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BY JEREMY [email protected]
Though it finished 2011 on astrong note, the South DakotaState football team is not satis-fied.
Coming off a 5-6 mark last sea-son, 4-4 in the Missouri ValleyFootball Conference (MVFC), theJackrabbits know exactly whatwent wrong, according to headcoach John Stiegelmeier.
“We didn’t come close to play-ing up to our potential last year,”Stiegelmeier said in the pre-sea-son MVFC teleconference. “Weneed to eliminate turnovers andcreate turnovers; our ratio hasbeen terrible the last two years.
“When you shoot yourself inthe foot, you don’t know howgood you can be.”
The Jackrabbits ranked sec-ond-to-last in the conference inthe turnover margin category,with nine lost fumbles and 17 in-terceptions — a ratio of minus-8in total. Penalties were also anissue, adding to what was amostly frustrating 2011 cam-paign.
Once SDSU got past back-to-back lopsided losses to NorthernIowa and North Dakota State lastOctober, the season turned a cor-ner. The key now is to use thatsting to fuel the fire for 2012,Stiegelmeier said.
“They’retremendouslyself-motivated,”he said. “Theywere disap-pointed lastyear, but whenyou look at thefilm, there was areason why.Football’s notmagic, just doyour job. I thinkthey have a bitof a chip ontheir shoulder;there’s someembarrassmentthere.”
Helping to al-leviate suchfrustrations is apotent offense.
The Jacksranked fourth inthe league intotal offense pergame (370.3),but came upseventh in totaldefense (405.7).
Sophomore quarterbackAustin Sumner led the confer-ence and the FCS in passingyards per game (238.2) as a red-shirt freshman last season. Ineight games as the starter, Sum-ner recorded totals of 2,382 yardsthrough the air and 16 touch-downs.
The strong season earned hima captain’s role as a sophomore— a first for the program,Stiegelmeier said.
“He is such a mature guy. Hewas so mature as a true freshmanas an 18-year-old,” Stiegelmeiersaid. “That is not a concern. He’sgot a great arm and a big body.It’ll be the mental part of thegame; you can be mature, butyou have to make the right deci-sion.”
Yankton native Tyrel Kool, asenior this fall, is moving back towide receiver after leading theJacks in rushing yardage lastyear. He ran for 534 yards andfour touchdowns a year ago, buttransitions to receiver where hewill join All-MVFC selectionAaron Rollin (61 rec., 906 yds., 7TD).
One area ofconcern for thepass-heavy of-fense was a last-place ranking inrushing yardsper game (83.5),a mark that wasalmost 60 yardsbehind the aver-age of WesternIllinois. ZachZenner returnsin the backfieldfor SDSU afterrushing for 470yards and threetouchdownslast year.
Junior defen-sive back Win-ston Wright (57tackles, 3 INT)highlights thereturners on de-fense for theJacks, whilesenior AndyMink (75 tack-les, 7 sacks) an-
chors the line.In the pre-season MVFC poll,
the Jacks were picked sixth — aspot that no doubt providessome motivation, Stiegelmeiersaid.
“I’m going to ask each guy tojudge how they felt in their heart,then we’re going to put it away,”he said. “We’re all playing for re-spect. Every day you line up, it’syour chance to prove what youstand for.
“It’s all a T-shirt and a sugarpill; the whole deal is workinghard and staying focused on yourgoals.”
Three of SDSU’s first fourgames this season are on theroad, starting with the Sept. 1opener at Kansas.
You can follow Jeremy Hoeckon Twitter at twitter.com/jhoeck
BY JEREMY [email protected]
VERMILLION — Whether itwas guys swarming to the ball orteammates doling out chestbumps, the defense for the Uni-versity of South Dakota footballteam looks to have a new atti-tude.
Two different players latercalled it “swagger.”
Whatever it is, the defense —with seven transfers and threenew coaches — appears to be infront of the offense through theearly stages of fall practice.
“Everyone wants to win thisyear, especially after last year,”said junior defensive back AaronSwift, who started all 11 gameslast season. The Coyotes were 6-5 a year ago but lost a pair ofchances to share the Great WestConference title.
“We’re still mad about losingconference, so that’s what wewant to do this year.”
Through the early parts of fallpractice, it looked like the de-fense was giving its counterpartsfits.
The Coyotes return sixstarters on defense but will bene-fit from the addition of seventransfers, four from Butler Com-munity College in Kansas and an-other (James Caraway) from theUniversity of Wyoming. JoiningUSD are defensive backs DevinTaverna, D.J. Wakes, Dyllon Knoxand Steve Tellefsen, as well aslinemen Emilous Davis and Dar-rius McMullin.
“I feel like there’s a little morecamaraderie,” junior linebackerTyler Starr said. “We all have thesame goal, to be a shut-down de-fense, to be one of the best in thenation. We have high expecta-tions.
“We’re just coming out hereand working at them; somethingwe haven’t had in a while.”
Also new to the fold are threeassistant coaches on the defen-sive side, led by first-year coordi-nator and secondary coachJason Petrino. He is joined byKurt Troutman (defensive line)and Shane VanDiest (graduate as-
sistant, safeties).Even with all the changes,
Petrino said the main goal ismaintain the intensity apparentWednesday to every play.
“I don’t know what it was likehere before, but ultimately everyday we want to get better,” hesaid. “We want to be successfulon each play. We can’t worryabout a play before, whether itwas good or bad, we have tofocus on the next one.
“It’s all about bringing that en-ergy and enthusiasm all thetime.”
Sure, there were brief spurtswhere frustration boiled over inearly practices, but that mightjust be a sign that the energy isthere, head coach Joe Glenn said.
“They’ve got a real good feelto them,” Glenn said. “They madegreat progress since spring. I feltlike they hit a road block lateron, but they’ve gotten better andbetter. I feel better about themevery practice.”
“We’ve got a lot of new peo-
ple, so it’s like a different lookthan what we’re used to,” Swiftsaid. We still have a lot of areaswe can improve in.”
Chief among those areas, hesaid, are communication andforcing turnovers.
By number of tacklers, USDgraduated its top three leadersincluding two starting lineback-ers. Back on the line are DavidGiese and Jordan Eaton, whileDarius Hogans is the top return-ing linebacker. Starr, a pre-seasonAll-American by numerous publi-cations, will shift from the line tolinebacker.
“There’s always been cliques
with different positions, but noweverybody’s hanging out to-gether,” Starr said. “When youhave guys working at one goal,it’s easier.”
That goal, Swift said, is thepost-season.
If the Coyotes are to make theFCS playoffs in their first year eli-gible, they would need to winseven games.
“That’s what we’re focusedon,” Swift said.
You can follow Jeremy Hoeckon Twitter at twitter.com/jhoeck
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‘Swagger’ Returning To USD Football ProgramSOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES: Marcus Sims (32)
SOUTH DAKOTA COYOTES: Coach Joe Glenn
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“They were disappointed last year,but when you look at the film, therewas a reason why. Football’s notmagic, just do your job. I think theyhave a bit of a chip on their shoul-der; there’s some embarrassmentthere.”
John StiegelmeierSDSU Football Coach
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