No. 1 seed South Dakota State hosts No. 4 seed Montana State for a Saturday afternoon FCS semifinal matchup.
What does SDSU need to do to reach its second FCS title game? Here are five keys for a victory.
RELATED: 5 Keys For A Montana State Victory
Stop The QB Run
SDSU’s No. 1 FCS rushing defense (85.2 YPG) goes up against MSU’s No. 1 rushing offense (332.4 YPG). The Jacks have used talent, power, and depth in their front seven to shut down opposing offenses. But last week, Holy Cross QB Matthew Sluka ran wild, going for 213 yards on the ground.
MSU’s strength within its run game is the QB run. Tommy Mellott (6-foot, 205 pounds) is the speedster who is also a tough runner. He leads the team with 1,059 yards and 12 TDs on the ground. Backup QB Sean Chambers (6-foot-3, 232 pounds) is the second-leading rusher with 835 yards and 18 TDs. He offers more power, but he can also glide in the open field. Both Mellott and Chambers missed two games at different times this season due to injuries. Now that they are healthy together again, MSU utilizes both and often has them on the field at the same time.
Sluka’s success against SDSU was mostly him scrambling on passing plays. MSU will do more QB design runs, whether it’s read option with the RBs (Elijah Elliott has run for 835 yards and 2021 All-American Isaiah Ifanse has run for 253 yards in his two games back), QB power, or a read option between the two QBs.
Ifanse looks as good as ever, and Elliott is a great talent. But the main key is stopping the QB run. If SDSU can’t, it will be a long day for the Jackrabbits.
Shed Blocks
Last year’s MSU offensive line was bigger, both in height and weight. MSU ran more power and came downhill at defenses with runs between the tackles. This year’s OL is mostly underclassmen between 6-foot and 6-foot-4, and between 290 and 300 pounds. They’ll still hit you in the mouth, but they excel at running outside zone and getting out in space.
The entire blocking is elite, from the o-line maneuvering the defensive line and climbing to the second level, to the tight ends being a major factor in the rushing attack, and even to the wide receivers blocking on the outside.
SDSU’s d-line will have to be disruptive and eat blocks, the LBs will have to get off their blocks and flow to the football, the safeties will need to come down hard and take good angles (Mellott is especially good at getting outside the tackles and racing OLBs or safeties to the sideline for chunk yardage), and the cornerbacks will need to fight off blocks and stick their nose in the action.
RELATED: SDSU vs. Montana State Tale of the Tape
Clean Special Teams
SDSU has been up-and-down on special teams this year. Jadon Janke is dangerous on returns, but he can also take some risks fielding punts. Kicker Hunter Dustman has had spurts of struggles and is 16/23 on field goals. And SDSU will need to contain kick returner Marqui Johnson, who is second in the FCS with an average KR of 31.8 yards.
Special teams, especially this late in the playoffs, can be the difference between winning and losing.
Isaiah Davis Explosive Plays
Davis is a top-tier FCS running back, and he hits a new gear in the playoffs. Some of his runs that include lethal stiff arms have gone viral. His ability to give an energetic boost to SDSU’s offense will be key against an MSU team that has played its best defense in the last three games.
The Bobcats are better against the run than the pass, allowing 129.2 rushing YPG, which is 32nd in the FCS. They just shut down a strong William & Mary rushing attack, giving up 135 yards on the ground. The Jacks will still get theirs on the ground behind a couple of All-American offensive linemen Mason McCormick and Garret Greenfield, but MSU looks equipped to hold its own against the SDSU run game. Davis may get bottled up on some drives, but he can change the complexion of a game in a hurry with his explosive runs.
Mark Gronowski’s Accuracy Down The Middle
MSU has been more gettable through the air than on the ground this season. The Bobcats allow 222.0 passing YPG, which is 61st in the FCS. They allowed 324 passing yards against FBS Oregon State, 267 against Northern Colorado, and 459 against Northern Arizona. All of those games were on the road (Oregon State was a neutral site).
The zone between the LBs and safeties has been picked on by some teams. And that’s an area SDSU can exploit. The Jacks run a lot of play-action out of the shotgun. Gronowski does a good job of pulling the ball out of the gut of Davis or Amar Johnson when defenses are over-respecting the run and then rifling a pass down the seam to his massive TEs Tucker Kraft and Zach Heins or on slant routes to Jaxon and Jadon Janke.
Gronowski is completing 65% of his passes for 2,555 yards, 21 TDs, and five interceptions. His legs have become more dangerous as well, rushing for 10 TDs. Gronowski is now 20-1 against the FCS, not counting the Sam Houston game in the spring championship when he got injured on the opening drive, which kept him out all of last fall. (Mellott is 13-0 vs. the FCS as a starter, not counting last season’s championship game vs. NDSU when he got injured on the first drive.)
Gronowski is going to have to make big-time throws to his talented pass-catchers to get another win.
