Mark Gronowski is South Dakota State's most accomplished football player after prolific 2023 season
“One more year, one more year”
That was the chant from the Jackrabbits' faithful that filled Toyota Stadium when Mark Gronowski was named the most outstanding player in the FCS national championship game on Sunday. They were trying to get their star quarterback to return to Brookings next season.
Gronowski has led one of the best offenses in the country at South Dakota State. He’s played an integral part in each of the Jackrabbits' past three playoff runs to the national championship game, including two straight national titles. This year, the junior quarterback led the FCS in pass efficiency (184.1) during the regular season and passed for 2,359 yards and 23 touchdowns while only throwing three interceptions.
Because of the amount of success he's had over the past three seasons, where Gronowski will spend his next two years of eligibility has been a major point of discussion. Especially with South Dakota State offensive coordinator Zach Lujan reportedly accepting the offensive coordinator position at Northwestern, a school in Gronowski’s home state of Illinois.
Sources: Northwestern is expected to move quickly to hire South Dakota State offensive coordinator Zach Lujan. South Dakota State entered the FCS title game as the country’s No. 3 scoring offense. Lujan, 28, received interest from Vanderbilt earlier in this cycle.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 7, 2024
Gronowski was a catalyst in the Jackrabbits' second consecutive FCS national championship win, a 23-3 victory over Montana, on Sunday. The game was tight when he was struggling, and then not so tight once he got going.
Early in the second quarter Gronowski uncharacteristically left a pass to Jadon Janke short, and Montana's Corbin Walker picked it off.
“They made it difficult on us,” Gronowski said of Montana’s defense. “They were trying to mix some things up in the secondary that we kind of struggled with a little bit in the first half, but in the third quarter we really started to open things up and really start to get things going offensively.”
The offense and Gronowski kicked into high gear once the third quarter started. On the second drive of the third quarter, Gronowski drilled a 34-yard pass to Zach Heins to get SDSU in the red zone. Then Gronowski ran it in himself on the next play from 10 yards out, increasing the SDSU lead to 14-3.
On their following possession, Gronowski connected with Jadon Janke for a big gain, but the officials ruled Janke dropped the ball. A few plays later Gronowski connected with Janke again -- this one was good -- for a 23-yard touchdown pass to seemingly put the game out of reach.
“We knew that he was going to be in man coverage one-on-one and we'll take our guys against any guys in the country,” Gronowski said. “I knew that he may be dropped that one on that one and we're gonna have a chance to come back to it.”
Gronowski finished the game with 175 passing yards, 62 rushing yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Whether he stays or goes, after his latest performance in the FCS national championship game and the 2023 season, Gronowski is arguably the most accomplished college football player in the history of the state of South Dakota.
He’s accomplished everything there is to accomplish at the FCS level. He’s now a two-time FCS national champion, a two-time most outstanding player in the FCS national championship game and the first Walter Payton Award winner in USD and SDSU history.
Perhaps more impressive than all the accomplishments he's garnered in the past few seasons is the way he’s handled all the success: with class and humility.
“It’s an honor and I can’t really do it without the guys around me,” Gronowski told Dakota News Now after winning the Walter Payton Award. “This is a team award first off with the guys like the offensive lineman and the playmakers around me. It’s a real team award but it’s an honor to win it.”
With his performance Sunday, Gronowski joined Carson Wentz and Brock Jensen, both quarterbacks who won multiple championships with North Dakota State, as the only players selected as the most outstanding player in consecutive FCS title games.
“It's a huge honor to kind of be in relationships with them and I don't know,” Gronowski said. “The ceiling could be as high as we want it to be, as a team too. We (have) to just keep working and the ceiling (is the) sky really.”
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: Gronowski is South Dakota State's most accomplished football player
