South Dakota State football notebook: Offensive line gets boost from extra man in win over UND
Oct. 1—BROOKINGS — Moments before the start of Saturday's Missouri Valley Football Conference opener between No. 1 South Dakota State and No. 12 North Dakota, SDSU sports information director Jason Hove announced to the press box that Quinten Christensen, a redshirt freshman offensive lineman who wears jersey No. 69, would likely be seeing action at tight end in the game, and consequently wearing jersey No. 83.
But this was not about increasing depth at tight end, or even about installing an unusual formation from which the Jacks could run a trick play. Nor was it about creating some sort of jumbo package because of what the Jacks saw in the UND defense.
No, to hear coach Jimmy Rogers tell it, Christensen has simply been so good in practice and as a backup that the Jacks decided they needed to find a way to get him on the field. So there he was on Saturday, lining up as essentially an extra tackle to give the Jacks (4-0) six offensive linemen on several plays.
It paid off handsomely, as SDSU rushed for 266 yards and five touchdowns in the 42-21 win. Before taking a knee on their final two snaps to run out the clock, the Jacks had averaged 7.7 yards per carry on the day, while Mark Gronowski was never sacked.
And since an extra tackle is technically a tight end, that does mean the 6-foot-5, 290-pound Wessington Springs alum is an eligible receiver. Consider it yet another weapon for an offense teeming with them.
"Quinten just works his butt off and is too good of a player to have sitting on the sidelines," said Rogers, whose team visits Illinois State next. "Call it what (position) you want, he's really athletic, so teams are gonna need to scout for that pop pass. He's a great player who's earned those reps and he was huge today. It was great to get him in there."
Middle linebacker Adam Bock made his season debut after missing the first three games of the season with a foot injury suffered midway through preseason camp.
Bock, who's been nothing short of one of the best linebackers in the nation when healthy, missed four games with a separate foot injury last year, was expected to be kept on a playing time leash but it was hard for SDSU to keep him off the field as he made an immediate impact. Bock started and led the Jacks with 10 total tackles as well as a sack. The foot started to flare up late in the game and Bock received treatment afterward, as Rogers indicated they'll have to continue to keep tabs on his health. But there was no question his presence was felt.
"I'd have to look at the tape but any time you get a star player like that back it gives you a lot of energy — a big boost," said UND coach Bubba Schweigert. "Getting him back gave them another really good player. I'd imagine they were excited to have him back."
The Hawks coach was right about that.
"It was awesome to have him back," said linebacker Isaiah Stalbird, who had eight tackles. "I'm so happy for him, he was like a kid in a candy store. But you have to remember those guys that filled in for him, too, you have to give them their salute because they did such a good job while he was out. We hold ourselves to the same standard no matter who's in the game."
* Gronowski has now scored a rushing touchdown and thrown a touchdown pass in nine consecutive games.
* Sacks by Bock and Cade Terveer were SDSU's first two of the season.
* The Jacks have scored on 62 consecutive trips to the red zone dating back to last season — 49 touchdowns and 13 field goals.
* Ten of the teams SDSU has beaten during their school-record 18-game winning streak have been ranked.
* Isaiah Davis' 132 rushing yards marked his 17th career 100-yard game and first this season.
* The crowd of 19,231 was the fourth-biggest in Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium history.
