By Andrew Holtan
The Brookings Beacon
BROOKINGS – South Dakota State will resume conference play with another top-10 matchup on Saturday night as the Jackrabbits play at No. 10 ranked Illinois State.
It was supposed to be a top-three showdown but the Redbirds dropped from No. 3 after losing to Northern Iowa 28-21 this past weekend.
SDSU head coach Dan Jackson thinks Illinois State will be motivated to get back on track, but that’s something that’s out of his control and he wants to make sure his team is ready to go on Saturday night.
“I’m sure they are [motivated],” Jackson said. “But that doesn’t matter to us. … For us, we need to play with a chip on our shoulder every single game. … I do think you see in college football more than ever, teams that win a big game and then they lose. Or they play well on one side of the ball and then hear how good they are and they’re not very good the next week.
“… We’re going to put a football down on Saturday night and the team that is most ready and competes the best and cares the most will win. .. I can’t control how Illinois State comes out in that game. I can just control how we do.”
The Redbirds (4-1) had things rolling before their slipup in Cedar Falls. They are one of six FCS teams to be an FBS team this season as ISU beat Northern Illinois 28-24 on Sept. 12.
ISU is coming off a season where they shocked the FCS world by making a run to the National Championship and then lost to Montana State in overtime. En route to that title appearance, the Redbirds beat North Dakota State in Fargo in the second round.
The Redbirds lost their top two offensive players from last year’s team in quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse and wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz. With the departure of Rittenhouse, ISU has played three different quarterbacks in 2026 and they’ve each taken snaps in all five games so far this season.
Fifth year senior Gage Roy has thrown the ball the most for the Redbirds. He spent the first four years of his career at USC and this season he’s thrown for 721 yards and has 10 touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 72.1% of his passes.
Junior Beckham Pellant has thrown the ball 49 times for the Redbirds and he has 397 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions with a 59.2% completion percentage.
Sophomore Chase Kwiatkowski has only thrown the ball 11 times but he’s 9-of-11 with 86 yards. He’s second on the team in rushing with 221 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
Jackson said going up against three quarterbacks is something you rarely have to prepare for.
“Only one team that I’ve ever coached against had played three quarterbacks by plan, and it was Eastern Washington a couple years ago when I was at Idaho. So it’s unique. I think [Roy] is a really good player, and I expect him to play a lot and they’re comfortable with him. [Pellant] comes in to spell [Roy] at times and the offense doesn’t change drastically.
“But [Kwiatkowski] is a special athlete, and he’s a very talented, competitive, big kid. I wouldn’t be surprised if they play him at running back this week. … [Going up against three quarterbacks is] challenging to kind of find out what they’re doing and why they’re doing it and why they’re playing certain guys.”
SDSU will be playing its second and third quarterbacks on Saturday as well, but the Jacks are doing it because starter Chase Mason will be out for a second-straight game with a knee injury.
Jackson said Josh Holst will get the start again and Jack Henry will play sporadically throughout the game.
Holst went 11-of-22 for 176 yards and a touchdown in his first start against Eastern Illinois last week. Henry was 1-for-2 for 13 yards but had 39 yards on six carries.
Jackson said Mason is progressing well but still did not put a time table on when he could return. SDSU has a bye next week.
Illinois State is ninth in the FCS in total defense, giving up 275 yards per game. The Redbirds have been really good inside the 20 yard line as their red zone defense is 12th in the country. Their opponents have moved the ball into the red zone 13 times this season and have come away with points eight times.
SDSU’s red zone offense has struggled at times this season. The Jacks are tied for 96th in red zone production as they’ve scored 18 times on 26 trips inside the 20. Jackson said getting points from red zone trips starts with execution.
“I think it starts with being able to execute and do your jobs and make sure we’re not making mistakes down there. Whether it’s a penalty or a drop or you know something of that nature, we need to make sure that we don’t beat ourselves up and that we put pressure on them with our execution,” Jackson said.
The Redbirds gave up 199 yards rushing in their loss to the Panthers, which was the most they’ve given up this season. SDSU has had a lot of success on the ground the past two weeks, going over 300 rushing yards in each game.
Jackson has given a lot of credit to the offensive line and said they are meshing well with the running backs, which is resulting in a lot of big gains.
“The effort is pretty amazing. And the effort in which they play is not always perfect, definitely, but when you play really hard and you’re really physical and you get some knockback, you can make up for mistakes. … I would say the backs and offensive line are much more in sync with their movements and steps and understanding their reads,” Jackson said.
Kickoff between the Jacks and Redbirds is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Saturday. You can watch the game on ESPN+ or listen to the game on AM 910 KJJQ.
