South Dakota

Zimmer: UNI's bye week adjustments had no chance of slowing down South Dakota State

Published

4 months ago

October 6, 2024

Zimmer: UNI's bye week adjustments had no chance of slowing down South Dakota State

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Northern Iowa coach Mark Farley has been in charge of the Panthers since 2001. He’s taken them to 13 FCS playoff tournaments and seven conference championships in that time, and entering Saturday’s tilt with No. 1 defending national champion South Dakota State, one Farley state that felt particularly relevant was this one: In home games coming off of a bye week, Farley’s teams were 10-0. Overall, 17-5 after a bye.

Some stats are more coincidental or incidental than they are cause for concern, but there have been times throughout the SDSU/UNI rivalry that Farley, to his credit, has come up with a schematic wrinkle or two that have thrown the Jacks for a loop and contributed to an SDSU defeat.

Perhaps Panther fans felt good about their team’s chances, too. A crowd of 12,611 was on hand — the biggest UNI-Dome crowd since 2017.

Most of them were gone by the start of the fourth quarter though, as Farley had no answers for the Rabbits in Saturday’s Missouri Valley Football Conference opener for both teams.

SDSU players said they were prepared for something unexpected — a schematic adjustment here, a personnel change there — but it never really came. No, the Panthers decided to just be the same team that came in 2-2 with a pair of wins over non-scholarship Pioneer League teams and a pair of losses to FBS teams.

As it turned out, maybe they should’ve tried some sleight of hand.

“We were kind of relieved to see they wanted to be who they were this year,” said linebacker Adam Bock. “They stuck with what they’ve been doing. We’re always prepared for something but it’s nice to have a mindset of (what to expect) going into a game and then have that come to fruition.”

South Dakota State’s Angel Johnson signals a first down following a rushing play during a college football game on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Marcus Traxler / Mitchell Republic

The Jackrabbits pounded the Panthers 41-3, and they punished them as much physically as they did on the scoreboard.

UNI (2-3) managed just 66 rushing yards in the game (they came in averaging 202) and committed four turnovers. They also thought about going for it on a first-half fourth down, called a timeout to think about it, decided to punt and saw the Jacks block the punt and return it for a back-breaking touchdown.

The SDSU offense, meanwhile, rolled up 390 yards behind quarterback Mark Gronowski’s best game of the season, and they hardly broke a sweat doing it, thanks in large part to the defense giving them short fields and never letting the Panthers get anything going in the way of momentum.

100524 SDSU UNI Wilde catch.JPG — South Dakota State’s Griffin Wilde reaches up to make a catch during a college football game on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

This was a rout in every sense, and that it came against a quality conference foe, on the road, only speaks to how good the Jacks are, even as they still seem to be finding their footing in a bid for a third straight national championship.

“Playing in this building I was kind of expecting a dogfight,” said Gronowski, who went 16-of-22 for 223 yards and three touchdown passes. “We knew we had to start fast to try to take the air out of the stadium quick.”

It didn’t happen right away. The Jacks (4-1) went 3-and-out on their opening series and led just 7-0 after a quarter. It was 10-0 in the second when Farley mulled over a 4th down conversion attempt, and the hesitation opened the door for the biggest play of the game.

100524 SDSU UNI 99 78.JPG — South Dakota State’s Dawson Ripperda rushes the passer around Northern Iowa right tackle Tristan Roper during a college football game on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024 at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

“We had a gameplan (for a blocked punt) all week,” said Noah Thompson, a sophomore safety from Brandon who scooped up the blocked kick and ran it in 50 yards for his first career touchdown to make it 17-0. “We had a ’23’ call where Cullen (McShane) and I are coming from both sides. Brody Gormley blew up the shield and Cullen dove in and blocked it and I just picked it up and took it to the house. When they were second-guessing themselves there we knew we had ’em. We were already playing well and that kind of killed ’em right there.”

Only moments later a strip-sack by Jarod DePriest gave the Jacks a short field and Chase Mason’s touchdown run made it 24-0. It was pretty much over at that point, but the SDSU defense did not let up, extending their streak of consecutive games without allowing a touchdown to three. Since their 24-3 win over Division II Augustana the Jacks have sandwiched wins of 41-0 and 41-3 around their bye week.

“We spent a lot of time together during the bye week, whether it was outside of football, hanging out with each other, but on the field, too,” said Gronowski, whose team has won 31 in a row against FCS teams. “We were out there for 30 minutes after every practice getting routs and talking through some different things and even having meetings with the receivers to get everyone on the same page, and it seemed like we were today.”

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.

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South Dakota

Mizzou wins double header against South Dakota, Northern Illinois

Published

7 hours ago

January 20, 2025

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Mizzou wins double header against South Dakota, Northern Illinois

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South Dakota

Sunday Forecast: Western South Dakota in for a Frigid MLK day

Published

15 hours ago

January 19, 2025

Press Room

Sunday Forecast: Western South Dakota in for a Frigid MLK day

BLACK HILLS REGION, S.D. – Many folks have a three day weekend in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day! And it will be a good day to stay inside and stay warm. The National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Cold Warning for portions of western South Dakota and northeast Wyoming. Wind chills are expected to be as low as -45° especially in the Northen Hills. Other offices have followed suit with Extreme cold Warnings covering most of the Northern Plains.

This extreme cold is unusual and potentially dangerous, with the National Weather Service forecasting “the coldest wind chill readings of this outbreak”. The Extreme Cold Warning for our region is in effect from 7pm this evening to 11am tomorrow, with a Cold Weather Advisory until 8am Tuesday.

Expect a high around 9°F in Rapid City with an overnight low of -14°F. Wind chills will bottom out around -30°F just after sunrise. The Deadwood area will see similar conditions, with an overnight low around -19°F and wind chills potentially plummeting to -45°F or even lower! Winds will be relatively calm tonight at 5 to 10 mph but will pick up to 10 to 20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph by tomorrow morning. This is why the wind chill will be coldest around sunrise rather than in the midnight hours.

Monday Morning Wind Chill

Per Lundquist

There is still some slight flurries falling over northeastern Wyoming, which could lead to icy and partially snow-covered roads, but things will be clear by this evening. Clear skies at night typically help cool temperatures even further, because the surface of the Earth radiates off infrared radiation into space, which is a loss of energy and causes temperature to fall. With no sunshine to replenish that energy and no cloud cover to keep it from escaping, we’re going to cool off quite a bit.

It’s important to remember that frostbite can occur quickly in extreme cold, and with wind chills, it can happen even faster. According to University of Colorado Health, when the temperature is 5°F and the wind speed is 30 mph, frostbite can develop in just 30 minutes. At -5°F with the same wind speed, it may set in within 10 minutes. With wind chills expected to reach -45°F in some areas, frostbite can occur on exposed skin even sooner. Symptoms of frostbite usually begin with the affected parts feeling cold and painful. If exposure to the cold continues, you may feel pins and needles before the area becomes numb as the tissues freeze. If you think you or someone else may have frostbite, seek immediate medical attention.

We should see some relief on Tuesday with temperatures warming back up to the low 30s under partly to mostly cloudy skies. The next clipper type system will bring low chances for light snow Tuesday night through Wednesday night along with breezy to windy northwest winds.

Rapid City 7 Day

Per grew up in Sioux Falls and graduated from South Dakota Mines. He found his passion for weather reporting by the impact it has on the community, both in how people work and how it brings people together through severe weather preparation. He also has a passion for preventing health issues with Air Quality Index awareness. Per can be found enjoying outdoor activities in the Black Hills when the weather allows.

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South Dakota

Should South Dakota constitutional amendments require a 60% majority to pass?

Published

23 hours ago

January 19, 2025

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Should South Dakota constitutional amendments require a 60% majority to pass?

Resolution sponsor argues out-of-state donors are shaping South Dakota elections; Opponents say campaign finance reform is the answer

PIERRE — Lawmakers are considering a resolution that would start the process of making it more difficult for voters to pass a constitutional amendment in South Dakota.

The State House Affairs Committee heard testimony on House Joint Resolution 5003, a bill that would ask voters during the next general election whether to change the votes needed to pass a constitutional amendment from a simple majority to a 60% threshold.

The joint resolution was amended to the 60% figure at the start of the bill’s hearing on Friday. The prime sponsor of the bill, Republican Rep. John Hughes of Sioux Falls, had initially suggested a two-thirds majority in the initial version of his legislation.

The committee passed the resolution on an 11-2 vote, sending it to the full House for consideration.

Out-of-state interests have undue influence on South Dakota elections, resolution sponsor says

Hughes argued South Dakota has become a “convergence point for out-of-state interests to take advantage and exploit” the state’s simple majority requirement to pass constitutional amendments.

The Sioux Falls lawmaker referenced several large donations made in the weeks before the 2024 general election to Dakotans for Health, a group pushing to enshrine the right to abortion in the South Dakota Constitution — though Hughes did not directly name the group or the ballot question in his statements.

Hughes pointed to a $500,000 donation made by Think Big America, a nonprofit backed by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, in October.

Pritzker made another donation of $250,000 to Dakotans for Health on Nov. 1, according to a report filed with the South Dakota Secretary of State.

Another group backed by conservative activist Leonard Leo later matched the Pritzker nonprofit’s donation with a $500,000 that went to No G for SD, a ballot question committee. That money went to pay for ads opposing Constitutional Amendment G, which was rejected by 59% of South Dakota voters in the election.

“We have big checks coming in: $100,000 from a guy in California, $500,000 from the governor of Illinois. What on earth is the governor of Illinois doing to shape and mold the political and social values of South Dakota?” said Hughes, who failed to mention Leo’s large donation.

South Dakota law allows ballot question committees, or groups with a position on a specific ballot question, to receive unlimited amounts of money from individuals, political action committees, political parties, entities and other ballot question committees.

Nathan Sanderson, executive director of the South Dakota Retailers Association, spoke in support of the resolution, saying amending the constitution “should be more difficult” than amending a statute. Sanderson led the effort to oppose Initiated Measure 28, which was sponsored by Dakotans for Health co-founder Rick Weiland.

But opponents contend the change would actually work to the benefit of wealthy groups and individuals.

Opponents: Reforms to campaign finance laws, not majority requirements, is needed

Chase Jensen, a lobbyist for Dakota Rural Action, told the committee he agreed with Hughes on part of his testimony, particularly regarding the influence of out-of-state money in the state’s elections.

But he argued the state’s campaign finance laws need to be reformed, specifically when it comes to how outside money is allowed to be brought into state elections, rather than “changing the power of the people.”

During the recent election, only one out of seven ballot questions passed the simple majority threshold (50% plus one vote).

Constitutional Amendment F, which proposed to enforce work requirements on individuals who apply for expanded Medicaid benefits, passed with 56% of votes in November.

Jensen said raising the bar would only make it more difficult for legislators and citizens to pass constitutional amendments in the future.

“With the unprecedented concentration of wealth in our society, in our politics today, we believe raising the threshold of votes wouldn’t deter out of state money. It would only open the tap even further,” Jensen said.

Zebediah Johnson, a lobbyist for the Voter Defense Association of South Dakota, told the Argus Leader the majority of constitutional amendments proposed over the last two decades have been referred to voters by legislators.

South Dakota’s early populist movement adopted the initiative and popular referendum process into the South Dakota Constitution in 1898, becoming the first state in the U.S. to do so.

“There is no need for South Dakota, which created the American ballot initiative, to deviate from the norm in such an extreme manner,” Johnson said.

South Dakota voters have a recent history of rejecting changes to the state’s majority requirements.

In 2018, South Dakotans considered Amendment X, which proposed to raise the vote threshold to 55%. That failed after only receiving 46% of the vote.

Voters also rejected Amendment C in 2022, which would have required any future ballot measure that increases taxes, or spends $10 million over five years, to pass by at least 60%. This proposed change was also defeated after only receiving 33% of votes.

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