2020 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

2020 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football
MVFC co-champion
ConferenceMissouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 2
FCS CoachesNo. 2
Record8–2 (5–1 MVFC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorJason Eck (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinatorBrian Bergstrom (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinatorJimmy Rogers (2nd season)
Home stadiumDana J. Dykhouse Stadium
Seasons
← 2019
2021 →
2020 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 2 South Dakota State +^   5 – 1     8 – 2  
No. 12 Missouri State +^   5 – 1     5 – 5  
No. 7 North Dakota ^   4 – 1     5 – 2  
No. 6 North Dakota State ^   5 – 2     7 – 3  
No. 14 Southern Illinois ^   3 – 3     6 – 4  
Northern Iowa   3 – 4     3 – 4  
South Dakota   1 – 3     1 – 3  
Illinois State†   1 – 3     1 – 3  
Western Illinois†   1 – 5     1 – 5  
Youngstown State   1 – 6     1 – 6  
  • + – Conference co-champions
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
  • Note: Indiana State opted out of the spring season.
    † – Illinois State and Western Illinois opted out of the remainder of the spring season on March 21 and April 5, 2021, respectively.
Rankings from STATS Poll

The 2020 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represented South Dakota State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 24th-year head coach John Stiegelmeier, the Jackrabbits compiled an overall record of 8–2 with a mark of 5–1 in conference play, sharing the MVFC title with Missouri State. South Dakota State received the MVFC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where the Jackrabbits defeated Holy Cross in the first round, fellow MVFC member Southern Illinois in the quarterfinals, and Delaware in the semifinals before losing to Sam Houston State in the NCAA Division I Championship Game. The team played home games on campus at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, South Dakota.

Preseason

On May 27, 2020 HERO Sports ranked the Jackrabbits 2nd in their Top 25 poll for the 2020 season. This is SDSU's highest ranking in a preseason poll.

Schedule

South Dakota State had games scheduled against Butler, Nebraska, and Tarleton State, which were later canceled before the start of the 2020 season.[1][2][3]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
February 19 7:00 p.m. at No. 3 Northern Iowa No. 5
ESPN+ W 24–20 2,137
February 27 12:00 p.m. at No. 14 North Dakota No. 3
ESPN+ L 17–28 3,638
March 6 2:00 p.m. Western Illinois No. 8
ESPN+ W 45–10 2,347
March 13 2:00 p.m. Youngstown State No. 8
  • Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
  • Brookings, SD
 ESPN+ W 19–17 2,653
March 20 12:00 p.m. at No. 5 Southern Illinois No. 6
ESPN+ W 44–3 2,400
March 27 2:00 p.m. Illinois State No. 4
  • Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
  • Brookings, SD
 ESPN+ Canceled[a]
April 10 2:00 p.m. South Dakota No. 4
  • Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
  • Brookings, SD (rivalry)
 ESPN+ Canceled
April 17 2:30 p.m. at No. 2 North Dakota State No. 4
ESPN+ W 27–17 8,762
April 24 3:00 p.m. Holy Cross No. 2
ESPN3 W 31–3 2,996
May 2 8:00 p.m. No. 14 Southern Illinois No. 2
  • Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
  • Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)
 ESPN2 W 31–26 2,998
May 8 11:00 a.m. No. 5 Delaware No. 2
  • Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
  • Brookings, SD (NCAA Division I Semifinal)
 ESPN W 33–3 3,547
May 16 1:00 p.m. No. 4 Sam Houston State No. 2
ABC L 21–23 7,840

[4][5]

  1. ^ On March 21, 2021, Illinois State announced that it would opt-out of the remainder of the 2021 spring season due to safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ^ Myerberg, Paul. "Big Ten football reduces season schedule to only conference games, maybe setting stage for others to follow". USA TODAY. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
  2. ^ Kelley, Kevin (July 27, 2020). "Pioneer Football League to play conference-only football schedule in 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  3. ^ "Tarleton State Postpones Football Season Until Spring". NBC DFW. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  4. ^ "South Dakota State Jackrabbits Schedule 2020". ESPN. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  5. ^ "2020-21 Football Schedule". South Dakota State University Athletics. Retrieved January 17, 2024.