Matt Zimmer: Quarterfinal test from Villanova is just what South Dakota State football needed
Dec. 9—BROOKINGS — As 2nd-seeded Montana struggled to handle 7th-seeded Furman in Friday night's FCS quarterfinal in Missoula, a friend and colleague of mine in the business observed that watching those two teams sputter made clear that whoever ended up winning would not be going to Frisco for the national championship. No, based on the unimpressive play in Missoula, whoever won Saturday's quarterfinal between South Dakota and North Dakota State would then surely win their semifinal to advance to Texas.
It made sense, given that Furman is just a few weeks removed from losing to a 1-win team, and the Grizzlies, who struggled to beat Division II Ferris State earlier this year, needed two special teams touchdowns to beat Furman.
But I didn't buy it. I'm not sold on Montana being unable to emerge from their side of the bracket, their fortunate win on Friday night notwithstanding. Anytime a great team wins without a great performance, it tends to be a good thing for that team. It reminds them that nothing comes easy. It forces them to deal with adversity. It increases the likelihood that said team is going to be better the next time they take the field. It's like hitting a bad tee shot but not needing to take a mulligan because you got a favorable bounce off a cart path.
Which brings us to South Dakota State's 23-12 win over Villanova in Saturday's early quarterfinal. The Jacks, who came in on a 26-game winning streak, did not play their best. Villanova came to play, and looked capable of pulling the upset. But SDSU advanced. They've now won 27 in a row and will play in the semifinals for the fourth year in a row.
A howling wind was blowing, making a cold and cloudy day even more miserable, and the Jackrabbit offense came out of the gates slowly. When they ran the ball, the Wildcats loaded the box and stopped it. Throwing was difficult, and when quarterback Mark Gronowski did make a strong throw into the wind, balls were dropped. The Jacks turned a Villanova butt-punt (their punter booted one off his own lineman's derriere) into a field goal, but found themselves trailing 6-3 midway through the second quarter.
This was far from reason to panic, but for a Jacks team that was a 22-point favorite and won almost all of its games this year in blowout fashion, it was enough to make the Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium crowd squirm in their chilly seats.
You know what happened from there, though.
Matthew Durrance came flying in for a blocked punt which took a fortuitous bounce right into his lap for a pre-Christmas, gift-wrapped touchdown to give the Jacks the lead, and they never relinquished it.
That doesn't mean it was easy. Villanova had a couple of impressive clock-churning drives, and for the entirety of the first half, they completely shut down the Jackrabbit offense. SDSU had 64 total yards at halftime. Isaiah Davis had 22 yards on 11 carries.
It didn't feel like Villanova was going to win, exactly, but it certainly felt a lot more possible than it had before kickoff.
Then again, this was far from the first time SDSU went into the half of a big game not looking their best.
The only other time this season they were threatened, against Montana State, they trailed 10-0 at halftime.
In last year's quarterfinal they went to the fourth quarter tied at 21 against Holy Cross.
In the 2021 spring quarterfinals, they trailed Southern Illinois 21-10 at halftime, and plenty of current players were around for each of those.
Saturday's first half was, senior defensive end Quinton Hicks allowed, not quite stressful, but enough to motivate the Jacks to play better in the second. They had no doubt they would do so.
"We were still winning," Hicks said of the 10-9 lead at the half. "So we knew, no more points and we'd win the game. But we also mentioned our offense is the best in the country. They were gonna put up some points and they did. We weren't at all worried."
Villanova was impressive. They were well-coached. They were physical. All the cliches and coachspeak compliments opponents have sent SDSU's way this year — the Wildcats embodied them. The fact that the Jacks had to stretch themselves to fight off that challenge and win a little ugly is, from this point of view, a good thing.
"I think all of those things you learn from," Rogers said of his team winning amidst adversity. "You never know when you're playing (for) a national championship. We had a businesslike approach all week. Some of the things we prepped for — it goes out the window when the wind is howling like that."
The passing game wasn't as neutered as Rogers made it sound — Gronowski was 11-of-19 for 101 yards with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jaxon Janke and a handful of other crucial completions. He also rushed for 39 yards.
And Davis' second-half was the stuff of legend: 170 yards on 16 carries after the break. Wildcat coach Mark Ferrante and sixth-year linebacker Danny Abraham both admitted Davis simply wore them down.
When Ferrante punted the ball back to SDSU with 5:54 to play, he hoped his team could get a quick stop and get the ball back with time for a score and an onside kick. Instead, Davis and the offensive line of Garret Greenfield, Mason McCormick, Gus Miller, Evan Beerntsen and John O'Brian never gave it back to them.
That finish on offense, coupled with a defense that held the Wildcats to 219 yards, and by the time it was over a stressful game looked similar to many of the other chapters in this 27-game winning streak. Grinding for this one the way they did should only help the defending champs.
"It was a different ballgame for sure," said Rogers, whose team will host a Friday night semifinal for the first time. "But our guys were able to adapt and respond. To have 242 rushing yards — it was a good day. I wish we didn't save all of them for the last half of the game, but I'm proud of our guys."
