Date: Saturday October 25, 2025
Time: 8:00 PM (ET)
TV: ESPN2/ESPNU
The Quick Hits
One of the biggest games in the FCS is back and, once again, it will have the country as a whole watching. #1 North Dakota State (7-0) rolls into Brookings with a head of steam, having won 11 straight
games dating back to 2024. A new quarterback, reshaped backfield and updated defense has been nothing more than a blip in the Bison machine as it has its eyes firmly set on another national championship run. No one has been able to stop the top team in the land yet this year… in fact no one has even come close. The ones that might be able to do it, though, reside south of the Dakota boarder.
South Dakota State (7-0) boasts a similarly unbeaten record and has compiled that in spite of what some folks thought possible after such a tumultuous offseason. Now under the leadership of a new coach, new QB and operating with a largely new team in general, the Jackrabbits have fought their way to the nation’s #2 ranking. They’ve been battle tested and have passed every trail up to now. As they know, however, when NDSU is on that other sideline the game changes exponentially.
The Coaches
Hired to take over after Jimmy Rogers left for Washington State, first-year head coach Dan Jackson has been terrific thus far with the Jacks. This is Jackson’s first ever season as a head coach and he couldn’t have asked for a better start. A former linebacker for South Dakota State, Jackson served as an assistant at several different places including SDSU, Northern Illinois Vanderbilt and Idaho before coming back home to lead the Jackrabbits. He’s a defensive-minded guy who has his team playing some lights out ball right now.
For North Dakota State, it will be second-year head coach Tim Polasek calling the shots. Polasek won the national title with NDSU last year in his first season at the helm and now he’s looking to join the likes of his former mentor Craig Bohl and Chris Klieman as the only Bison head men to win back-to-back championships. Polasek has a staggering 21-2 overall record since being named the coach and has only lost one Missouri Valley game during his brief tenure. At the rate he is going right now, he will likely be a frontrunner for this year’s Eddie Robinson Award too.
South Dakota State Offense vs. North Dakota State Defense
The big question looming right now on the mind of every Jacks fan is about quarterback Chase Mason and whether or not he will suit up this weekend. Mason suffered an ankle injury during the first quarter last week in the team’s win at Murray State. In his place, redshirt freshman Luke Marble stepped in and threw for 189 yards and two touchdowns. SDSU, though, does not want to send a freshman up against the tenacious North Dakota State defense and is certainly hoping Mason can go. Right now he is day-to-day and will likely be a game time decision on Saturday.
Much like South Dakota State, NDSU is also dealing with injuries right now, the biggest being to defensive lineman Jaxon Duttenhefer who was carted off the field at Indiana State last week with a scary upper body injury. Duttenhefer will surely not play in this one and that’s a big loss as he is a team captain and had 13 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery on the season. It will be a big blow for a line that has registered 19 sacks this year and is holding opponents to just 95.7 rush yards per game.
The Jacks will look to buck that trend with running back Julius Loughridge. Loughridge has been excellent since transferring in from Fordham over the offseason. He leads the team with 714 yards and six touchdowns and has two games this year in which he’s run for over 150 yards. Loughridge may not necessarily be a consistent home run hitter in terms of big chunk plays but he’s terrific in keeping the chains moving and helping SDSU’s offense in short yardage situations. If the Jacks are able to wear down the Bison defense, Loughridge will likely be a big reason why.
North Dakota State will lean on linebackers Logan Kopp and Nathaniel Staehling to help stymie the Jackrabbits rushing attack. The dynamic pair over the middle has combined for 85 stops, 7.5 tackles behind the line and four QB hits. Kopp and Staehling are as good as any linebacking one-two punch in the country right now and both are tremendous at flying to the ball from practically anywhere on the field. If there is a play to be made on defense, odds are good that one of these two is in on it.
South Dakota State receivers Lofton O’groske and Alex Bullock will have a big job, especially if Mason can’t play and Marble is in. They will need to relieve pressure from the youngster on the outside. Bullock currently has a team-high 40 catches for 510 yards and a pair of TDs while O’groske is behind him with 312 yards and three touchdowns. They are the most targeted players in the passing game for the Jacks and could end up being the X factors in a game that is anticipated to see a lot of action on the ground.
North Dakota State Offense vs. South Dakota State Defense
There are two guys on the field that can be truly lethal to South Dakota State’s defense come Saturday evening and they are signal caller Cole Payton and receiver Bryce Lance. If the Jackrabbits do not draw up a game plan revolved around stopping this connection, it’s going to be a long night. Lance is one of the FCS’s most talented pass catchers and entered this season as a favorite to win the Walter Payton Award. So far, though, Lance has been held relatively in check by the opposition because he draws so much attention. Still, he has 535 yards and four scores.
Payton, meanwhile, is playing razor sharp from under center this season. He has completed 90 of 121 pass attempts (a completion percentage of 74.4%) and what’s more is that he has only tossed one interception on the year and that didn’t come until last week. Payton was named the starter for NDSU prior to this season after Cam Miller left for the NFL and he was more than ready to take the reins as both the primary passer and a runner. He’s ran for six touchdowns and 475 yards. The Jacks will need to keep him in the pocket but even if they can, he is going to be a problem.
Defensive backs Jalen Lee and Jayden Oliver will have their hands full with Lance and Payton but, the good news for SDSU is that they have both proven to be deadly in their own right in the secondary. Lee and Oliver have each notched three picks this season and have teamed up for 34 tackles. They are enforcers on the back end of the defense but have yet to see competition quite like what they will be facing on Saturday.
Linebacker Cullen McShane will be the primary tackler in the middle for the Jacks. With 51 tackles (34 solo) and 6.5 TFLs, McShane is one of the best backers in the Missouri Valley right now and has been arguably the most impactful player on the South Dakota State defense thus far. Twice this season he’s authored 12 stops and both of those instance came in the Jackrabbits’ narrowest victories, at Montana State and at Youngstown State. McShane seems to rise up in the big moments and this weekend, SDSU will need him to do it again, especially against the running back they’ll be tasked with stopping.
Senior Barika Kpeenu has been the workhorse all year for the Bison on the ground but he’s been playing especially well as of late. Over the last three games, Kpeenu has recorded two 100-yard games and has ran for four touchdowns. Last week he saw 23 carries which was by far the most he’s had in any single game all year. NDSU is clearly ramping up his touches and will likely look to him often in this one.
Prediction
Very rarely does the Marker fail to deliver on the hype and this year it should absolutely be must-see TV again. South Dakota State, admittedly, really needs Mason to be able to go in this one but if he does, the Jacks will go blow for blow with the Bison at home. Loughridge and Kpeenu will each get their touches and yards. Those two stout defenses led by their star linebackers will slog it out with the rushing attacks all night. That is typically the case when these two squads meet. The difference maker in this one will be which passing game has more juice. As good as guys like O’groske and Bullock have been, it’s hard to go against Lance in that department. This game will not be decided in regulation but, in overtime, Payton will find Lance for the game-deciding play. It may not be a walk-off touchdown but it will set one up. NDSU escapes with their perfect record in tact and keeps the rock in Fargo.
Score Prediction: North Dakota State: 31 – South Dakota State: 28 (OT)
