South Dakota State ranks No. 1 in HERO Sports’ FCS Preseason Top 25.

The Jackrabbits won their second straight FCS national championship last year, beating Montana 23-3 to finish 15-0 overall.

Here’s a look at the 2024 SDSU football squad, which has 28 seniors on the roster.

Returning 2023 All-Conference Players (8)

1st Team
QB Mark Gronowski
S Tucker Large
AP Amar Johnson (RB)

2nd Team
OL Gus Miller
P Hunter Dustman
LS Kaydon Olivia
RS Tucker Large

Honorable Mention
OL Evan Beerntsen
CB Dalys Beanum

D1 Transfer Portal Movement

Transfers Coming In From The FCS (2)
Sam Hagen (OL), North Dakota
Colby Humphrey (DB), Northern Arizona

Transfers Coming In From The FBS (1)
Marcus Hicks (OL), Oklahoma

Transfers Lost To The FCS (0)

Transfers Lost To The FBS (0)

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Offensive Outlook

SDSU had six offensive players from last year’s championship team sign NFL contracts, including its two best offensive linemen, top two wide receivers, top tight end, and All-American running back.

With that production gone, a major boost to the 2024 offense is signal-caller Mark Gronowski, the 2023 Walter Payton Award winner and back-to-back national championship game Most Outstanding Player. Gronowski turned down six-figure NIL offers from Power 4 programs to stay at SDSU for one more season.

Gronowski has 7,590 career passing yards, 70 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions, plus 1,387 yards rushing and 27 TDs. Last season, the 6-foot-3 and 225-pounder completed 68 percent of his passes for 3,058 yards, 29 scores, and five interceptions while rushing for 402 yards and eight TDs. Gronowski is 37-3 as a starter with only one FCS loss as a full-game starter (2021 spring at UND). He’s 13 victories away from breaking the FCS record for QB wins currently held by NDSU’s Easton Stick (49-3 career record).

Protecting Gronowski will be key for an offensive line that needs to replace three starters.

Gus Miller (6’3″ 290 lbs) returns after grading out as PFF’s No. 1 FCS center. He also won the Rimington Award as the best center in the FCS. Evan Beerntsen (6’4″ 300 lbs) is also back after an All-MVFC season. Beerntsen was the No. 6-graded FCS offensive guard on PFF.

Quinten Christensen (6’5″ 295 lbs) will probably work his way into the starting lineup after playing a lot of reps last year in packages that included six offensive linemen. SDSU added two D1 transfers who look to make an impact. Marcus Hicks is a large human being (6’5″ 305 lbs) coming in from Oklahoma. And Sam Hagen is another large transfer, both literally and figuratively. The 6-foot-6, 325-pounder started all 12 games at right guard last season on a good North Dakota o-line. He also started five games at right tackle in 2022.

Amar Johnson takes over the RB1 role after two productive seasons behind Isaiah Davis. He averaged 6.6 yards per carry in 2022, carrying the ball 63 times for 414 yards and three TDs in eight games. Last fall, Johnson rushed 128 times for 801 yards (6.3 YPC) and four scores. Angel Johnson will have a bigger role after averaging 8.9 yards per carry last year, rushing for 381 yards and five TDs on only 43 carries.

Griffin Wilde has a chance to be the next big-time SDSU wide receiver. The 6-foot-2 and 195-pounder caught 20 passes for 399 yards and six touchdowns last year as a true freshman. The next most productive pass-catcher is Grahm Goering (6’3″ 200 lbs), who had 13 catches for 171 yards in 2023.

SDSU really likes its backup QB Chase Mason. Mason is an elite athlete at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds. The South Dakota native had FBS interest out of high school, but he began his career on the Nebraska baseball team before transferring to SDSU in 2022. He’ll likely factor into the offense with certain designed packages.

Defensive Outlook

The Jackrabbits bring back eight of their top 13 tacklers from last year’s historic defense, which allowed an FCS-best 9.3 points per game.

The top two tacklers, linebackers Jason Freeman and Isaiah Stalbird, are gone. But multi-time All-American Adam Bock returns. Bock has 344 career tackles, 25 tackles for loss, and 10.5 sacks, although he’s been slowed by injuries the last two seasons. He looks to return to his 2021 form when he racked up 125 tackles, 9.5 TFLs, 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, two interceptions, and eight passes defended. Despite missing five games last fall, he finished third on the team with 65 tackles.

SDSU has solid linebacker experience returning alongside Bock. Graham Spalding (143 career tackles), Caleb Francl (55 career tackles), and Daeton Mcgaughy (60 career tackles) are all fifth or sixth-year seniors with starting experience.

The Jackrabbits had arguably the best group of safeties in the FCS last year, a room that stays intact. Tucker Large is an All-American-level player who totaled 49 tackles, four interceptions, and nine pass breakups in 2023. He’s also a top punt returner in the country. Cale Reeder finished fifth on the team with 58 tackles last fall, Colby Huerter totaled 42 tackles, and Matthew Durrance played a lot of snaps, tallying 25 tackles.

Cornerback DyShawn Gales is off to the NFL, but two-time All-MVFC CB Dalys Beanum returns. The 6-foot-1 Beanum has 88 career tackles, 11 interceptions, and 29 passes defended.

SDSU loses three of its four starting defensive linemen from the national championship game, returning Jarod DePriest (6’5″ 285 lbs) at defensive tackle. The Jacks had a strong rotation across the d-line and six of the 11 players listed on the two-deep return this fall. Defensive end Zac Wilson will be looked at to step up. Blake Peterson, a 2023 transfer from Iowa State, should also be an impact player at DE after missing half of last season due to injury.

2024 Preseason Preview Central

8/31 at Oklahoma State
9/7 vs No. 12 UIW
9/14 vs Augustana
9/21 at Southeastern Louisiana
10/5 at Northern Iowa
10/12 vs No. 23 Youngstown State
10/19 at No. 2 North Dakota State
10/26 vs No. 5 South Dakota
11/2 vs Murray State
11/9 at North Dakota
11/16 vs No. 9 Southern Illinois
11/23 at Missouri State

Bold indicates MVFC games
HERO Sports’ rankings
RV = Received Votes