SDSU football: Jackrabbits bring energy, intensity to Spring Game

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Apr. 18—BROOKINGS — South Dakota State wrapped up spring practice with the annual Spring Game on Saturday, and the offense "won" 24-17, but that score hardly mattered.

It was a productive spring for the Jacks, far different than last year, when players and coaches were still getting to know each other in the wake of a coaching change, and the existence of the spring transfer portal window meant the roster wasn't even finalized yet.

There is no more spring portal window, so the roster on the field Saturday at the SJAC is the one they'll take the field with in August.

And it's clear the Jacks are better, deeper, more confident and more comfortable, allowing them to head into the summer with momentum.

"We went through a whole spring ball (last year) with people that we thought were going to be on the team and then some of them left," said senior defensive tackle Logan Green, one of the team's captains. "Then we brought a bunch more guys in. There were all these unknowns. Now, this is the team. This is our team. Competing over the last five weeks, you really see the culture taking shape. It gets old playing against each other, but coming out today and making plays and celebrating the little things makes it all worthwhile."

Ideally, an intrasquad game or scrimmage would be pretty even, and that's how it was for SDSU on Saturday. It wasn't a stalemate by any means, as both sides of the ball had successes, but neither side made more than their share.

The play of the day was undoubtedly a long pass-and-run touchdown from Jack Thue to tailback Ramon McKinney. Thue, a sophomore from Brandon, got pushed out of the pocket by pressure and just when it looked like he was going to keep it saw McKinney along the near sideline. Thue saw space behind McKinney and floated the ball over his head, allowing McKinney to run under it and turn upfield, where he made at least four defenders miss as he spun and churned his way to a score.

McKinney, a Division II transfer, is a former quarterback, and showed his instincts and speed on the play. His defensive teammates were clearly impressed.

It was one of two touchdown passes on the day for Thue, the last of four quarterbacks to play on the day (starter Chase Mason only participated in 7-on-7 drills before they went live), and his success illustrated the improvement of the QB room. Josh Holst started, followed by Jack Henry, Anthony Rezac and Thue, and they each played well. Rezac threw a long touchdown pass to Eddie Schultz on a busted coverage and looked capable on the run. Henry finished off what was a good spring with a sharp performance. The competition to be QB2 will continue through the summer and into training camp.

Thue missed last spring to injury, and recognized the importance of taking advantage of every rep he could get this year.

"For guys like me who are in that (backup) position this is kind of like our Super Bowl," Thue said. "Prepare like it's a game. Take it super serious and show out if you can. It was great to be out there playing with the guys. It felt good to get a chance to get on the field and show what I can do."

Another highlight came when Thue connected with John Eichhorn, a recent walk-on to the team. Eichhorn is unlikely to ever see significant action, but made a contested catch over the middle and was swarmed by teammates when he came off the field.

In addition to McKinney's big play the running backs played well, with a makeshift offensive line doing a solid job. Senior captain Quinten Christensen and potential starters Kenyon Big Bow and Cooper Starks all sat out the spring season recovering from injuries but that opened the door for more reps for guys like Kyan Rauk, John Pica, Jackson Kerstin and others.

Defensively the Jacks showcased their depth in the box. It's obvious Wayne State transfers Jes Krcil (linebacker) and Carter Sitzman (edge) are going to force their way onto the field, while in-state products Luke Krempges and Maverick LeBrun look poised to contribute on the edge.

The linebacking corps is just absurdly deep, as Krcil, Matt Goehring, Casey Larson, Kytan Fyfe, Bryce Johnson, Jack Nash and Boden Schiller join returning starters Joe Ollman, Cullen McShane and Chase Van Tol.

In the secondary, cornerbacks Ife Current, Henry Pickens and Paul Kim are pushing returners Noah St. Juste and Myles Green. Current and Pickesn impressed on Saturday, with Pickens blocking a field goal.

Tank Farr, a true freshman from Wisconsin, turned heads at safety this spring, adding to a room that returns veterans Dontay Johnson and Noah Thompson and added experienced transfers in Amaje Parker and Jack Johnson.

Lastly, the Jacks appear to be in good shape at kicker. Nebraska transfer Tristan Alvano drilled every kick on Saturday but so did returning sophomore Ryan Harrington, including a 47-yarder.

"There was a lot of good back-and-forth today," said coach Dan Jackson. "You saw flashes from players we needed to see flashes from. And today was a lot about getting the younger players and transfers comfortable and some game experience. Because we still have 70 players on this roster that are in their first or second year."

But at least those 70 will be the only ones in that situation. There won't be any last-minute additions. There are no new position coaches. Everything has been in place for more than a calendar year.

It's clear the renewed sense of familiarity has this team excited about its potential.

"(Not having a spring window) allowed us to focus on our team, create an identity," Jackson said. "Because with a second portal window, you kind of wait till June before you really start establishing, knowing what you have. And so we know what we have. We know what they can do. And it's helped me design practices that are allowing us to grow and evaluate and not just hope that this roster's still together. So who we got's who we got, and they're good enough."

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