Can the Jackrabbits make it a three-peat?

Jan. 15—FRISCO, Tex. — South Dakota State’s second consecutive national championship was every bit as impressive and well-earned as its first, but it was not as dramatic.

Once the Jackrabbits class of sixth-year super seniors agreed collectively to return for the extra year afforded them by the 2020 pandemic, meaning almost the entire starting lineup from a national championship team would be back, the Jacks were treated as heavy favorites to repeat as FCS champions, and that’s exactly what they did. SDSU ran the table at 15-0, answering every challenge and hardly facing a close call on their way to another title.

But the road to a three-peat will be a far tougher one.

The Jackrabbits graduate some major pieces, lost offensive coordinator Zach Lujan to the Big Ten and face a daunting 12-game schedule in 2024. Then again, the Jacks roster was so loaded this year their second stringers probably could’ve been a playoff team by themselves. The cupboard is not empty.

Here’s an early look at where the national champs stand heading into next year.

Offense

We’ll get to the quarterback situation in a second.

This offense has some big time pieces to replace. Isaiah Davis is gone to the NFL after a career that puts him in the discussion of greatest running backs in SDSU history (at a school that produced Josh Ranek, Zach Zenner and Pierre Strong, among many others, that’s saying something).

Garret Greenfield and Mason McCormick will be forever linked as two of the school’s all-time greatest offensive linemen, and right tackle John O’Brian was quite good as well. They’re all gone. So are wide receivers Jadon and Jaxon Janke, tight end Zach Heins and fullback Mike Morgan. That’s half of a college football all-star team, all subtracted at once.

Mark Gronowski has two years of eligibility remaining, but the Walter Payton Award winner…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/south-dakota-state-football-jackrabbits-004600664.html

Author : The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.

Publish date : 2024-01-16 00:46:00

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