Matt Zimmer: Jackrabbits, Coyotes both embracing rivalry
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 29—BROOKINGS — For a very long time, South Dakota had three Division II college football teams all within 100 miles of one another, playing together in the North Central Conference: Augustana College, the University of South Dakota and South Dakota State.
All three had varying degrees of success, and all three enjoyed something of a three-way rivalry, with the State-U game being the biggest of the three.
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North Dakota and North Dakota State were also members of the North Central Conference, and they were the two most powerful programs within it. Their rivalry was with each other, and their games in South Dakota didn't mean much, other than a likely win.
That changed when SDSU and NDSU left the NCC for Division I in the early 2000s, and the Jacks and Bison formed the Dakota Marker rivalry, which quickly became one of the best in Division I FCS football, thanks largely to the Bison's dominance and the Jacks' rise to meet it.
And while it doesn't get talked about much, USD was starting to create something of a rivalry with the Bison, too. They weren't playing for a trophy, but the Coyotes beat them enough times for it to become another big game for both teams to look forward to.
But now it's over, as the Bison have once again moved up the ladder, this time to the FBS level, and this time by themselves. The Dakota Marker rivalry is at the very least on hiatus for now.
Which, as the 6th-ranked Coyotes (7-2, 4-1) prepare to head to Brookings for Saturday's nationally-televised Halloween clash of top-10 teams, puts a greater spotlight on the SDSU/USD rivalry.
This is the new big one, but it's hard to blame anyone on either side for feeling a little awkward about proclaiming it so.
This is the 14th edition of USD/SDSU at the D1 level, but the first 13 always took a back seat to the Dakota Marker. Now that the Bison are gone, 5th-ranked SDSU (6-2, 3-1) turns to USD as their primary rivalry.
For USD, the Jacks were already their top rival, so it's understandable if some, especially fans, feel a little condescended to.
Oh, sure, now we're your rival.
But in fairness to the SDSU side, no matter how often fans may have taunted those in red with claims of superiority or pretended not to care about them, the players and coaches at SDSU never did that. Former coach John Stiegelmeier re-embraced the rivalry immediately upon its resumption, and his assistant coaches and players fell in line.
The Jacks never denied that NDSU was the game they circled on the calendar, but always insisted that USD was a rivalry as well, and that, in fact, they enjoyed having two rivalry games.
Now that there's just one, they're all-in on the Yotes.
"I think it's always definitely been a big game," said SDSU linebacker Chase Van Tol. "With North Dakota State leaving, obviously we had two rivals within the Missouri Valley, now we have just one. We're going to be focused on whoever's in front of us, but it's a bigger game. We treat NDSU the same way we treat Murray State and USD, but it's just — the emotions are higher. People play harder during these games. It's a fun game to be a part of and hopefully it's fun for the fans to watch, too."
Every rivalry in football presents a unique challenge for coaches. They thrive on routine and repetition, getting their players to block out distractions and focus on their task 'to go 1-0 every week.' But most also recognize that rivalry week is different. There are more distractions. There is more at stake. Emotions run higher. The atmosphere on gameday is always different.
With few exceptions, coaches that ignore the rivalry aspect of the game and/or try to get their players to treat it like 'just another game' often end up on the losing end.
That's something Dan Jackson and Matt Vitzthum both seem to be aware of.
"This is awesome, to have an in-state rivalry is what it's all about, right?," said USD's Vitzthum. "It's an unbelievable opportunity to go out and perform in front of a great, hostile environment. I think we've got to embrace that we're going to go on the road and there's probably going to be about 200 or 250 people in red. I think we want to embrace that. I think you have to have fun with that.
"But at the same time," Vitzthum added, "you really have to focus in even harder on just doing your job and executing at a high level. If you let your emotions get the most of you and the rivalry, you know, impact how you play, that's when you cross that line. So I do think there's a level of respect. I think there's a level of embracing the moment. And then I think there's another level of, hey, let's just go do our thing, right? I've seen us play at a high level when we're just focused in on doing our job. So it's a little bit of both."
Rivalries also bring motivations. Besides the stakes (the winner remains in the hunt for the Valley title and a top seed) USD is motivated by the fact that they've still never won in Brookings in the Division I era. The Jacks are motivated by having lost last year's meeting, a 24-17 slugfest in Vermillion.
SDSU linebacker Cullen McShane said in the aftermath of his team's win over Murray State last week that the Jacks have not forgotten about that game last year. Quarterback Chase Mason, who missed that game due to an injury, said he's had this one circled since the schedule came out.
And given that Jackson doesn't want to sink to 0-2 against the Coyotes as SDSU coach, he's all for it.
"We embrace it. I don't think it's something that you would ignore," Jackson said. "I mean, it's cool. I think this is turning into a rivalry that's been around for a long time. But in a lot of ways, to me, it's getting reignited, and it's an awesome opportunity for both universities and football programs. So I think some new coaches, and winning programs, and top five teams that have national championship expectations, and standards, and hopes, it's gonna make this game a fun one for a long time. So we're leaning into it."