South Dakota State dominates FCS Playoffs second round matchup against Mercer, advance to quarterfinals

The South Dakota State defense turned in their most complete performance of the season during their FCS Playoffs second-round matchup against Mercer on Saturday, in front of a playoff record 10,171 fans.

The Jackrabbits completely shut down the Bears, holding the now 9-4 Southern Conference team scoreless in the 41-0 win. It was the first time Mercer has been shut out all season.

"We tackled for the most part fairly well in the game and were able to get off the field on third down," South Dakota State football coach Jimmy Rogers said. "For a second there, we were 10 for 10 (getting stops) on third down, but they were able to get one there at the end and overall, just the total yardage and being able to hold people to three-and-outs is huge."

The defense helped create a jaw-dropping disparity in total yardage. Mercer finished the game with only 151 yards while the Jackrabbits nearly quadrupled that with 571.

SDSU made the Bears punt seven times and forced three turnovers, including two interceptions. Isaiah Stalbird led the defense with seven tackles while Dalys Beanum and Aydan Dautermann had one interception each.

"We went into this game knowing that we should dominate," Beanum said of the defense. "I think everyone kind of had a chip on their shoulder today."

For Mercer, this loss marked the end of a historic season. They broke the program record for most wins in a season, made it to the FCS Playoffs for the first time and won their first playoff game.

"To see the growth of the team, and myself as a man ... it's been nothing but a blessing," Bears senior safety Lance Wise Jr. said. "The results weren't how we wanted to finish out, but at the end of the day we still accomplished a lot of really good things for our university, for our football team."

After the game, the Jackrabbits ran to their locker room to celebrate the win, just like they've celebrated all 12 of their games this season, but they know the joy they're searching for doesn't come from wins in December.

"This has been a unique year in the sense of when we win, and we win like that, you should see the locker. We get excited for a little bit, but that's almost forced joy," Rogers said. "The standard is to win it all, and we're going to reset ourselves and lock into the next opportunity that we get and try to go max that performance. So that's where our goal is."

Here are three takeaways from South Dakota State's 41-0 win against Mercer:

Playoff Isaiah

The message from the Jackrabbits coaching staff to the players this past week has been that the team is only promised one more week together. A loss would mark the last time this group will ever play together, the last time this year's seniors will suit up. That message inspired a great performance from everyone on the roster, top to bottom, including senior running back Isaiah Davis.

Davis rushed for 117 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. This marked the sixth game Davis has rushed for three touchdowns and the third time he's reached that benchmark in the playoffs.

"You take into account all the work you put in, (that) all the guys put in throughout the summer of the offseason to succeed in this opportunity that we have this week," Davis said postgame. "We're blessed to have another six days ... hopefully we'll do the same thing next week."

'Everybody came in and got to eat'

With South Dakota State up 31-0, the coaching staff swapped starting quarterback Mark Gronowski for second-string quarterback Chase Mason. Mason led the offense for roughly a quarter before being subbed out for sophomore Jon Bell in the fourth.

At running back, Angel Johnson was subbed in for Davis and had maybe the highlight of the game, running the ball 80 yards for a touchdown, the longest run by any Jackrabbit this season.

"Everybody came in and got to eat," Davis said postgame.

Rogers said he likes to get his second and third-string players in when they have a lead as substantial as they had today, especially in the playoffs.

"It's awesome that we get 64 for the playoffs that dress so that when we get the opportunity to play all 64, it's meaningful," Rogers said. "It only drives the performance at practice that everybody needs to stay ready."

SDSU's quarterfinals matchup is set

South Dakota State will play No. 8 seed Villanova on Saturday after the Wildcats defeated Missouri Valley Football Conference's Youngstown State, 45-28.

The Jackrabbits have only ever played Villanova twice, with the most recent meeting being in 2021, when South Dakota State beat the Wildcats 35-21 to advance to the FCS Playoffs semifinals.

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: South Dakota State football dominates Mercer in FCS playoffs