Three Things South Dakota State Coach Jimmy Rogers Said ahead of the Jackrabbits’ Trip to Stillwater

Jimmy Rogers hasn’t lost a game as a head coach.

Rogers enters his second season at the helm of the South Dakota State program with a perfect 15-0 record topped with an FCS national title. He starts Year 2 with perhaps his toughest test yet in Oklahoma State, as the Cowboys host the Jackrabbits at 1 p.m. Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium.

Rogers met with reporters via Zoom on Tuesday to preview South Dakota State’s trip down to Stillwater and the start of the 2024 season. Here are three things that stood out from that Zoom.

1. Ollie Gordon Draws Pierre Strong Comparison

With what Ollie Gordon has been able to do on a football field over the past 12 months, he has drawn myriad comparisons, but I think Tuesday was likely the first time he drew a comparison to Pierre Strong.

Strong played at South Dakota State from 2017 to 2021 before the New England Patriots took him in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft. Strong was listed at 5-foot-11, 205 pounds going into his final season with the Jackrabbits. He played in 48 games with South Dakota State, rushing 631 times for 4,527 yards and 40 touchdowns (he also had six passing touchdowns in college).

“If you give [Gordon] a seam, he can go the distance,” Rogers said. “He’s extremely fast. He’s my comparison to Pierre Strong because I got to see him every single day. Pierre Strong was extremely fast. He’s bigger than Pierre, and he’s extremely physical.

“We’re gonna have to be multiple on defense. We’re not just gonna be able to load the box just because of what they have on the perimeter. We’re not just going to be able to not play with a box that’s loaded. We gotta be on point with the calls and make sure that we tackle well in space. He does a great job of making the first guy miss, and if he can make the first guy miss, he can easily get eight to 10 yards because he is so fast. It’s going to take a full swarm to the ball for 60 minutes of this game to slow him down.”

2. ‘The Best’ Mark Gronowski Has Looked

From Cam Rising to an upstart Avery Johnson to Garrett Greene and Shedeur Sanders, there ought to be some solid quarterback play in the Big 12 this season, but the Pokes need not look over the first passer they come up against.

Mark Gronowski won the Walter Payton award in 2023 — akin to the FCS Heisman. A 6-foot-3, 230-pound senior, Gronowski has 7,590 passing yards, 1,387 rushing yards, 70 passing touchdowns, 27 rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown in his career. He could have surely jumped up to the FBS level this season via the transfer portal, but he is back in Brookings for his senior season, and he apparently looks as good as ever.

“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.”

3. No Moral Victories for the Jackrabbits

South Dakota State has won 29 games in a row entering Saturday’s trip to Stillwater, and it sounds as if the Jackrabbits plan to make that a nice, round 30.

In the midst of his opening statement, Rogers said his team “isn’t going down there for moral victories.” And why should the Jackrabbits? The last time they lost a game was the same weekend Spencer Sanders, Dominic Richardson and Braydon Johnson led the Cowboys to a 58-44 win against Central Michigan to start the 2022 season. A lot has happened since then, but one thing that hasn’t happened is South Dakota State losing a game.

More than just how good a 1-0 record looks opposed to an 0-1 mark, the Jackrabbits are coming to Stillwater with something to prove.

“We’ve given up moral victories here for a long time,” Rogers said. “We’re going there for a reason. We’re going to compete. If we’re going to claim we’re one of the best in the country, here’s an opportunity to showcase that. I can tell you this, our players wouldn’t expect me to say it any different.”