Playoffs

[LetsGoRabbits]

I don't think I will forget watching (on TV) the melf-down of the century when we played Montana in the first round of the playoffs in 2009. I'd like to see the Jacks take on the Griz and do a little pay-back.

The 2009 season was SDSU's first D1 playoff appearance and we traveled to Missoula for a Thanksgiving weekend game. The Griz were undefeated at that point (they finished the year 14-1, their only loss coming in the National Championship game against Villanova) but the Jacks were dominating, closing out the half up 34-14 and the third quarter up 48-27. But there was one looming problem in the personna of Mark Mariani, a receiver and return specialist. To this day I wonder why we were kicking and punting anywhere near that guy. He seemed to be on a personal mission to rip the hearts out of the Jacks.

We lost -- Montana 61, SDSU 48.

Mariani seemed to announce that he was going to take over the game when in the third quarter he took a kickoff 98 yards to the house. The score at the end of the third quarter suggested the Jacks remained firmly in control but there was trouble on the horizon, starting with Mariani's kickoff return. Here's the official scoring summary retrieved from GoJacks.com:

3rd	05:25	UM - Marc Mariani 98 yd kickoff return (Brody McKnight kick failed)	48	27
4th	14:56	UM - Marc Mariani 15 yd pass from Andrew Selle (Brody McKnight kick) 11 plays, 79 yards, TOP 3:05	48	34
4th	07:35	UM - Chase Reynolds 1 yd run (Brody McKnight kick), 8 plays, 66 yards, TOP 2:15	48	41
4th	04:11	UM - Chase Reynolds 1 yd run (Brody McKnight kick), 4 plays, 52 yards, TOP 1:19	48	48
4th	01:08	UM - Marc Mariani 4 yd pass from Andrew Selle (Brody McKnight kick) 5 plays, 41 yards, TOP 1:34	48	55
4th	00:45	UM - Sev. Campbell 32 yd interception (Brody McKnight kick blocked)

Mariani's name is liberally sprinkled in the plays leading to the Montana scores in the fourth quater, He finished the game with 171 yards. Mariani played his high school ball at Havre, MT (senior year captain; 12-0 and State A champs) BUT did not play football his first year at Montana. Then he walked on and established himself as a talented wide receiver and dangerous return specialist. Montana finished the 2009 season 14-1, losing the national title game to Villanova. Mariani was drafted in the 7th round in 2010 by the Tennesssee Titans. Yeah, he has a Wikipedia page.

I wouldn't mind playing Montana. They're playing great football right now. So are we.

well JD thankfully i had blocked out the details of that particular memory. but the memory i did carry with me was that SO MANY people were saying things like a loss like that could be a program killer and something we might never come back from. Coach Stig, however, DID NOT waver for one second!! in the immediate aftermath of that game he was still saying how much he loved his players and that he was proud of them and that the program would do nothing but grow from the experience of that season and that game

and now however many years later we have no need to be haunted by the bad memories of that game because we know that Stig was absolutely correct!! and on the day to think about the things we are thankful for Jacks football fans have too many blessings to count and so many GREAT memories and things to be thankful for

i understand some of us would like to have something like a payback to UM for that game, but i think the revenge has been doing what Stig said and growing and becoming the program we have become. as far as who we play when and where, the only team the jacks need to worry about is the jacks. if we take care of our own business and play something near what we are capable of it wont matter who we play, it would be fun to play UM just because it would be someone a little different but i am expecting a fun playoffs regardless of the opponents

just to be clear- did not mean that i did not appreciate your memory / bringing back the details of that game. appreciate you doing the leg work to find this for us. just meant i was happy i had forgotten some of this and happy that now we have so many more good playoff memories

[JackJD]

The coaches and players would advise "one game at a time". and I honestly don't care who we get for opponents (but beating Montana would be fun!).

[LetsGoRabbits]

The coaches and players would advise "one game at a time". and I honestly don't care who we get for opponents (but beating Montana would be fun!).

agreed! it would be fun to beat them
as i said cuz a little different opponent. meaning we have played MSU twice recently and obviously we get ndsu and other mvfc schools plenty
i just dont care much about revenge for 2009. i was definitely annoyed that they did not come to brookings a few years back when they were contracted to, but these things are just interesting for the fans. i dont think the players spend a second thinking about it

[ringthebells]

If we play/beat Mercer/Gardner Webb; Villanova; Idaho and Montana...we will have beaten 11 of the other 23 teams in the playoffs. Who knows how things will work out, but it is kind of interesting.

[rabidjack]

https://www.espn.com/college-footbal...h-dakota-state

[JacksFan80]

agreed! it would be fun to beat them
as i said cuz a little different opponent. meaning we have played MSU twice recently and obviously we get ndsu and other mvfc schools plenty
i just dont care much about revenge for 2009. i was definitely annoyed that they did not come to brookings a few years back when they were contracted to, but these things are just interesting for the fans. i dont think the players spend a second thinking about it

I’d be surprised if many of the players even know about that game, let alone care about a game from 14 years ago. I’m pretty sure the only coach who would care about that game would be Rogers since that was his senior season, so to be fair he might have a bit more motivation for a game against the Griz.

[salemjack]

It really is a luxury having Thanksgiving weekend off.

I am sure the boys loved having a couple days off and a chance to see some of their families.

But selfishly, I am really looking forward to being able to take in all the rivalry games and playoffs games simultaneously in my man cave!

Don’t take this for granted! Go Jacks! Rogers forever.

[JacksFan80]

We’ll be hosting Mercer next week as they beat Gardner-Webb 17-7 today.

[98Jackfarmer]

We’ll be hosting Mercer next week as they beat Gardner-Webb 17-7 today.

I watched some of that game today. It was not pretty.

[LetsGoRabbits]

well, NDSU and SIU were pretty easily the two most impressive teams today. YSU seems comfortably on their way to joining them. Richmond probably the next best win. Deleware was fortunate to escape. Mercer started hot and held on and other favorites went down. UND defense was completely nonexistent and their offense could not make enough plays to keep up

assuming YSU keeps up what they started, 3 of 4 MVFC schools look very strong today

i cannot believe it but i feel like i will actually cheer for usd next week. i think that has happened less than a handful of times in my 57 years. something about Sac St i dont really care for, probably mostly just the big sky vs MVFC thing, and i guess i am hoping for a bison vs coyotes rematch in the quarters

[jakejc795]

I watched some of that game today. It was not pretty.

Looking forward to seeing a new opponent in Brookings.

Hopefully Jacks can have game in hand and rest starters

[jakejc795]

well, NDSU and SIU were pretty easily the two most impressive teams today. YSU seems comfortably on their way to joining them. Richmond probably the next best win. Deleware was fortunate to escape. Mercer started hot and held on and other favorites went down. UND defense was completely nonexistent and their offense could not make enough plays to keep up

assuming YSU keeps up what they started, 3 of 4 MVFC schools look very strong today

i cannot believe it but i feel like i will actually cheer for usd next week. i think that has happened less than a handful of times in my 57 years. something about Sac St i dont really care for, probably mostly just the big sky vs MVFC thing, and i guess i am hoping for a bison vs coyotes rematch in the quarters

I'm fine with Bison season ending in Bozeman

[bigticket1]

I watched some of that game today. It was not pretty.

#11 could very well have a career game if they leave him in long enough. Mercer pass defense wasn't good from what I saw.

[LetsGoRabbits]

I'm fine with the Bison's season ending in Bozeman

well dont get me wrong, i am fine with it too. wont be shedding any tears for the bison if their season comes to an end!! but there will be 3 MVFC v big sky matchups next week and i would prefer the MVFC win all of them. and since we get a team we have played multiple times recently no matter who wins, i would just as soon that YSU beat villanova also. if YSU was playing albany or furman, i would be rooting more for us to get a new opponent. i do expect YSU to give nova all they can handle and maybe quite a bit more

[jakejc795]

#11 could very well have a career game if they leave him in long enough. Mercer pass defense wasn't good from what I saw.

Definitely seemed that way.

However, I'm not sure how long I'd want him in if Jacks have comfortable lead