FCS championship: Who has the edge between South Dakota State and Montana

South Dakota State is 0-8 all-time against Montana.

The Grizzlies are 0-3 in national championship games under Bobby Hauck.

One of those streaks ends Sunday.

Will it be SDSU repeating as FCS champions with their 29th win in a row?

Or will Montana pull the upset to claim their third title?

Here’s how we’re breaking down the matchup:

When the Jacks have the ball
Pick your poison. The SDSU running game averages more than six yards per carry with Isaiah Davis having rushed for nearly 3,000 yards in the past two seasons and Amar Johnson, Angel Johnson and quarterback Mark Gronowski dangerous ground threats as well.

Then there’s the passing game. Gronowski has completed 69 percent of his passes for 2,883 yards and 28 touchdowns with only four picks. He has four high-end targets in Jadon and Jaxon Janke, tight end Zach Heins and freshman Griffin Wilde. And it all operates behind an impenetrable offensive line of (left to right) Garret Greenfield, Mason McCormock, Gus Miller, Evan Beerntsen and John O’Brian.

Montana’s defense is good — they’re holding opponents to 311 yards per game, they can pressure the quarterback and create turnovers — but SDSU has the upper hand in personnel in this matchup.
ADVANTAGE: SDSU

When the Griz have the ball
Much has been made of Montana’s two worst performances of the season — a 28-14 loss to Northern Arizona and an underwhelming 17-10 win over Division II Ferris State. But guess what — Clifton McDowell wasn’t the QB1 in either of those games.

He took over as the primary signal-caller Sept. 30 against Idaho State and the Griz haven’t lost since. He’s a serious threat as a runner with 751 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground, while Eli Gillman and Nick Ostmo give them a solid 1-2 punch at running back. The passing game hasn’t been as explosive, as McDowell averages about 170 yards per game as a starter, but he’s only been intercepted three times. The Griz have allowed 36 sacks, but many of them came with the less mobile Sam Vidlak under center.

SDSU’s defense comes in white hot — they pitched a shutout in two of their three playoff games and are holding their opponents to an absurd 9.7 points per game. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound McDowell will be a handful, but if the Jacks defense plays with the discipline they’ve shown throughout the season it’s hard to see them putting many points on the board.
ADANTAGE: SDSU

Special teams
Put simply, Montana wouldn’t be here without the explosive return game provided them by senior speedster Junior Bergen. The 5-11 wideout has three return touchdowns in the playoffs — a punt and kickoff return in their quarterfinal win over Furman and a punt return in the semis against NDSU. He has six total touchdown returns in his career. SDSU coach Jimmy Rogers has downplayed suggestions that the Jacks will go out of their way to kick away from Bergen, insisting they simply have to tackle. That could be playing with fire.

The Griz coverage teams have been outstanding, and punter Travis Benham has been solid, averaging 40.4 yards with 25 punts dropped inside the 20. The kicking game — split between Grant Glasgow and Nico Ramos — has been reliable inside 40 yards and inconsistent from deep.

Hunter Dustman has had a good year at both punter (43.7 average) and kicker (17-of-23 on field goals) for SDSU, and their coverage units have also excelled. SDSU has allowed 38 total punt return yards all season and an average of just 16 yards on kick returns. Tucker Large emerged as a weapon as a punt returner, averaging 18.9 yards with a touchdown.
ADVANTAGE: Even

Coaching
Montana head coach Bobby Hauck is an FCS legend. He led the Griz to Big Sky titles in each of his first seven seasons at the helm, left for UNLV (where he couldn’t turn the Runnin’ Rebels into a winner), and quickly led Montana back to FCS heavyweight status upon his return. He has an NFL braintrust aiding him, too, with former pro quarterback Timm Rosenbach and longtime NFL safety Tim Hauck (Bobby’s brother) serving as offensive and defensive analysts.

Rogers is a rookie head coach leading perhaps the youngest staff in college football, but it’s hard to find a single fault with any move he’s made this season. Young coordinators Zach Lujan and Jesse Bobbit have thrived in their roles, the addition of full-time special teams coach Pat Cashmore improved the team in that area, and Rogers’ hard-nosed attitude has given the team an added edge, while his former-player perspective makes his players ready to run through a wall for him.
ADVANTAGE: Even

Intangibles
Hauck is no doubt motivated to finally win his first national championship. He’s joked about how another loss would make him the Marv Levy of college football. And the Griz players should have a pretty sizable chip on their shoulder given that virtually nobody outside of their locker room gives them a chance to win. They’re undefeated with McDowell under center, dominated a Montana State team that nearly beat SDSU, and found ways to win in overtime in each of their last two playoff games. They’re hardly a sacrificial lamb.

But any notion that the Jacks are primed to overlook the Griz or lay an egg would be foolhardy. An incredible senior class has authored one of the most impressive stretches in FCS history, and are deadly focused to close it out with a 29th straight win. With Gronowski at the helm, the Jacks have one of the winningest players in college football history as their ace in the hole.

The Jacks are 0-8 all-time against Montana, including a pair of playoff losses. Rogers was there for both, and determined to make sure there’s a different ending this time around.
ADVANTAGE: SDSU

The call: SDSU 34-14

Matt Zimmer is a Sioux Falls native and longtime sports writer. He graduated from Washington High School where he played football, legion baseball and developed his lifelong love of the Minnesota Twins and Vikings. After graduating from St. Cloud State University, he returned to Sioux Falls, and began a long career in amateur baseball and sports reporting. Email Matt at mzimmer@siouxfallslive.com.