Quarterback to Back: South Dakota State’s Mark Gronowski Is Most Accomplished QB the Cowboys Are Set to Face

The Cowboys will start their season against one of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the country, who’s never played a snap of FBS football.

Alan Bowman is college football’s most tenured passer, but he’ll square up against an even more seasoned veteran, albeit at the FCS level, in South Dakota State QB Mark Gronowski.

As we kick off our weekly preview of the QB battle for 2024, let’s compare the two quarterbacks by their statistical accomplishments in 2023.

Gronowski has captained South Dakota State to consecutive FCS titles and arrives in Stillwater on a 29-game win streak. He boasts a 37-3 record as a starter, which means that he could end his career as the all-time winningest quarterback in Division-I history (both FBS and FCS). Add onto that just about every FCS award and honor one could hope to earn, and you’ve got the most accomplished passer the Cowboys are set to face in 2024.

Across the field, Bowman is at his third stop as an FBS quarterback. After injury derailed a promising start to his career at Texas Tech, he spent two seasons trying to sniff out a role at Michigan before the transfer of Spencer Sanders opened the door for him to compete for a role in Stillwater.

Gronowski has his own injury history. After taking the Jackrabbits’ reins as a true freshman, he tore his ACL in the 2020 FCS championship game and had to sit out all of 2021. But he returned in 2022 and has led his team to a 29-1 finish and two chips since. And he’s had his opportunity to move on to greener FBS pastures, even an opportunity to realize his dream of playing in the Big Ten. But Gronowski eschewed those offers to stick with a known commodity and a premier situation in the FCS.

“Growing up, one of my big dreams was playing in the Big Ten, but the grass isn’t always greener on the other side,” he told ESPN. “The grass is pretty friggin’ green on this side of the park. It’s hard to leave a place you put so much time and effort into and met so many great guys.”

His sticking around in Brookings has been a huge part of South Dakota State’s recent rise to the elite ranks of the FCS, but he comes into his senior season looking better than ever.

South Dakota State head coach Jimmy spoke with media members ahead of his team’s trip to Stillwater and had nothing but good things to say about his franchise QB.

“This is the best Mark has looked,” Rogers said. “I feel like he’s taken another step in his game. He’s become more of a complete passer. He’s been really good at manipulating the defense with his eyes. And how he’s been able to go through progressions quickly and get the ball out on time and be really, really accurate. I’m excited to see what he can do. Practice is practice. He’s gotta turn it on in the game.”

The Cowboys’ defense is veteran-laden and should be improved in Year 2 under defensive coordinator Bryan Nardo, but it showed a propensity to get beat deep in 2023, ranking 126th in passing defense and 125th in long passing plays allowed (both last in the Big 12). Any improvement on that front will get tested by a veteran QB that led the FCS with a passer rating of 179.67 last year.