Getty South Dakota State Jackrabbits running back Pierre Strong.
The South Dakota State Jackrabbits will take on the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on Saturday in each team’s second game of the Missouri Valley Conference’s spring season, which was prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The game (1 p.m. ET start time) will televised locally on MidCo SportsNet 2, but if you can’t get that channel, anyone in the US can watch South Dakota State vs North Dakota football live on ESPN+ right here:
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South Dakota State vs North Dakota Preview
The Jackrabbits opened their spring season with a last-minute 24-20 victory over the Northern Iowa Panthers last week. SDSU led 17-7 at the midway break, but didn’t score again until freshman quarterback Mark Gronowski found running back Pierre Strong with a swing pass for a 1-yard touchdown.
“We did a little motion to see what defense they were in and they came out in man so we knew we had ‘em right away,” Strong said of the winning play, according to the Argus Leader. “The end took me at first, but then he faded off towards (Gronowski) and I was wide open. I’d been stopped twice, so I told myself I got to make a play.”
Gronowski completed 19 of 29 passes for 194 yards, a pair of touchdowns and no picks in his collegiate debut. He also carried 10 times for 24 yards and a score, though he lost a fumble.
“It felt great, I was super excited out there,” Gronowski said, per the Argus Leader. “We were able to build confidence early, making plays at the beginning of the game. I thought (in the second half) we were shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit. We could only stop ourselves. We’ll be pretty good when we stop making those mistakes.”
North Dakota also won their spring opener, besting the Southern Illinois Salukis 44-21 to set a record for points scored by a team in their Missouri Valley Conference debut. The victory impressed SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier.
“I’m certain because they haven’t been a member of the Missouri Valley, and we kind of talk about how good we are, they pushed that they needed to come in all guns blazing, and they did,” he said, according to the Grand Forks Herald. “They proved they belong.”
He added: “I thought (UND) did a great job scheme-wise, but I was most impressed with the physical part of the game. We expect that out of UND. It’s kind of their mentality. This is old-school football. They’ll run the ball, play hard-nosed defense and be sound in special teams.”
The Fighting Hawks did most of their damage on the ground, totaling 229 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 39 rushes. Running room should be harder to come by against the Jacks, who held the Panthers to just 28 yards on 25 carries last week.
“They’ve been good against the run for a long time,” North Dakota head coach Bubba Schweigert said, per the Grand Forks Herald. “We think their personnel is very good. You have to earn it against them.”