at Minnesota* | No. 3 | TCF Bank StadiumMinneapolis, MN | FS1 | L 21–28 | 49,112 |
| September 7 | 6:00 p.m. | LIU* | No. 3 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | ESPN3 | W 38–3 | 10,153 |
| September 14 | 1:00 p.m. | Drake* | No. 3 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | Midco | W 38–10 | 11,565 |
| September 21 | 7:00 p.m. | Southern Utah* | No. 3 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | Midco | W 43–7 | 14,269 |
| October 5 | 2:00 p.m. | Southern Illinois | No. 3 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | ESPN+ | W 28–10 | 13,776 |
| October 12 | 5:00 p.m. | at No. 19 Youngstown State | No. 3 | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN+ | W 38–28 | 12,381 |
| October 19 | 12:00 p.m. | at Indiana State | No. 3 | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN3 | W 42–23 | 4,642 |
| October 26 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 1 North Dakota State | No. 3 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD (Dakota Marker, College GameDay) | ESPN+, Midco | L 16–23 | 19,371 |
| November 2 | 2:00 p.m. | at Missouri State | No. 4 | Robert W. Plaster StadiumSpringfield, MO | ESPN3 | W 35–14 | 5,108 |
| November 9 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 11 Illinois State | No. 4 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | ESPN+ | L 18–27 | 7,211 |
| November 16 | 2:00 p.m. | No. 4 Northern Iowa | No. 8 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD | ESPN3 | W 38–7 | 7,317 |
| November 23 | 2:00 p.m. | at South Dakota | No. 5 | DakotaDomeVermillion, SD (rivalry) | ESPN+, Midco | L 21–24 | 5,405 |
| December 7 | 1:00 p.m. | No. 6 Northern Iowa* | No. 10 | Dana J. Dykhouse StadiumBrookings, SD (NCAA Division I Second Round) | ESPN3 | L 10–13 | 4,102 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||

## Game summaries
### At Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| Golden Gophers | 0 | 13 | 7 | 8 | 28 |

### LIU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Sharks | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 7 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 38 |

### Drake

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 10 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 38 |

### Southern Utah

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Thunderbirds | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 7 | 14 | 15 | 7 | 43 |

### Southern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Salukis | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 6 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 28 |

### At Youngstown State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 3 | 0 | 13 | 22 | 38 |
| No. 19 Penguins | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |

### At Indiana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 7 | 28 | 0 | 7 | 42 |
| Sycamores | 7 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 23 |

### North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Bison | 0 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 23 |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 6 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 16 |

### At Missouri State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Jackrabbits | 6 | 8 | 7 | 14 | 35 |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |

### Illinois State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 11 Redbirds | 7 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 27 |
| No. 4 Jackrabbits | 3 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 18 |

### Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Panthers | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| No. 8 Jackrabbits | 0 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 38 |

### At South Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 5 Jackrabbits | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Coyotes | 0 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 24 |

## FCS Playoffs

The Jackrabbits entered the postseason tournament as the number seven seed, with a first-round bye.

### Northern Iowa–Second Round

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 6 Panthers | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 13 |
| No. 10 Jackrabbits | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking ( ) = First-place votes :
| | Week | 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 | 13 | Final |
| STATS FCS | 3 (1) | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 10 |
| Coaches | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 12 |