On Saturday night, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits made a long-awaited return to Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. The stands were packed. The atmosphere was electric and the top-ranked Jackrabbits rewarded everyone with a 45-24 win over No. 12 Incarnate Word.

The victory has been part of a winning tradition that has been bolstered by back-to-back national championships. But when it came to the performance on the field, the Jacks could have used some of the construction signs that are currently being used across the street at First Bank & Trust Arena.

The Jacks are one of the best teams in the FCS but they’re nowhere near their final form. When it comes to what SDSU could be, it begins with realizing they’re a different team that’s not only different from the past two seasons but one that could look much different come December.

Two years ago, the Jacks opened the season had three new starters along the offensive line, even more new faces on defense and a new offensive coordinator. The first game didn’t go well in a 7-3 loss at Iowa but the Jacks rebounded with 14 straight wins to claim their first national title.

The finish to that season suggests that things were a breeze over the final 14 games, but that wasn’t the case. The Jacks edged out UC Davis 24-22 at home in their second game and earned a 45-17 win over Butler the following week. But they turned the corner after a 28-14 win at Missouri State.

SDSU quarterback Gronowski started to get comfortable after missing the 2021 fall season recovering from a knee injury and Isiah Davis emerged to lead the SDSU backfield. The offensive line came together, Jadon and Jaxon Janke became top targets and the defense came together from incoming transfer Jason Freeman to All-American defensive linemen Caleb Sanders and Reece Winkelman on the way to a national title.

Looking at this year’s team, you can see the similarities. SDSU has eight new starters on offense and new co-offensive coordinators in Ryan Olson and Danny Freund. Even Gronowski noted the comparison to the 2022 team when asked about it on Saturday night.

“That team grew a ton that year,” Gronowski said. “… It’s the same here. Those guys are continuing to work together, continue to mesh, continue to build relationships together, which has been awesome to see.”

But even the best teams don’t reach their final form in the early weeks of the season. With most of the 2022 team returning it felt like all the Jacks needed to do was copy and paste for another run at the national title. But it didn’t come easy at this time last year.

Montana State rolled into Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium for the second game of the season and the Bobcats took a 10-0 lead before the Jacks earned a 20-16 comeback victory. SDSU sanded out its edges from that point and had only one one-possession game – a 17-10 win over Southern Illinois – the rest of the year on the way to winning another national championship.

It was an early-season process that got the Jacks going. Meanwhile, Montana State fizzled after a 6-1 start, losing three of their final five games to close the season including a 35-34 overtime loss to North Dakota State in the second round of the FCS playoffs.

It’s important to remember when assessing SDSU’s performance on Saturday night. While they earned the win, there were more pressing issues that concerned head coach Jimmy Rogers, including a 44-yard pass from Zach Calzada to Jalen Walthall that put Incarnate Word into SDSU territory in the second quarter and a 69-yard screen pass from Calzada to Walthall that went for a touchdown and tied the game at 17-17 early in the third quarter.

“In the end, we had some opportunities [to make plays],” Rogers said. “We’re able to run into some of those to make plays but it’s the second week [in a row] that we’ve given up some big plays. … If you eliminate two of those, you may feel different about this game.”

It may not make for a pleasant experience when watching the tape this week but it also presents an opportunity for the Jacks to get better. While the Cardinals hung around in the first half, the Jacks found a rhythm in the second half as the running game led by Angel and Amar Johnson ripped off 5.5 yards per carry.

“I think you saw that in the third quarter and fourth quarter with our offense…we continued to stack those plays,” Gronowski said. “We continue to run the ball hard. We continue to play physical. And I mean, I feel like our conditioning was really, really good and we continued to work throughout the entire game and they did not stop.

“You can see the holes that they were making at the end of that game with our running backs easily getting six, seven yards a carry. So it’s going to continue to stack plays and get better throughout the week.”

With Gronowski also jelling with his new targets in the passing game, he connected on several big plays in the second half including a 61-yard pass to tight end Brody Gormley and a pair of passing touchdowns to Griffin Wilde.

“I feel like Mark has done a really good job of getting those guys in rhythm with him,” Rogers said. “He works extremely hard and you can see it if you come to practice how much extra time that they do on timing and just the smallest of things that they work together.”

In a way, Saturday’s win is a microcosm of what SDSU needs to do from here. Stack good plays together and watch the team grow. It was an expedited process due to the Jacks’ experience last season but it’s one that they have to go through to reach their ultimate goal.

It’s something that wasn’t lost on Rogers on Saturday night and adds a layer of intrigue in the coming weeks.

“The reality is, there’s so much the team knows that we need to get better,” Rogers said. “This year’s team is a different team. It’s got a different spirit to it. Every team is different. Last year’s team was different than 2022 and we need to grow together.

“We need to replace or just replenish and stay fresh with certain positions so that we can execute and be at our best with whoever steps on the field.”