Dakota Marker: Preview and prediction for No. 1 South Dakota State vs. No. 11 North Dakota State
South Dakota State football coach Jimmy Rogers sees longtime rival North Dakota State as the team that's always stood in the Jackrabbits' way.
There’s no other way to look at it.
They’ve met to decide regular season titles on four different occasions, and the Bison lead the overall series matchup 63-46-5, although SDSU has now won four straight. NDSU was also 4-0 in FCS playoff games against the Jackrabbits until their most recent matchup when South Dakota State took down the Bison, 45-21, to win the FCS national championship. Saturday will be the 115th meeting between the two sides.
This year SDSU sits alone atop the Missouri Valley Conference and the FCS while North Dakota State hasn’t looked like the same dominant force they’ve been in the past, losing to both South Dakota and in-state rival North Dakota.
They do have one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Cam Miller, who leads the team in rushing and passing yards per game. Miller also leads the FCS and ranks third in all divisionswith a 76.1 completion percentage through eight games.
But even though North Dakota State has dropped a couple of games already this season and sits outside the top 10, Rogers said he won’t look at them any differently than the championship program they’ve proven to be.
“There's a certain level of pride in competing against one another because they set the standard of winning championships, we can't take that away from them,” Rogers said. “We've been chasing them for years, and we're still chasing them … Honestly, it's not just the Dakota Marker, it's (about) being the best. They've been put on the pedestal of being the best and we need to beat them.”
Here is the tale of the tape between the two sides:
No. 11 North Dakota State (6-2, 3-2) vs. No. 1 South Dakota State (8-0, 5-0)
When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Where: Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, Brookings, S.D.
TV/Radio: Midco Sports, ESPN+/ Jackrabbit Sports Network
What’s at stake: Similar to last week, history and playoff positioning. This will be the 115th meeting between the two sides and the 20th time the schools will duke it out for the Dakota Marker trophy.
“It's one of the best (rivalries) in FCS football and it is that way because those things still matter,” Rogers said. “When you're representing South Dakota State, there's a certain level of pride in that, and I think that they would say the same thing with North Dakota State.”
South Dakota State is perched at the number one spot in the FCS and a loss would likely change that while a North Dakota State loss would mean another drop in the polls and in conference standings.
Who’s better: Historically, NDSU owned the 2010s, winning seven FCS national championships from 2010-2020. But SDSU has emerged as the dominant team for at least the past two years. The Jackrabbits won last year’s national championship and don’t look like they’re going to be slowing down anytime soon.
Meanwhile, at least this season, the Bison have played below their typical standards. They lost their conference opener at home to South Dakota and then lost pretty convincingly to in-state rival North Dakota, 49-24.
Matchup to watch: South Dakota State’s run defense against North Dakota State. The Bison have the fourth-best rushing offense in the FCS, averaging 253.9 yards per game. They have a litany of options at their disposal for rushing too.
Miller is the leader in rushing yards per game but close behind him are running backs TaMerik Williams and Barika Kpeenu. Wide receiver RaJa Nelson and running back Owen Johnson have also had game-highs in rushing yards at different points in the season.
The Jackrabbits defense against the rush has been elite – ranked sixth best in the FCS – and passed every test to this point, but we’ll see if that carries into Saturday.
SDSU wins if: They’re able to make NDSU one-dimensional while having success with the run on offense. They’ll need to take away either the pass or the run from Miller and the Bison offense and still gain yardage themselves against one of the better defenses in the Valley.
Prediction: SDSU, 35-21
Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFERN31
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: NDSU vs. SDSU football game preview and prediction for Dakota Marker
