2021 NCAA FCS Championship Semifinal - Delaware vs South Dakota State

hey thank you so much and welcome to brookings south dakota for the first of two fcs championship semi-finals top overall seed south dakota state getting set to host undefeated delaware for the right to play in the national championship it starts now on espn and what better way to get a spring saturday started with some fcs football and the right to play for a national championship two story programs getting set to kick off here south dakota state and the jack rabbits top overall seed delaware comes in they've never lost on the road this season they are a perfect undefeated 7-0 what's at stake there you have it two semi-final games today this the first one advances to the national championship game in frisco texas the second of our fcs doubleheader sam houston james madison that kicks later over on abc and with that welcome in mike golan junior matt berry so happy to be a part of this broadcast and what is going to be such a good college football saturday in may what more could you ask for and when you look at both of these teams i had mentioned tradition rich programs on one side delaware they've won six national championships haven't won one since 2003 in fact the last time they advanced past the semi-finals was in 2010. on the other side south dakota state they have won they've been to the playoffs nine consecutive times but goalie junior they've never advanced past the fcs semi-finals and when we did our prep both of these teams very similar in style and attack of football yeah you mentioned certainly the tradition is where you start but you take a look at these teams on the field you've got two great defenses that love to take the ball away give their offenses an extra crack at it and you've got two quarterbacks that have stepped up big for their teams all season long and maybe in no bigger spots than each of their respective scs quarterfinal games to get them here and with regard to south dakota state and the jackrabbits they needed every bit of a comeback last week in the quarterfinals against southern illinois at one point they were down 20 to 10 at the half and then the second half behind their true freshman quarterback mark granowski they found some rhythm they found a way and they got their way back into the game looked more like a true freshman they've been than they've been accustomed to five of 13 in the first half so he said i'll go ahead and use the legs to kick start this party and kick start this comeback they use the defense towards the end to shut it down and they avoided the upset is isaiah davis's touchdown put it in for the jacks 31-26 the final but mark granowski what a fun young quarterback he is to watch confidence the key with this true freshman confidence and it's earned through the amount of practice time remember all the fcs freshmen because of the season being pushed back from the fall essentially became early enrollees so he had a lot of practice time and clearly paying off for him this year one of my favorite things about this young quarterback when he was named the starter he looked as coaches in the eye and he said you will not regret this decision he's got a lot of fire he's got a lot of confidence looking forward to seeing him play this afternoon on the other side it's same as it ever was for delaware they play a very similar style both offensively and defensively with how they attack but their quarterback is also the story and when your quarterback nolan henderson to a man golic jr they said this is the toughest player on our team and it was proof based on what we saw last week against jacksonville state that tough pass rush they knew coming in got home early and often the banged up shoulder but seeing him respond on the sideline going out getting bandaged up and weathering shots like this the targeting call against jacksonville state this team that from offense to defense said they saw their quarterback pop back up and it sparked something in the rest of them they knew they could go out there and win for him and when a quarterback can ignite both sides of the ball you know it's gonna be something special especially with how tough he played a week ago let's go down to the third member of our team and katie george for an update on the quarterback hi katie hi guys when delaware left jacksonville state on sunday night head coach jenny rocco said he was unsure if nolan henderson would be able to play in this game now that sentiment shifted midweek they gave nolan tuesday off so he could rest and recover nolan actually said the hit looked a lot worse than it felt but he was pretty sore so on wednesday he met with doctors received an injection in that non-throwing shoulder he was cleared to practice both wednesday and thursday participated and walked through here yesterday and i spoke to him during pregame warm as he said i am good to go which comes as no surprise because this guy is described as an absolute warrior by his teammates now to be interesting to see how much he uses his arm today it's cold it's extremely windy here in brookings and there is a chance of rain later in this game so something to keep an eye on matt katie our apologies we we told you about spring football that it was going to be sunny and beautiful and everything was going to be great flowers are blooming but not the case in brookings south dakota this afternoon it'll be cold wet and it is going to take us back to some old school football south dakota state won the toss they will defer cole from going to kick it off deep to receive for delaware jordan towson dejean lee as we kick for right to play in the national championship next week in frisco that will fall into the end zone for a touchback that's where we'll see the hens offense first and their quarterback nolan henderson who we said has earned the respect of everyone on this team because of how tough and what he battled a week ago against jacksonville state he's your delaware all-time career leader in passer rating and they went over the top and trying to protect him from that jacksonville state rush last week it'll be interesting to see if they're waiting to spread things out against this very stout south dakota state defense he will deploy the caa offensive player of the year and dejohn lee he's got plenty of weapons and thyroid pits gene coleman coming off a career day so it'll be delaware first and ten at the 25 and quick henderson pulls it out he finds gene coleman who had a career-high week a week ago 10 catches 129 yards for a gain of nine on first down [Applause] great play to get it started we always talk about almost wanting to see the ball go through the basket like you're a jump shooter as a quarterback coming into this game after being banged up a week ago their offensive coordinator jared ambrose said we are a ball distribution offense and we will spread it out to who's open check that that was ten yards so it is a first and ten pitched the man in motion first time recalling dejon lee off the left side and south dakota state's defense was there and ready that is quentin hicks for the tackle and a loss of three on the play and just a great job setting the edge by quentin hicks knifing up field that when you're getting the zone rushing attack the delaware wants to try it out penetration gonna be the thing that can bust up the party [Music] hens averaging 160 yards a game on the ground they said it's important for them to get that going early but perhaps against this defense they'll have to pass to throw here we go second down screen set up south dakota state there and ready coleman on the reception and the jacks again for a loss loss of three tackled on the play by their all everything linebacker logan backus get ready for that name to be called often today you get all the pre-snap movement you get all the window dressing and the one guy that's not fooled is 12 in blue for south dakota state your first team all-conference backer you know what i love about the description of logan bacchus how would you describe bacchus they'll tell us he's different different is good third and long now for henderson and delaware in their first possession of the game ball spotted at the 30. time quick out gene coleman's gonna be well short of the first down tackled by don gardner that was a gain of ten but we will have a punt and a stop for south dakota state on their first defensive possession and a great first defensive possession for them to build off of we know between these two defenses delaware the group that's going to move around a little bit more for south dakota state they're going to go do what they do you're going to see that 4-2-5 defense lined up keep everything in front of them and attack with leverage the way they did there tyler pastula the punter jackson yankee one of the yankee twins which we'll get into gets the punt off pressure there was contact and jackson yankees gonna let it roll no flags on the play that punt will hold for 42 yards and when you talk south dakota state jack rabbit football that conversation stops and starts with their head coach john stiglemeier 24 wins or 24 years as the head coach 173 wins that's the most in program history he has built a good one here in brookings and so when someone who's been at the school for almost a quarter century says this team is special and what they've brought to the table is different your ears perk up and you tend to listen so the one thing we've yet to do that we need to is get past this semi-final round gronowski early the play fake rolls out and it is incomplete intended for jaden yankee one of two twins on this roster jaden and jackson yankee nine and ten those are his go-to guys for gronowski those are gonna be the targets you see in this passing game jaden yankee the little bit more explosive one of the two but both are going to get touches as is this very deep tight end room this is a fun versatile offense up front and they're running back pierre strong number 20. he's been described as an fbs level player we'll see a lot of him in the freshman isaiah davis it is strong in the backfield second and ten he's gonna take it off the right side wiggles his way through for a solid gain of six to bring up third and manageable and this is the question mark now as you get into third and passing down this defense for delaware wants to confuse especially for a true freshman quarterback so can you use some of these zone rushes like we just saw to try and take the air out of the ball a little bit make them commit a safety down near the line of scrimmage and simplify the picture for these third downs for your young quarterback they make no bones about how they're going to get to this point 238 yards rushing per game they will run the ball any down including third and four zach hines the man in motion and granowski's pass tipped by drew nichols and so two possessions two punts for both offenses and this is what we talk about making the picture cloudy you see a bunch of bodies up by the line of scrimmage and then 51 in white backing off at the last minute pressure up the middle and you get a zone dropper that your freshman quarterback does not see he's lucky that mistake wasn't even more costly ben dinkle on the punt for south dakota state jordan townsend deep to receive for delaware and that's where we'll start the second possession for delaware punts early in this one 0-0 in our first fcs semi-final on saturday [Music] mike golick jr matt barry katie george alongside and when you had the season you did for delaware you're going to be well represented in the caa postseason awards danny rocco coach of the year dejean lee the running back offensive player of the year and then look at the first team there are a lot of hens representing this roster on the caa post season awards list new high score is that bad did i break the game 16 all-conference nods overall for this squad talon everywhere there's no wonder why they're back on the stage looking for their first national championship appearance since 2010 16 all-conference players eight of them on the first team and no real surprise coming out of the first possession for both delaware and south dakota state to feel out process early on both punt we'll see what kind of rhythm they get into now we know delaware wanted to come in today spreading the ball out a little bit more let's see dejean lee getting involved in the pass game now on this drive as they try and establish him in that area as well said he could line up in the slot very effective both with the ball in his hands on the ground and as a receiver bryce de molly the tight end in motion had a big game last week and there's lee out of the backfield but there's the defense malik lofton on the tackle and a gain of five on first down it's like the jabs at the beginning of a boxing match matt we haven't seen any either team go long this is a delaware team that came out and was playing it short against sacred heart early on in the fcs playoffs seeming to mimic that for strategy early here and they are going with script nolan henderson four for four they told us they are gonna have to pass it to run it see if that loosens thing up second and down again it's henderson the quick throw and what a catch by gene coleman that's going to move the chains first down delaware [Music] and this is just as much about trusting your protection up front they knew jacksonville state was going to have some dynamic rushers they felt more confident this week in their offensive line being a hold up in some five-man empty protections against south dakota state that a gain of 14 will see corey sproul for the first time in the backfield the bigger downhill runner for the hens as they are now in jack rabbit's territory and spool's going to take the ball off the left side for a gain of three [Applause] [Music] and so we're already seeing dejan lee he's the short quick guy with burst sproules a more physical style of running back and you're seeing wide open looks for this they're running out of spread sets they're passing horizontally a lot earlier and giving a guy like sprue you mentioned a big body a chance to work against five six-man boxes on the inside henderson to throw again looking at henderson he was covered so he escapes out of the pocket and nolan henderson has this shot in his back he can get out of the pocket scrambles when he needs to he's going to pick up a gain of three caleb sanders applying the pressure in a third manageable coming up for delhi and excited to see him going out protecting himself going out of bounds we saw the big hit we saw the targeting call last weekend one of the coaching points you'll always hear for these quarterbacks is make sure you make no bouts no no bones about it get out of bounds or get down and protect yourself so we can live for third half five here nine thousand fans on hand here in brookings so there is some football noise coleman motions out henderson looks right throws right and it is dylan zimmerman with the catch let's go down to katy with more on henderson and get him back for this game you know guys after the 2019 season offensive coordinator jared ambrose and nolan henderson watched his cut ups ambrose said it looked like he was in the backyard playing five mississippi living on his god-given abilities well during quarantine henderson really studied what it is to be a quarterback he says he wanted to be the guy that recognizes coverages knows exactly what he wants with each play call and he really worked hard at it and that's why we've seen his efficiency rise as a passer it's something he takes great pride in candy efficiency six for six 41 yards that was a first down to zimmerman now some quick work here jordan townsend out of the backfield and a short gain of one on first down delaware has been doing a great job of giving their quarterback information pre-snap we've seen number five gene coleman in motion for them on almost every play right now and so they're looking to see who's following him how does the defense adjust so that as they're looking to dink and dunk down the field their quarterbacks got a good idea of where some pockets are going to show up in the zone you know last week against jacksonville state we saw bryce to maui the tight end he had a big one five for 69 we mentioned coleman a career high in their big play their pitch was eric pitts number one he's hanging out as well as dejan lee still can't get anything going great pressure and once again logan backus in the backfield in a loss of two and not fooled you see the fake jet sweep but just a great job by backus of keeping his eyes in the right spot you saw there in man on the back end so you had a player running with the motion man back his nose i'm responsible here in the box triggers and makes a great play sets them up for a third long where we can maybe see south dakota state unload a little bit of their own pressure package against this delaware offense back has 38 tackles coming in seven and a half tackles for loss he's been active early in this one so third and 12 now from the 38 yard line setting up the screen to dejohn lee has some blockers lee shows some quicks and what a spin move by the caa offensive player of the year dejeanly in the hens moved the chains gain of 14. what an outstanding individual effort you see the twist the penetration up front on a pass rushing down you get your big boys out front behind and then you got to make one guy miss usually as a running back dejohn lee your caa offensive player of the year for a reason with that kind of spin move in the open field an early excitement out of golic jr seeing the big fellas mickey henry and crew leading the way for a big play ball on the 25 this time it's spruel balls on the turf [Applause] and they're going to mark it still delaware possession second down [Music] you follow that up with just a normal inside zone handoff and that time the ball looking a little loose in the hands of corey sproul thankfully one of the big fellas you just mentioned they're a fall on it keep this drive alive there's preston tetzloff will get into his story throughout the afternoon that forced the fumble second and nine 6 35 left at a quick moving first quarter time of possession is what delaware does over 34 minutes a game henderson forced out of the pocket again and does a great job to get back to the line of scrimmage that's the little nuance of henderson's game to be able to move the ball with his feet no damage done they're not going to use them a lot in the designed run game we talked to jared ambrose their offensive coordinator about that but he said you've got plenty of instances in the drop back pass where no one is going to turn those into russian games and set you up for a third and eight here now where again you see them five wide here trying to get their quarterback some protection with a tight end near the line of scrimmage this is the 11th play of the drive [Applause] pressure again henderson able to escape again and he's gonna pick up the first down with his feet crowd booing wanted to hold but henderson able to use that mobility to move the chains first down delaware they're bringing more than you can block up front so the quarterback does a great job rolling out and you can see there corey spool on the perimeter might have gotten away with one but just an incredible job being able to make a player like logan backus miss in open space pick up a big first down neither of us are officials but i think we could all agree that david kroll perhaps got away with a hole there the left tackle so first and ten wasn't called does it matter at this point [Music] designed run for henderson right in the teeth of that jack's defense tackled on the play by rhys winkelmann and a gain of four and if you're gonna use him in the designed run game and we know sometimes they'll bring in their backup anthony pauletti a much bigger body to play a little wildcat quarterback i like it more in those spread sets fewer bodies in the box to be banging on your quarterback we've seen anthony paletti this has been a package they have put in the past couple of weeks so second and six palette the quarterback and they're gonna run it up the gut with paletti for a short gain of two to bring up third and four you see what i mean this a little more of the tebow run package here you get into the backfield you get an extra blocker and so now you're running a two backfield power set power run get a pulling guard some double teams but a few more hats in the box defensively you don't want those kind of hits going towards nolan henderson with that beat up left shoulder i bet you a dollar at some point we see palette take that in there pull it back and throw because they know what he's in there for that bunch formation run you had just mentioned so henderson back at quarterback third and five [Applause] and a timeout on the field so a long drive by delaware they banged their first time out of the half threatening to score late first quarter [Music] the ncaa fcs championship will be crowned base 16th in frisco texas on abc tune in at 2pm eastern for more information visit ncaa.com the home for all 90 nc double a championships up first delaware 14th play of the drive 726 doing exactly what they've done all year time of possession big third down here for the jacks defense pitch the man in motion [Applause] henderson looks right comes back across can't get out of the pressure balls loose south dakota state falls on it it's logan backus who comes up with the loose ball and we'll have another look to make sure that he was down if not logan backus and the jacks is fumble recovered by the defense that play is under further reviews so they will review the play there is a player down caleb sanders forced the fumble we'll check on the injury it's nolan henderson we'll check on that when we come back introducing burst fit for meetings fit for moving fit for meetups first apparel fit for living i want to get you caught up on the action as we stepped away at a break nolan henderson the quarterback was injured on that play you see him walking off under help of his teammates and doctors so that's the first bit of the news so here's the hit caleb sanders forced what was called a fumble on the field but you see henderson's knee and leg get twisted in that pile so twisted there you see the right knee underneath it's tougher from this angle but as you're trying to look at where the ball comes out that right knee tags down right there and that's the exact one that appears to get rolled up on now for nolan as we see zach win their back-up quarterback starting to take some snaps on the sidelines so they are reviewing the play the ruling on the field was a fumble after review the runner's knee was down prior the ball comes loose it'll be fourth down at the 12 yard line the club will start on the ready so delaware able to escape a turnover in the red zone bringing on ryan co the kicker to get delaware on the board first [Applause] be a 29-yard attempt [Applause] and coe's kick is good blue hen strike first three nothing in this one 344 left in the first quarter it is all thanks football in the spring and you know what i'm not going to complain tune in for a special edition of sportscenter on wednesday steve levy lewis riddick brian gracie our monday night football crew along with adam schefter as they break down the upcoming season in the nfl schedule release it's one of my favorite parts of schedule release because the next day on sportscenter golic i'll bet you another dollar that i'm sitting up there at noon easter with sage steel and we're going to go through each team and predict their record based on the schedule that was just released and who will have the courage amongst our many great analysts to predict one nfl team going undefeated going now 17-0 in the regular season 17-game schedule looking forward to that i was going to go the reverse end to say who's got the courage to go owen 17 and say that team's not going to win a game i don't know if it's going to take much courage to say that about the texans matt there's a there's a lot to discuss with that that's houston football franchise delaware up three nothing ryan cos set to kick off it's gonna be jordan meacham and isaiah davis back to receive for south dakota state and that's going to be meacham plenty of space cuts out to the right side and jordan meacham good field position for the jacks [Music] 43-yard line 43-yard return and jordan meacham a little bit of spark for south dakota state to give the ball to their offense their quarterback mark renault with danger in the back of that end zone but finds a great seam on the outside and thankfully for his pride makes the kicker miss that's all you got to do in that spot on the perimeter gets a great start to this series work now they got to respond they thought they were getting a turnover on that last drive delaware manages to get three on the board in a spot where matt i was surprised i thought rule the fumble on the field there wasn't going to be enough to overturn that's going to be a big play in this game especially as now delaware scrambles to get their backup ready potentially on the sidelines so here comes gronowski with a little bit of momentum tosses off to pierre strong nothing going again for strong tackling the play by nigel hill at a gain of zero a huge drive for this delaware defense to try and make sure you capitalize here but it's also a double-edged sword you want to get them off the field you want to keep points off the board but this offense is also trying to figure out on the sideline right now who's going to be coming out at quarterback the next series [Music] this delaware defense the last two playoff games has been stout they only allow 11.7 points per game and they will tell you we start with our defense and the rest takes over again it's strong nice job on the cutback to get some yardage there on second down and a gain of four and there goes the quarterback nolan henderson headed to the locker room it's two consecutive weeks for the delaware quarterback where he has taken some big hits and he has been injured two two weeks in a row guy's a warrior we know what he means to this team and so that's going to be a major storyline to watch as we are still nearing the end of this first quarter we saw zach win the back up warming up we know they'll use anthony paletti in a while uh wildcat quarterback thank you wildcat formation so we'll keep it on henderson we'll throw it down to katie if she's got an update on what his status is for the rest of the game now third and six for the jacks gronowski looked right through right had a pump fake was able to stay with it it's going to be a rule to catch by their tight end zach hines and matt you see him double clutch a little bit here you've got a five-man blitz just shortened i'm not even thinking about it get up and go for it this is a group up front built for this and there it is inches fourth and inches and gronowski gonna have enough for the first down behind the group they affectionately call the 605 hogs you got an injured south dakota state player must have been a holdover from that last play matt you saw them get up to the line of scrimmage early that zach heinz one of their great tight ends first team all missouri valley conference smart guy with great hands that's a part of a very deep and big tight end group matt a versatile group that jason echter offensive coordinator loves to play with schematically all the things you can do with a great big skill group like that and they went forward on fourth and inches were able to convert and get the first down yeah we talked about the tight end room we asked them which one do they go until they they gave us a bullet point for each of them which was to say that they were comfortable with everyone that they could trot out there at that position they are but zach certainly the leader catching wise the target that they can count on in that group and you see him hopping up now looking good let's go back to the catch to play before because he got up to the line for the qb sneak but this was him on the outside running a little pivot route back towards the sideline lost his footing doesn't seem to be anything right there that would alarm you which is probably good news as he's getting up and moving around pretty well now he'll get a look there on the bench but again to your point doesn't look serious came off the field under his own power jack rabbit's ball first and 10 in delaware territory spotted at the 47. [Music] gronowski to throw takes a shot down failed and a good one at that what did we just say about the tight end room this time it's 85 tucker craft and matt they're excited about this guy they said power five as far as physical ability you look at the route right here getting towards the sideline what a big target is able to shield the defender this guy was a wildcat quarterback playing nine-man football said that they believe skill wise their passing game coordinator luke schleichner coached a guy in the name of dallas goddard who says this guy might be further along already than goddard was in south dakota uniform garnowski fake runs it himself delaware not fooled one bit it's gonna be a loss of two led by liam traynor [Music] [Applause] this is a little bit more of what i expected counter action and just no one to account for the man liam traynor there's an extra hat in that box you can block it up as well as you want but if you're not getting to that backside linebacker he's the one who's got to make the play on those gap scheme runs trainers father joe former head coach at uri villanova football background that was 11 meet number 11 as we count down to the final 30 seconds here in the first quarter second and 12 after the loss of two it's gronowski again has time looks over the middle has a man touchdown south dakota state [Applause] jackson yankee 30 yards for house yankee and the top overall seed comes right back and scores after the delaware field goal what a throw by the true freshman the poise a couple of plays after getting tackled behind the line of scrimmage trying to be a power runner he puts the arm on display this offense really a defined set of targets you're looking for one of the yankees or one of these tight ends this is a run first team but making it look easy through the air seven plays 53 yards the cold frog extra point is good and that's how you answer the offenses have started to wake up here's another look gronowski to yankee yankee lined up in the slot so trying to get him a favorable matchup and when you've got him working against a guy wearing number 42 andrew palowski who plays that hybrid linebacker safety those are the kind of matchups you want for a pair of wide receivers in the yankees they're a little more athletic than they probably get credit for at that time they'll feast on that matchup all day again this delaware defense has been so impressive only over 108 yards passing per game but in the playoffs these guys have been virtually unstoppable in terms of defensively sacred heart only 87 yards passing jacksonville state 98 yards throwing and already gronowski has 54 yards in the touchdown so that's a big confidence booster for this young quarterback in this offense absolutely being able to digest everything this back end's gonna try and throw at you we highlighted andrew polowski but the safety group for delaware which in these three three five defenses that you see the iowa states of the world running you see them quite frankly a lot more common in college football overall now you put a lot mentally on the back end of that defense and that time you saw just a physical mismatch of a receiver on a bigger body so from the kick it's gonna be returned at the goal line and a decent return at that [Applause] just outside the 25 yard line abc will be home of the fcs championship game on may 16th with coverage beginning at 2pm eastern the winner of this matchup the first of fcs semifinals saturday gets the winner of james madison and sam houston that coming up later on a b c delaware has not won a national championship since 2003 they have six in their programs history and we will see zach gwinn at quarterback taking over for the injured nolan henderson [Applause] the give to thyroid pits jack's defense there after a gain of three that'll do it for the end of the first quarter feeling out process early and then the offenses started to pick up right now south dakota state on top 7-3 after one we're back in brookings south dakota where delaware is without their leader and starting quarterback nolan henderson at the moment after the injury henderson walked his way to the training table on the delaware sidelines trainers assess that right knee checking his mobility he grimaced the entire time offensive coordinator jared ambrose came over to him and put his forehead directly on nolan's forehead and henderson just broke down crying it was certainly an emotional scene on the delaware sidelines and afterwards henderson walked to the locker room and has not returned to the sidelines matt mike i'll keep you posted on his status katie thank you coming into this game we detailed the story of nolan henderson a week ago in the hits that he took and the work that he had to get done in the non-throwing children this week so now it is zach gwynne in it quarterback for delaware he's gonna play fake on second and seven he's gonna look over the middle it's gonna be in complete intended for dylan zimmerman flag on the play [Music] so mike we'll watch area personal foul chop cluck number 22 and 80. after this in school still first down corey sproul luke frederick caught in the play for a chop block if you are ambrose in this delaware offense what kind of ball plays are you calling for the backup quarterback zach gwen this down notwithstanding but for the rest of the game if we don't get henderson i'm looking at more of the blueprint you used against jacksonville state being able to protect your quarterback almost going over the top with that and then you saw the motion early on you're gonna have to hand off some of those gadget plays you're gonna have to work overtime creatively to get this defense on their toes so second and 19 after the penalty backs them up to the 13-yard line gwen feels the pressure steps up brought down by south dakota state it's gonna be number 55 thomas stacker and this started on the left side look at the left tackle right here david kroll and the great job from the defensive end he gets an arm up under him that's speed to power and gets the initial pressure that number 94 cade tervir what an outstanding rush to force the quarterback up in the pockets the rest of the crew so third at 18. [Applause] this south dakota defense [Applause] would look to apply pressure to the backup quarterback zach gwynne in for nolan henderson quickly out to coleman he's going to try to get back what he can gets the ball up to the 20 blue hens will punt after a gain of six [Applause] matt when we talk to this delaware staff about last week's game they said when nolan henderson got hurt during the game defensively on the other side manny rojas their defensive coordinator said we knew at that point we had a lead we just need to do what we can to hold on to this they were going to play a little more ball control on the other side they knew they had confidence in that defense they've got to go out there and deliver on that tenfold now as this offense narrowly avoids disaster yeah tyler pastula nearly avoided disaster there too punt almost got blocked jackson yankee there look how close this is is pastela slow to get up [Music] in shock you didn't get a call there you see him touch that leg going by punter does a great job selling and i'm amazed they didn't get the flag there and that was inches for the block pastula walks off he'll get some attention [Applause] [Music] that right there quite frankly is under further review so they will take a look at it that's why they tell you usually as a blocker going in there now i was never on the punt block team but i sat in enough special teams meetings to know reaching out usually going to be a tough way so they'll take another look at this punt 7-3 here in brookings south dakota [Music] the delaware ponchata pastelo is not getting in a peloton in between he came off the field he was injured they were reviewing whether or not the ball was touched when isaiah stallborn ran in there golic jr have another look yeah you can see right here the ball clearly not touched and then he reaches out and touches the leg there and matt's exactly why you're coached when you're going towards the block you're running through where he's supposed to be coming at the block point two hands down and not reaching out like that as you run through the outside frame of his body because you leave yourself open to costly mistakes like this for a south dakota state team that was poised to capitalize on their defense the ball was not touched however visiting team has chose to decline the foul for running into the kicker the ball be first down so running into the kicker would not have netted a first down roughing the kick it would have been an automatic first half and it's a smart play i think to just take the punt there because more often than not when you're forced to re-kick in these spots after everyone just ran down and covered that's where you leave yourself vulnerable to a big return from the opposing that we don't know the status of pastelo how he's feeling right now it looks as if he's going to be okay but you don't want to trot him back out there if in fact he is a little bit dinged up perhaps the most shocking thing i've heard this afternoon early in the broadcast is that mike golic jr was not on the punt block team at notre dame as athletic and spry as you are missed opportunity so first and ten for gronowski play fake has time looks downfield and another strike to house yankee that jackson who just caught the touchdown and another first down gain of 21. they smell blood right here they know what's going on in that other sideline right now you come off off that punt and immediately start going back downfield just like you scored that touchdown their offensive coordinator jason eck probably going to dial up something aggressive here you look at granowski stats early on ball at the 34 up the middle isaiah davis the run chunk yards again going to be a gain of about nine and a half close to the first down artie's hemingway on the tackle how about isaiah davis 53 carries in the regular season and not a single one resulted in a tackle for loss that's dependability for a true freshman running back letting the rest of your team know i'm gonna fight to make sure we at least get back to zero they are gonna spot that at first down looks like we've got a double throw gronowski to throw back to him he's got blockers mark gronowski touchdown jacks 24 yards score not sure that's entirely how it was dialed up but it doesn't matter and the rabbit den is going nuts south dakota state some trick some fun and now a 13-3 lead [Applause] matt i think that's exactly how it was dialed up this is a fun look at it because you saw the pass clearly behind the line strong and then we'll get to show you jaden yankee streaking across the field he's going to draw a lot of eyes who are we not expecting to haul in that reception your quarterback cole from extra point is good and what did we say in the play before jason ack offensive coordinator likely to dial something up pierre strong look back to the quarterback gronowski does the rest it is all jacks early 14-3 mike i said on this trick play maybe not how it was designed boy was i wrong this was a perfect design exactly look so you got four receivers up to the wide side of the field and then you've got number nine jaden yankee down here in the short field keep an eye on nine in blue he's gonna go streaking across so now everyone's antennas are up and looking at him and nobody is ready for your true freshman quarterback and then it's him and this offensive line the 605 hogs paving the way for him to the end zone so what are the 605 hogs well it is their offensive line there is one area code in the great state of south dakota it is 605. how many offensive linemen are up front mike golic jr you've got five working as one how long is a football game 60 minutes man combine the two you have 605 and you got some big fellas up front that led gronkowski what a play call that was by kojak and that offensive unit i want you to look at the sidelines right now that is nolan henderson starting quarterback for delaware he is back on the field you see there is a noticeable limp but what were we also told about this player he is the toughest guy on the field we'll see if he comes back to take this snap for delaware it is going to be jordan townsend on the kick return townsend makes a couple of guys miss finds some speed on space on the right side he's brought down by cole fromm after a gain of 41 so delaware comes right back after jordan townsend in a nice kick return to set up the house short kick here a little outside the framework of what you'd set up but just a great job making one man miss and then it's off to the races the races that end with a very happy pat mcafee somewhere you know making that tackle for the brand from got that tackle i'll explain why in a minute but here's nolan henderson back on the field he went back to the locker room to get his knee checked out but he's back to play not sure how mobile he'll be but nonetheless the pitch to the right side that's dejohn lee they've got to get the offensive player of the year going if they're to have a chance reese winkelmann on the tackle after a gain of four and matt when you see that spark they talked about it last week when nolan henderson pops back up everyone else knows i gotta do a little bit more that guy's dragging himself back out onto the field for us everyone else has to tighten the screw right now and dejohn lee is a guy that i'm sure is saying call my number early and often lee three rushes zero yards to this point second and six now henderson empty backfield has to scramble it's gonna go down immediately that's winkelman again for the sack let's go back down to candy george for more on henderson guys i was guys i was just told on this delaware sideline that what you see is what you get and what i see right now from nolan henderson despite that sack is somebody who is so gritty so resilient and it's not going to take no for an answer in a national semifinal game katie you were with us all week they kept talking about this kid's toughness this is a daniel larusso's going to fight moment for delaware comes back out with the knee but it is third and 13. henderson and at this point it is all jack's defense and this possession's been all about reece winkleman and crew quinton hicks also on the pressure gonna bring a fourth down and a punt matt if south dakota state can get home with a four-man rush because that's all this is and you see the initial pressure on the inside from xavier ward one of the leaders on this defensive line if they're able to show and go meaning drop seven drop eight guys in coverage and just have that group up front win gonna be a long day no matter what nolan does it is pastula back on the field the punt jackson yankee deep to receive and yawkey's gonna have some space gets a good key block here goes yankee one man to beat doesn't get past him but boy it has been all about yonki it has been all about the offense and what a return 53-yard return after the 42-yard punt and the momentum is all with south dakota state and matt you saw that all started at the beginning this is to me as much about the punt coverage unit you saw a player from delaware right here trading one for one he felt more like burying the guy on the south dakota state punt return than he did making a play and my dad from the day one and peewee football told me as a defensive player in which case you are here if you're trading one for one the offense wins every time and that's some of the match-ups between the offense we have a running quarterback again that's a match-up thing that gets it to work so here come the jacks momentum with them to give first down pierre strong and a strong carry on first down and this thing switched quickly delaware had the big possession they moved down they were able to get the field goal then grenowski hit jackson yankee 7-3 then the trick play and now all of a sudden we could be looking at a 21-3 ball game just midway through the [Music] second [Applause] winner to the national championship second and four that's jaden yankee in motion play fake gronowski going to leave the block of strong he's going to muscle his way inside the 10. what a run by the true freshman to move the chains first down gain of 13. a great job by pierre strong or excuse me isaiah davis turning into a blocker on this play they pull the front side guard and you essentially create a two running back power block look as it was pierre strong here so right after the carry turns around this is a selfless team on offense they said everyone to a man when we talk to their oc jason eck is ready to get down and dirty to make this thing go so now first and goal south dakota state strong off the left side and now this offensive line is digging their heels in and they are moving the line of scrimmage they went back and ran the same play matt they pulled the front side guard this time instead of having the quarterback running you let the running back hand off they want to send a message after all that rah-rah with nolan henderson coming back out second and goal strong again up the middle touchdown south dakota state the top seed is rolling a three-yard touchdown for pierre strong jr a player the coaches said fbs level and we are an extra point away from this being 21-3 jack rabbits the jackrabbits in the regular season matt in the second quarter outscored their opponents 62-7 this has been a time in the game where they put their foot all the way down on the gas and it's showing right now trying to go up 21-3 fraum's extra point hits the upright we'll see if that comes back later in the game but a big puck returned by yankee and a tough run by strong 20 to three here in the second quarter junior matt barry katie george back with you you look at the longest active fcs playoff streaks north dakota state at 11. right behind them we're watching them south dakota state the jackrabbits you'll see jmu in the other semifinal but the one thing eluding coach stig in south dakota state is that trip to the fcs national championship game they have yet to reach that point but nine years of being a playoff team and if it's any indication early on what we're seeing here in the second quarter they are at a good spot up 20 to three averaging 19.8 yards per play it's an incredible effort they understand the opportunity they've had here to swing the tide in the second quarter and they have taken advantage of every step of the way 24 years for john stiglemeyer at south dakota state what did he say and a man who's coached as many games as he has when he calls this team different you know that there is something there with how special this group has been and in a year of coven their spring or their fall season rather was cancel their plan in the spring it is remarkable he told us not one positive test on this south dakota state roster the entire time except this crew came back three weeks early they gave up some of their time off during the off season towards this goal a commitment like he hasn't seen that's going to be dejeanly or my bet your pardon quincy watson get a return and he's met immediately by a host of south dakota state players and the whistle he was brought down and 173 career wins for stigglemeyer which makes his lovely wife laurie extremely busy for more on that down to katie george it is mother's day tomorrow guys so we wanted to give laurie stiglemeyer wife of head coach john stiglemeyer a round of applause mama stig as the players like to call her makes 11 dozen rice crispy bars from scratch every time the jackrabbits win by her husband's calculations lori has made 22 836 rice krispie bars over the many years that coach stigg has been in charge round of applause and happy mother's day lori well said katie dejean lee on the tackle behind every head coach is a wonderful wife and mom at home as preston tetzlaff on the tackle what is your career rice krispie treat consumption matt no joke myself my roommate braxton cave every time we go on the road we go down to snack at night we would load up on rice krispies and we would sit like fat kids in our beds and throw the wrappers on the floor in the middle and sure enough when someone would get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom you'd hear the crunch of rice krispie wrappers on the floor the brand is strong here matt henderson the pass over the middle complete that to luke frederick yeah there was no intermittent fasting going on in that dorm room there was no fasting period matt there was eating what time are you getting these rice krispie treats like time of day uh usually snack was after the last team meeting around eight or nine at night [Music] there's something about sweet treats at south dakota state may i wow you with this fact please do did you know that cookies and cream ice cream was invented at south dakota state wow you did first down delaware lee tackled by a host of jack rabbit's defenders led by logan backus matt i don't say this lightly this now makes brooking south dakota maybe my favorite place on earth one of them what a gift they've given to the rest of us look at god i think we might need a direct private jet flight to go get some of that cookies and cream and perhaps a rice crispy treat if we're so offered second to nine after a gain of one corey spool in the backfield now if you're just joining us nolan henderson was knocked out of the game briefly the quarterback for delaware he is back and it is spool with a nice hard run off the left side and a gain of seven bringing up a third and short joshua matcha on the tackle they've got to keep working this spread run game because we've seen their offensive lines been having some struggles in empty pass protection when it's just their five against the four up front south dakota state's been winning this matchup early in this game give them a chance to go lean on these guys get yourself in a favorable down in distance like third and two third and two what are you calling here if you're delaware if i'm terrible right here i'm putting in the hands of the offensive line again i'm saying let's add a tight end let's keep the box light and let's hand it off to our running back knowing we might go for it on fourth down anderson under center sproul in the backfield play fake henderson forced out of the pocket again it was his knee that was bothering them and how about that and nolan henderson the toughness katie george said hey look what you see is what you get you see him hopping a little bit but he was also able to pick up the yardage for a gain of five in a first down and so they said all right we'll protect him and even still pressure up the middle by thomas stacker number 55 and you see he's not going to be right the rest of this game this is what you know up front and yet he still digs down deep their offensive coordinator said jared ambrose when you roll a ball out in front of this kid he is different something lights up inside him and you saw it there delaware two timeouts left 5 12 and counting here in the first half can henderson lead them to a score before the break what a hit and pressure bought by adam bach loss of nine this offensive line right now just does he doesn't have an answer for this defense and so you're adding more bodies in for protection this time you're going to watch the linebacker adam bach they bring five and they make a choice on the right side you see the running back takes the man down there but the right tackle gets his eyes mixed up gets beat inside and a big hit on your quarterback that's the third time henderson's been sacked since he left with the injury since coming back bringing up a second and 19. screen set up well designed dejon lee i'm sorry that is corey spruhl who makes some men miss and spool had a convoy in front of him and matt this offense as we see right now a player down for south dakota state [Music] can't get a look at that that's quinton hicks number 48 the injured player screens have really been the only source of big play for this delaware offense and you're going to need a few more of those we saw them going wide to the wide outs earlier to try and slow down this rush slow down this defensive front we had talked about the pressure being applied by south dakota state now they're just taking advantage of it hey if you're going to pressure us we're going to call a screen and we're going to get a big play out of spool and you see hicks on the back pursuing the defensive end he lays out and that left arm gets caught underneath him skidding on to the turf you hope he's okay because it's a great hustle play by one of your stellar defensive linemen the 2019 phil steele fcs second team freshman all-american giving you max effort you just dropped phil steele you know college football season's getting close and that phil steele mag comes in the mail oh it's christmas and that thing is thick that's 2c thick matt so first and ten what a ball play to get all those yards back after the sack henderson 10 of 10 on the day he's going to play fake it again has to scramble again and it is remarkable how he's able to run virtually on one leg and pick up another first down and they're creating these options they're not all designed move the pocket passes but they give him the ability to work that way when i'm surprised matt and if we get another look at it we can show you they're doing a lot of pulling on the inside on these play-action attempts trying to suck down the linebacker but you also create seams for a group already that struggled to protect up front i'd expect more full-line slides to try and help but as an offensive lineman they've got to start picking their quarterback up they do they've got to start running the ball better on early downs three and a half left in the first half that's thyroic picked in motion they fake it to him and his spool with a flag on the play hit immediately by bach holding offense number 69 10-yard penalty from the previous spot still first down so carter lynch the guilty party of a hold and that's nightmare fuel right now for this offense matt you can't afford mistakes this team especially in delaware fifth and fcs just 48.4 penalty yards per game the clean sheet is usually their strong point when the dinged up quarterback you've got no margin for error back in the backfield first and 20 [Applause] after another penalty and a quick strike there to thyroid pits that's the first time we've called his name at a reception gain of 14 their big play receiver comes up to get most of that penalty yardage back and then some second and six got the ten back plus four they said with thyric it's about what the defense decides to do if they're going to devote more coverage to him you saw gene coleman double digit catches a week ago [Applause] dejohn lee off the left we just haven't seen him get going he's the caa offensive player of the year as he goes they go we haven't seen him have much space just six carries for five yards and two receptions for two yards he's a must they're daring them on the other side to throw the ball right now though matt they're gonna load up they're gonna send guys downhill on these early downs and try and put you in third and five situations where now they confuse maybe they drop back in coverage try and get an easy one here from nolan trying to make an extra effort play so third and five two timeouts left for delaware down 20 to three henderson to throw again pressured again sacked caleb sanders loss of seven in the co-defensive coordinators brian bergstrom and jimmy rogers know that they have an advantage up front south dakota state they're first of all you see it right over here on the right side over their center he just gets the clean arm over caleb center saunders going up over the top of mickey henry that's a high school state championship wrestler coming out of iowa you think he understands leverage but that's been the story of the day especially on the interior mat it's one thing when nolan henderson's at full speed he can make plays you can just make guys miss but when you're walking around with a bad wheel that pressure up the gut is a death blow right now for this offense and with all due respect to the jackrabbits their defense that was nothing special that was just up front we're stronger than you right now we're going to get to your quarterback it's just ducking your head too much trying to make an effort extra effort play it's not like mickey henry in this group don't want to go out there and make the play but you push a little too hard and that's what happened so this is ryan coe hit a 53-yarder against sacred heart this also a 53-yard attempt snap clean kick blocked and when it rains it pours for delaware and their offense unable to get anything going or points on the board after that three in the first quarter and a special teams play by south dakota state let's see where the push comes from number 98 van merrill gets up underneath and it looked like that might have actually come off the hand of reese winkleman but the the right side of the screen right there you saw the push over the right guard spot there reestablishing the line of scrimmage and then getting a hand up that's teach tape kickblock winkelman's having a big afternoon we've been calling his name since kick and time of possession doesn't tell the story in this one it's been all delaware there but this game has been all the jack rabbits in the first half so granowski and crew is going to have an opportunity with a minute and a half left pierre strong right up the middle south dakota state two timeouts remaining let's see if they get some tempo as we count down to halftime ball spotted pierre strong stays in gronowski out of the gun again over the middle and he had a man wide open and it was dropped by kenyon bauer [Music] unfortunate miss on the big play but an incompletion the clock stops your offense gets to catch your breath a little bit as now your freshman quarterback's gonna have to turn this loose and big play is right bauer could have made one man miss and been off to the races this is one of those areas too where we've seen mark kranowski use his legs a design quarterback run a draw something like this absolutely in play when you need to move the sticks although in the pistol right now looks like they may just hand it off third and three and there is the handoff and why not give it back to strong for a first down again two timeouts remaining ball right at the 50. gronowski looks left and throws left has jaden yankee check that jackson yankee gain of 13. another first down no need to use the timeout clock stops when the chains move ball spotted move it again [Music] [Applause] tempo grenowski time to the sidelines and pierre strong wisely gets out of bounds kranowski just unbothered right now you see him looking around going through his progression knows he's got the running back over near the sideline gets him out of bounds to stop the clock this has been a methodical surgical drive for south dakota state trying to close out the half strong have not used one of those two timeouts the entire playbook at this point is open for them [Applause] ball spotted at the 32. [Applause] designed run for gronowski has some of those big fellas up front he's going to get the first down clock's going to stop again and a gain of 10. and now this high red zone is where you want to be ears up eyes up for the yankee twins big play is coming out of the slot we might see like the first touchdown [Applause] quick throw again pierre struck i mean this you said surgical and you nailed it gate of eight strong out of bounds clock stops they talked about all the practices mark gronowski got with this offense because the season got pushed to the spring one of the things you drill all the time in training camp no matter what time of year is all right length of the field buck 30 two timeouts coach puts it on the clock and you work through one of the most important situations in football trying to win the middle eight the last four minutes of the first half the start of the second half strong gonna get a breath isaiah davis now in the backfield [Applause] pressure comes it's held up grenowski to throw over the middle caught touchdown blake coote scores and rabbit den thump those feet it is all the top seed here in the first half [Applause] 26-3 south dakota state [Music] matt this is the kind of play when you turn this on the following week the offensive coordinator can walk to the front of the room and say this is what we can be all the time when we stay on schedule when everyone understands their responsibilities and when we go out here and attack when we've got the chance down in the red zone eight plays and 64 yards of perfection didn't use one of those timeouts let's check in with our friend kevin connors for what's coming up at the half yeah bad coming up at the half the national champion trevor maddich will join me we'll get his thoughts on this first half plus we'll set the table for the heavyweight showdown coming up 2 30 eastern on abc james madison and sam houston plus the war of words between jimbo fisher and nick saban all coming up at the half matt there's no such thing as an offseason in the sec no there isn't especially when one of your assistants has never beaten nick saban as a head coach and what jimbo says that that they're going to win beat there you know what and saban responds with it golf that's what i'm here for matt i can tell you from a little bit of personal experience with nick saban jimbo buddy don't do this i care about you but texas a m m's loaded if there was gonna be a year if and if there was gonna be a coach who by the way they backed up the brinks truck enough ford where he can feel pretty good about saying what he wants but you know why i love that he's doing it because it takes me back to the days of steve spurrier and free shoes you and you can't spell citrus bowl without ut there was nothing better than a steve spurrier press conference just jabbing everybody at sec media days the fair catch was called towns is not going to be able to advance that [Music] [Applause] see a little kind of fair catch on the play recovered caught by another player will be first down at the spot of the catch you know what what's wrong with with now everything's too coaches coach speak and go to the podium you know i say good for jimbo you may have to pay for it but good for jim though that's fine that's fine he's writing checks his team is going to have to go out there and cash listen you walk into every game with that confidence it's like you walk out the bus letting the helmet beat you but nick saban a more a better response than i was expecting from a coach who's usually pretty tight-lipped himself the guy's won the most national championships of anyone in history he's got the he has got carte blanche to say whatever he wants first and ten it appears delaware gonna be content with getting to the half and the number one seed has looked every bit of what we expected in the first half at home we came in talking so much about these quarterbacks and rightly so but for south dakota state the formula has been winning with a four-man rush up front on defense and letting your big o line pave the way for whoever is getting the rock in the back and remember they deferred so they will receive the second half kickoff it is going to take a miracle out of delaware in the second half south dakota state trying to advance to their first ever national championship game up to 27-3 let's go down to katie george [Applause] coach stig you got me i got you let's start with your defense first they've only allowed three points they've gotten to the quarterback with five sacks blocked a kick there just at the end of the half what's impressed you most about their performance thus far just their relentless uh effort uh you know they want to make a statement they're doing a good job your quarterback can certainly do it all throwing catching running leading a successful two-minute drill there at the end what needs to continue offensively in the next two quarters we need to come out and play like it's zero zero or we're behind you know we do we uh we feel good right now but we got to come out and play in the second half thanks for the time katie coach thank you does history await coach stig and south dakota state will find out in the second half for now back to the studio kevin connors and trevor matic maddy thanks so much 27 unanswered points that script was trevor mata you've been there what's it like leading the way for guys like mark gronowski you know when you're rolling you're rolling and when you're having fun like this this is an outstanding game but keep in mind they did this because that blue hens defense still has teeth or at least a sharp beak second half brookings on the way welcome back to brook games the top seeded south dakota state jack rabbits trying to advance to their first ever national championship game up 27-3 as we begin the third quarter with that welcome back mike goalie junior matt berry alongside when you look at both of these teams south dakota state led by their true freshman quarterback 162 total yards in the first half and three touchdowns mike golic jr this team has been everything they said they would be in the first half of the game and they're rolling they came into this game averaging eight yards per play in the playoffs 8.4 today with just eight and a half minutes of possession they've had it however they wanted in this first half matin in the second half if you're delaware now offensively you've got to keep extra bodies and protection you've been getting beat up front all day and defensively you've forced a turnover in every game this season multiple and all but one you've got to give it back to your offense and nolan henderson for an extra shot at some point again south dakota state deferred to receive the ball here in the second half jordan meets him and isaiah davis deep to receive the ryan coe kick south dakota state one half away from their first national championship game down to katie george well guys i caught up with coach rocco and he said he felt like his team got off to a nice start they had confidence and then when nolan went down they lost that confidence he said defensively his unit has not played this poorly all season long but he credits sdsu for the balance they're showing running and throwing the football offensively he feels like they're just beating themselves they're their own worst enemy right now they go forward then they're pushed backwards they're not protecting nolan and they're just getting outplayed in all three phases of the game he said it'll be interesting to see what his team does now that their backs are against the wall katie thank you max against the wall of the tune of 27-3 and forced to start the second half on defense with a remarkable half in the first half out of mark granowski and we're going to get used to probably seeing that all second half especially in this quarter as pierre strong gets a gain of six and when you've got them on their heels the way you have timely big plays have had to force this defense to think that's what they wanted to do confused the rookie quarterback on offense they flipped the script and so now you're getting some wide open rushing lanes for pierre strong katie touched on it there you and i were talking about it during our halftime snack that this game really it did start off really competitive back and forth and then out of nowhere south dakota state with an onslaught and here we are sitting 27-3 second and four gronowski the play fake has a man deep looking at the middle of the field and he overthrows jaden yankee and he is gonna want that one back yankee had him right off the line of scrimmage remember this is how they scored in their first touchdown they got jaden yankee in the slot matched up against the safety this time it's number 29 noah plank and that's just a better athlete making a move in space on a guy it's almost the same thing on the opposite side of the field he jabs in goes out and had nothing but daylight he should have hit his head on the goal post delaware avoids a good night player there to bring up third and fourth they're gonna run it on third and four and strong's gonna come up short only a gain of one so already there a break for delaware he had yonki wide open should have been a touchdown ball falls incomplete delaware gets to stop they get the ball back disappointed with that third down play call too not giving your quarterback that's taking great care of the football today and make great decisions a chance to go and get a first down that really could have set the tone to start this half now you give delaware an opening dankel the punt thousand to receive he's gonna fair catch it right at the 26 yard line [Applause] so again a quick reminder james madison sam houston state the second semi-final matchup between these two programs that's two versus three is over on abc as always you can watch by streaming live on the espn app that game kicks at around 2 30 eastern so hang with us as long as you can we'll get some drama going here sam houston the two seats sam houston state and jmu played in the national championship game a year ago coming up short to trey lance and north dakota state so what can nolan henderson and the hens muster here in the third quarter first down henderson's gonna roll right pushed back gets the corner keeps his eyes down field and throws it away this is what we talked about the game plan in the second half for delaware move the pocket pass on the very first play i have to imagine you're going to have at least six players in on offense there to protect nolan henderson who we know got rolled up on in that first half has been limping around during this game you've got to start by keeping him upright and then try and fix everything else we had touched on south dakota state being who they were in the first half partly true for delaware they had the time of possession 21-35 they averaged third over 34 a game they just weren't able to get any points out of it as henderson to strike over the middle and that's caught by 13 brett buckman [Applause] and if you're ambrose too jared ambrose the offensive coordinator tempo keep moving the ball get this offense and rhythm take it back i mean you got to score a lot of points and you got to do so quickly third and five now you've got to look gene coleman is the guy they said this quarterback knows i could throw him the ball and he's going to find the sticks let's see if five in white has an answer so third and five after the south dakota state punt to open the third quarter henderson quick drop pressure and brought down again reese winkelmann is having a day [Applause] what outstanding individual effort up front you show five guys up front and then you only rush four and it turns into a one-on-one matchup that gets it done there's nothing fancy about this matt this is reese winkleman this is quentin hicks this is this defensive line consistently winning their one-on-one matchups ben trent's right tackle for delaware is going to have absolute nightmares about winkelmann from what he's done this afternoon what a remarkable game fourth and 14. it's gonna force the punt it's gonna fall out of bounds roll out of bounds rather than about the 27 yard line jax had the ball up 27-3 we're back after this true freshman quarterback mark gronowski lived up to the hype in the first half 162 total yards and accounted for three touchdowns we always used to say about six games into your freshman season you stopped being a freshman and this guy showed every bit of that veteran poise during the game today running throwing with a couple of timely strikes downfield he thought he'd even dust off the receiver gloves a little bit here watch the move by mark granowski here to set up on the throwback screen to the quarterback gliding towards daylight following the 605 hogs to the end zone south dakota state started the ball game with the three and out they've scored four touchdowns consecutively since save for that possession there to start the third quarter but what a day for the true freshman who told his coaches when he won the starting job you will not regret it so first and ten ball spotted at the 27 that's isaiah davis up the middle for more of the true freshman quarterback katie george and matt prior to gronowski winning the starting job coach stick said he hit starting offensive lineman coming into his office asking is mark gonna be the guy we think mark should be the guy coach dick said gronowski humbly and quietly earned the respect of the entire football team but especially the offense and he has been talking nonstop every time he's over on the sideline showing great leadership skills for a young guy and that's all you need to know katie thank you does davis again up the middle an offensive line i mean you know mike playing offensive line at notre dame you guys are a tight-knit weird group you guys are just weird is that is that fair it's a weird group matt but you're right it's also one that's usually not going to get into things like that it's generally we're going to block for whoever is back there for him to make that much of an impression through the course of his first fall on campus out here speaks volumes not only to what he does naturally but his willingness to go and connect with all these players how do you win over the offensive line by the way attitude consistency can i count on you every day five guys is one are trying not to make a mistake for each other show that same accountability here on third down third and three for gronowski that's davis out of the backfield isaiah davis has room to run and a big gain great play design quick stream out of the back field and it's a gain of 33. third and five last time around said they wanted to put the ball in their quarterbacks hands they send johnny buchanan the linebacker for delaware down the middle and so what does gronowski do steps back buys himself time and knows exactly where his outlet is that a lot of isaiah davis on this possession and jason eck the offensive coordinator for south dakota state right now just seems to be a step ahead when you stay on schedule you've got everything at your disposal and when you can win up front i i know matt i sound like a broken record but the formula is pretty simple when your five guys up front can control the line on both sides the way south dakota state has everything else becomes easier football's not a complicated game you know we had talked throughout the week to stig and i brought up their winning at southern illinois we detailed in the open now they had to come back they were down 20 to 10 at the half that's a team they beat early on the season 44-3 and i asked him how did a comeback win when you guys the top seed how might that give you a boost of confidence to do something that's never been done in program history he said look it was huge because our backs were against the wall we had to prove to ourselves we could win in a tough situation he also said i don't want them to think that we should get down and try to do that every week but you're looking now at a team who almost got eliminated now rolling their way here in the third quarter up 27-3 and he said they made the choice it's their team mark gronowski said at halftime coach didn't say anything our team leaders got up in front of the group and held that down told everyone what we needed to do and executed it so third and four ball just inside the 30 or the 25 rather grenatleski has plenty of time in the pocket he's gonna tuck it and wisely slide and avoid the hit and give drew nichols credit too because nowadays in college football you're making the move at the quarterback quarterbacks trying to slide and nickels able to avoid a penalty and gronowski got down safely it's exactly what you've been trying to reinforce in the game good job by both parties in that spot protecting the players as we now get a look at cole from so no gain on the play from an opportunity here for a 41-yard field goal attempt missed an extra point which is why we're on that 27. and from is right down the middle now 30 to three jack rabbits about midway through the third quarter south dakota state defense today they want 11 guys in the frame on every play and today they are having their way with that delaware offensive line shout out to the old stanford squad there's been a party in the backfield all day long for south dakota state and pressures really come from every spot defensive tackle defensive end a couple of blitzing linebackers getting home nolan henderson had to try and tough out a lot today but he's had almost no chance standing back in this pocket scoring defense 15 and a half points per game for south dakota state offensively they give a lot of credit but you have to look at what the jack rabbits have done defensively right now up 30 to 3 8 23 in the third quarter quincy watts indeed to receive as is jordan townsend and it's going to be watson running up on this one crosses the 20 and isn't going to get much more than across the 26 yard line after a return of 12. so south dakota state has a pair of defensive coordinators co-defensive coordinators brian bergstrom and jimmy rogers and you're looking at jimmy rogers there what a special story he is he played for coach stig back in 2005 was offered a 65 scholarship and told stig i'll take it now he's back as co-defensive coordinator and he said to us this week his one job is to be a part of the change that gets this program to the national championship he got chills talking to him he got emotional telling us about how much bringing the title to south dakota state means to him they've said he's one of the most important people in the history of this program and where they go will be driven largely by the effort of jimmy rogers as a player and now as a coach he said this place means so much to him and we hear this when we talk to a lot of college football programs about it's a family but you look at what coach stiglemeyer told us he said look i went into this guy's living room and he's been a part of this thing ever since and a former player to now be a co-defensive coordinator and wear the emotion the way he wore with us with how much it means to him that's the essence of a college football family we hear all the time about coaches and what they'll say in these living room pitches jimmy rogers said coach stix at my living room and i promised him we're going to win a national championship and you can see that is something people come to different colleges for all sorts of reasons i don't i'm all for anyone's motivation whatever gets you here jimmy rogers is here because he loves south dakota state university more than anything in his life and it shows and i will tell you this this is to say nothing of of coach stig and the rest of his staff but i did ask i said is he a guy that when you decide to walk away that you would hand the keys to the program too and it wasn't a second he goes 100 and delaware here able on third and short to convert and get to the first down let's go down to katy george [Music] and i think it's interesting too guys coach jimmy rogers has had at least two offers to go to fbs schools and he stayed coach jason eck has also had two offers to go to fbs schools and stayed and coach state said it's not like we're paying them more but they're committed to this institution and the players which is so special [Music] got an injury here they're going to tend to for a delaware player so corey sproul gets the first down we'll check the injury come back after this [Music] that's conference play of the year dejohn lee behind the the wall of humanity getting looked at there came off the field conference player offensive player of the year just eight rushes 10 yards on the day just haven't been able to get anything going it's been tough and as they sit here now and try and keep going your quarterbacks banged up your conference offensive player of the year is banged up everything seems to be working against you at delaware so you got to go out put one foot in front of the other on this drive so this is anthony paoletti the wildcat quarterback [Music] in the shotgun fakes the pitch trying to lower his shoulder and press and touch laugh having none of it that you talk about the south dakota state family there's another one preston tetzlav a guy that this whole team is really rallied around he's the only senior on the roster that's not returning next year coach said he's a 398 gpa he got into every law school in the country and he's getting ready to start there but he was a former walk-on who was a special teams mvp who has gone and earned everything every step of the way here and this team really looks to him as a guy they want to go out and win for his dad kevin played here at south dakota state coach stig i think it was the defensive backs coach the time so he coached his dad and now his son is nolan henderson again having to run what a great effort individual effort and i'll say this he looks like he's moving better here in the second half based on what we saw at the end of the first half he does trying to keep that thing warm this is reminiscent of patrick mahomes in the super bowl where everything's falling down around him and this guy is going above and beyond tightrope walking the sideline trying not to take any more big hits but keep his team in the game so now third and two and paoletti back on the field as henderson comes off and tight rope running is so tough on those ligaments when you're trying to stay in bounds with momentum is carrying you another direction so third and short they're going to go with paletti he's going to come up short and again it's tesla just so to continue that story his dad kevin a player back in the day and here he is playing for coach stigg as well you'd mention how smart they are logan backus and west jeannette they're going to go to med school after the next fall season and then tetzlov going to law school next fall west center jason eck was walking back during our meeting with him from him speaking at the honors ceremony graduating with honors as they group on and off the field handling business so at this point it's going to be all fourth downs for delaware to go it here that sproul in the backfield and he's going to get his hat across the line for a first down for the hens [Music] coaches love that kind of thing too when your offensive line or any of your athletes student athletes really who are successful in the classroom we've got two of your players going to med school another going to law school they eat that up offensive line coach of mine back in the day frank verducci who coached around college in the nfl for years said especially at center i need to have someone whose house is clean off the field who i can trust with the responsibilities that that position comes with so first and ten for henderson over the middle of thyroid pits [Applause] the gain of six tackling on the play by logan backus who i just mentioned on his way to med school after the next fall season delaware this is the kind of drive you need and you've seen they've had to be masters of the obvious a bit all right we're gonna bring our backup quarterback in and run some obvious wildcat run situations we're gonna have to move nolan henderson around in the pocket hit some short passes to try and balance things out a little bit so far working out on this drive sproul again and the defensive front for the jack rabbits has been all over the field this afternoon in a loss of one the one thing i keep waiting for matt especially as we get to third and five now the only play they've had big play success on all day has been trying to hit some of these screens turn your running backs into pass catchers take advantage of this aggressive defense that smells blood that's pinning their ears back and try and use that momentum against him here on a critical down yeah they popped a couple of those for big plays i'm surprised they haven't gone back to it a couple couple times just to neutralize that rush for a second from south dakota state henderson uses his feet and a nice job finding spooled back-to-back first downs for delaware has a little bit of a drive going after a gain of eight that critical fourth down conversion paying off now and you see efficient dominating time of possession this is where delaware wants to live we've just had them missing out in the critical junctures in this game not capitalizing opportunities so now all that time holding the ball becomes wasted time as that south dakota state team comes out there fresh and ready to go mike if you look at this type of possession it's not even close in delaware's favor but they're not springing any big plays to get into the end zone a double fake here at a henderson forced out of the pocket and he's very rarely this afternoon been able to either offer play fake or after a snap take that one two three plant his back foot look around the field he's been running all afternoon and unfortunately the plays they've majored in when he started the game he was perfect on their opening drive but their dink and dunk plays here you spend all that time sitting there waiting for your shots and when they don't materialize it's back to the drawing board it's feeling like you've missed out and that's why they've been awesome in between the 30s but not able to get down where they need to two minutes left here in the third quarter coleman the man in motion south dakota state up 30 to three delaware's going to need points soon henderson good individual effort first time we've called bryce to molly's name the big tight end to molly a huge week last game today hasn't been able to get it going but he will move the chains for a first down he was a guy i was surprised we didn't see more of with the defense for south dakota state that is effective but has some smaller bodies in the linebacker room logan backus only 205 preston tetzloff only 215 get yourself a mismatch in the middle of the field potentially but again everything complicated when your backfield's constantly under siege [Music] to his laps now is henderson and again you see it he just tried to set his feet and he's got no time to set his feet and give credit to south dakota state we've talked so much about their defensive line but this back end don gardner michael griffin clearly not giving them much daylight down the field to work with either noah henderson having to pat the ball and scramble for his life and he has big play receivers direct pitts who said coming in he can spring a big one gene coleman was coming off a 10 catch performance in a career day yes last week but they just have not been able to take a shot downfield so under a minute left here in the third [Music] [Applause] ball spotted on the 26. you've got one-on-one matchups it looks like outside but unfortunately now the clock down so delaware is gonna have to use their first time out of the half [Applause] and danny rocco he was the coach of the year caa and he's he's a defensive coach by nature and both of these teams we've mentioned we know what their identity is we know who they are and to have to come back at a game like this when the defense has not played as well as they could that falls back on the offense as well but now this offense is a time of possession they're not a big quick strike go get them they just neither side of the ball has really fallen in sync this afternoon no and when you're used to getting extra opportunities from the other side of the ball when you're used to your defense forcing a turnover in every game at least one more often than not you're getting multiples it makes it difficult now i mean this is going back sacred heart in the early round of the playoffs they didn't have a single play over 20 plus yards this is an offense that at times can struggle to get deep downfield [Applause] so second and ten little option look here and a throw outside to coleman nice play design and coleman nice gain gets the first down the original rpo this is going back michigan denard robinson just the extended option pitch right here and then gene coleman who they said they trust him throwing the ball and they know he's going to find his way to the sticks big tough receiver oh shoe laces hey rob is that a boy nightmare is about that guy still under 30. delaware a tall task ahead of them at the end of this third and all of the fourth pitch in motion here comes the reverse coleman's got the quarterback henderson wide open and the pass falls incomplete matt unfortunate stop me if you've heard this one before but whoever's playing quarterback right now for the blue hens having trouble they tried to run this this is philly special you'd remember this in the super bowl and you've got nolan henderson wide open they tried to run this a week ago he saw it was covered so he turned into a blocker out there did nolan henderson that time he had nothing but daylight but again the passer has no time no matter what number they're wearing so paletti back in it quarterback you see him muscle his way up for a gain of five that'll do it it'll be the last play in the third quarter south dakota state rounded off 27 unanswered points that's what awaits delaware in the fourth quarter but south dakota state trying to advance to their first ever national championship game [Music] kevin connors in studio what a season it's been for sam houston quarterback eric schmidt southland conference offensive player of the year that offense averaging better than 39 points per game they'll get the second best defense in the fcs james madison 2 30 eastern that abc kevin connors that's going to be a good one as always my weekly plug to the studio wraps crew mike diesenhoff producing today kevin connors trevor matic hardest working group in the building that wraps department start of the fourth quarter delaware 16 play 64-yard 8-minute 23-second drive but they have to score points and they got to do it quick and that sproul up the middle [Music] bach on the tackle but like those plays aren't going to get it done up the middle for four yards is not going to do anything for delaware at this point nope and we've seen this drive continuing to go on 16 plus plays now we're dealing with and from here on out you got to walk over on the sideline if you're nolan henderson saying coach we need to put the pedal on the gas it is the fourth quarter we can't afford to chew up clock anymore without putting up big points matteo vandemia in the backfield now haven't seen dejean lee since he came off the field with an injury fourth and one designed run and nolan henderson is gonna be [Music] short that was backus that was winkelmann two defensive stars this afternoon matt that was overlinking things a bit because you've got nolan henderson in here running an anthony paoletti play in this quarterback power and i understand the thinking of saying all right we'll break a tendency we'll put nolan in we don't design a lot of carries for him but i would rather at this portion of the game having live players doing what they do best and that is not what nolan henderson on a bad knee or this offensive line have done best block out of spread formations for a quarterback with a bad knee i mean if i'm giving a helmet sticker on college football final like we do each and every fall saturday myself jesse palmer joey galloway winkelmann's a contender winkleman to helmet sticker contender obviously gronowski is a helmet sticker contender south dakota state an embarrassment of riches and look at pierre strong [Applause] if you see the ball hit the air at this point i'll be stunned follow the war daddies look at big number 71 aaron johnson pulling up and around why can he move so well you asked matt the guy was a high school basketball and tennis player i'm sorry he played tennis tennis he's came here at about 235 pounds they have stacked weight on him and again another smart guy 4.0 pharmacy major how about that that's what that guy's serve looked like terrifying that's what the racket looked like in his hand gained of 11 first down gronowski pulls it and that's a play where he should probably get down a little bit sooner gain of two the offensive line we had detailed the 605 hogs in the first half i mean they really do have incredible stories their center west jeanette he's married he's 23 he's the the mature man of the group i have to say number 56 the right guard ian lucas is my favorite you love this guy because they said you've got no sweat thursday practices the thursday walk through you're trying to get through to the end of the week and they said he walks out drenched in sweat that's a man after my own heart and playing the position i once played so gronowski is going to take a shot deep ted jackson yankee and he can't come up with it yankee a little slow to get up now third and nine see if he maybe landed on the ball here sells out for the catch and comes up just underneath landed on that right arm a little bit seems to be walking off fine now though want to make sure your stars get out of here today in one piece look up front mason mccormick he's a south dakota kid west jeannette south dakota kid the yonki twin south dakota kids oh what a move by pierre strong on third and nine to move the chains gain of 11. we talked about delaware wanting to send a lot of bodies create confusion you know what stymies that zone blocking invented to counter all of that that offensive line stepping in unison seeing what comes their way and getting a hat on the hat and when the defense blitzes and you make a pay like that you have big creases for holes that pierre strong's been running through all day nine consecutive years south dakota state's been in the playoffs and the coaching staff they're very honest about it they're like guys fbs programs big programs they don't come to south dakota to recruit and so we typically have the pick of who we want out of our home state and you've seen it today with the yankee twins you've seen it up front with the offensive line i've told anyone who will listen throughout the last couple of weeks that i believe that the spotlight that the fbs is or the fcs rather is getting all to themselves is a very positive for this level of football however some of these fbs coaches may be watching some of this talent say you know what we may need to get up into south dakota north dakota find some of these players that we're seeing dominate now well and you mentioned talent when we talked to cody coordinator jimmy rogers about the difference between when he got here in 2005 and now he said we've got the same type of player that we're recruiting here tough hard-nosed blue collar but he said the difference now is across the board the athletes that we're getting at this spot like coax fundamental gain of 11. yeah he said look when he played there it was blue collar lunch pail we still have that mentality with the kind of kid we're bringing in but now the talent is syncing up with the mentality which is why this program is on top right now but that one thing is still eluding them and it's about 11 minutes away from becoming a reality i mean you get a special player like mark granowski newcomer of the year in the missouri valley offensive player of the year and freshman of the year you're the only other player to do that in the missouri valley's history trey lance number three overall pick san francisco 49ers that's isaiah davis off the left side into freshman isaiah davis chunk yardage for the jacks gain of 37. [Music] getting to the second level and then just shrugging tacklers off left and right this running back group i mean isaiah davis the guy is top 200 yards twice this season five touchdowns on the year pierre we know only two so this guy has been a productive other freshman for them in this backfield and how's this for balance total yards 340 yards for south dakota state 154 on the ground 186 through the air and at this point executing on every level davis again for a gain of six ncaa fcs champion will be crowned next week may 16th in frisco texas on abc tune in at 2 p.m eastern for more visit ncaa.com the home for all 90 ncaa championships second semi-final two versus three jmu sam houston state looks as if the winner of that game will get the top overall seed south dakota state davis eight yards first down first and goal we just saw on the bottom line there now nine plays a little over eight minutes on this drive this isn't anything you can do i can do better you want to play ball control offense and move and matriculate down the field i'll do you one more they're in what we call four minute offense right now trying to finish out a game but setting that tone with nine minutes left you see last play on the back of their helmets that is our mantra for the jackrabbits it means play and practice every play like it's your last play and granowski keeps the play alive and he's gonna wisely step out of bounds it's a pretty cool tradition before practice coach says every day last play and a player from offense walks up to a player on defense and says last play and we talked to mark granowski about when he really felt comfortable starting to become a leader who he learned from he said the very first day logan backus their star linebacker one of the best leaders on this team walked up and chose him and said last play and he said he took that very seriously to these seniors to the older players on this roster so second and goal dave is still in the backfield and he's going to get the ball up the middle delaware going to keep him short after a gain of one so we've seen james madison we called their game a week ago against north dakota we've now seen three and a half quarters of south dakota state haven't seen much sam houston didn't call one of their games but this team these jackrabbits they're going to be a tough out for whatever they get out of that afternoon kickoff and it was a similar formula what we saw for james madison was a group up front physically just built different than their opponent in north dakota third and goal grenowski looks to the end zone and it falls incomplete intended for heinz good to see heinz back out there first of all we know he was nicked up a little bit had the trainers come out and check on him early in the game back out there working now but a great drive they'll bring out the field goal unit here and it'll give the coaching staff something to harp on them about during the week saying these are opportunities to finish coaches love nothing more than to be able to get on you after what looks like a potential for a solid win for this team so cole from on for a 22-yard attempt and that's good 33-3 so from brookings next stop frisco texas as it is all south dakota state [Music] welcome back don't forget abc home of the fcs championship game on may 16th with coverage beginning 2 p.m eastern it appears it will be south dakota state and they'll get the winner of james madison or sam houston state just getting ready to kick off over on abc never been to a national championship game south dakota state nine straight playoff appearances when i asked coach stig earlier in the week what's it gonna take you've been here 24 years what's it gonna take to get over the hump kind of snickered and says want to get past the semi-finals for starters is that kick's gonna go out of bounds that's gonna be another good coachable ball free kick out of the bounce for the special teams by the kicking team aside for a minute 722 left in this one it is all jacks we're back in brookings where the jackrabbits have a commanding 30-point lead and every year during fall camp in this case spring camp coach stig invites the senior class over for a home-cooked meal after dinner the players list their season goals on a sheet of paper this year's group came up with 10 goals second on the list reads protect your teammate zero positive cova test not a single player for fcsu produced a positive test in 17 weeks towards the bottom reads when the mvfc the jackrabbits did so just a couple of weeks ago all but one goal has been achieved the 10th goal big natty it's last on their list and still very achievable based on the way they played today guys yeah katie they are headed to the big natty to take on the winner sam houston and coach stephen coach digg also made it a point to tell us that that was their word choice not his and big natty i'd love to see coach stig talking big natty so first and ten delaware direct pits gonna take the end around it really is remarkable when you see the program that he's built at south dakota state 24 years going strong and to have the talent they've had to just now be getting past the semi-finals and able to play in their first national championship game i mean think about it you made the move to the fcs in 2004 been and 73 since then including a top eight seed in each of the last five seasons they've been knocking on the door they have been word association fcs playoffs you're thinking south dakota state as one of the key players now that last thing is just to put it all together over the middle to gene coleman for a gain of six that'll be a first down for delaware [Music] it is a proud football tradition we asked of north dakota state one of the other powerhouses in fcs bison eliminated a week ago they won the national championship last year behind trey lance and you know you and i had talked about it we talked about the players and coaches like hey look you're you're still in this thing you're the one see during the semis but did you want north dakota state to be around did you want to get that sweetness of a victory against them and at this point i don't think they care i can tell you matt all that stuff is overrated we want to be the last one standing no matter who it goes through no matter how we get there it's fun to want to say yeah you want to beat the best rah-rah now i want to be the last team standing with the big fat ring on my finger okay how you get there doesn't matter the fact that you are there is what's going to define this team is henderson he has been playing so hard this afternoon was injured early went to the locker room to get checked back checked out looked like he could barely run when he came back in the game looks much better and healthier here in the second half but he's lived up to everything this team and coaching staff has told us about their quarterback he's the toughest player on their roster that last play is a microcosm of the game you saw him peyton shaffer backup linebacker in the game right now one on one in the hole he made that guy miss on a bad wheel been the story of the afternoon pass rush no time for nolan henderson [Applause] let's go back to the studio and kevin connors and matt we want to let you know sam houston james madison our other national semifinal is underway over on abc just about to kick off there at sam houston undefeated teams two teams that can light up the scoreboard and the winner of that one gets south dakota state for an fcs championship matt kevin thank you i can promise you what they're not gonna deal with in frisco texas next week it's cold windy maybe a little bit of windy great state of texas gets windy could be wet but temperature wise they're gonna love stepping off those planes and buses in texas playing for their first national championship frisco one of the great suburbs of dfw it's been a tradition for the fcs championship to be played there and now south dakota state gets to really feel what that's like for the first time in program history you mentioned feeling what it's like for the first time to start what was winter camp spring camp cold and finish the season in a warm environment [Applause] they set up the screenplay dejohn lee he's back in the game he was he was hurt in this half he'd been back most of this series yeah look fbs we saw the power fives they all came together decided through the pandemic they were gonna test they were gonna be careful and they were going to play and it wasn't without hiccup along the way which is what we expected that you brought up an interesting point and i think it's important that everybody tip of the cap to these fcs schools student athletes and coaches who did run through a fall camp then came back and practiced more at the beginning of the year to play a spring season the time that they've put in to get this done has been remarkable and it shouldn't be overlooked that pass falls incomplete and at this point it's going to be a coronation for south dakota state as they are on their way to their first ever national championship tune in for a special edition of sportscenter on wednesday steve levy lewis reddick brian gracie that is our monday night football team joined by adam schefter as they break down the upcoming nfl season the schedule release 2021 as the nfl continues to successfully make itself a year-round sport and they know it south dakota state no it is knows it's become a reality of 33-3 and mike golic if i'm one thing i'm a man of my word and i told the fine folks of the rabbit's den the student section in the crowd at south dakota state that they would get a shout out today for being a die-hard group of fans that have waited so long to get to this point rabbit stand was out there early i presume they were tailgating with warm beverages may or may not have had something in them but the rabbit's dead and everybody at south dakota state deserves what they're about to experience in about three and a half minutes your man your word matt you're a man of the people and you're especially a man of the party people and it feels like those venn diagrams have formed a perfect circle in the rabbit stand and if i'm not going to take advantage of this microphone for one thing what am i doing there they are rabbits down this young lady here to the left with the flag has been the one hitting me up on the twitter specifically her and i told her i said you will be on tv and the rabbit's dead will get its love matt ferry going all wedding singer i have the microphone and you don't so you will listen to every word i have to say and now a timeout is going to ruin our moment that is ridiculous but you know what we got to burn breaks got to pay advertising dollars look at that fella go get it [Applause] [Music] kevin connors in studio eventful start to james madison sam houston dukes punting the ball that's harry o'kelly punting it right into the chest of juan henry so bearcats take over great field position opening minutes of the game they decide to go for it on fourth and goal eric schmid pressured by mj hampton matt after all that no score in the opening minutes kevin connors thank you very much we expect a good one out there between two versus three as we are in the final three minutes of our game now is that a costume or did he just graduate i'm gonna give him the credit for the degree matt we are we're giving him a degree gonna say he worked hard stuck to it nose to the grindstone hit the office hours hard definitely hit the office hours you got to got to play the game man well we're using the power of the mic can we each take a moment to wish our moms happy mother's day my mother janelle happy mother's day tomorrow mom love you um mothers all over the place whether they're coaching wives or mothers of the the student athletes playing they are all so special to us so happy mother's day to my mom and as we see the fumble scooped up there by the quarterback i wish happy mother's day to chris golick my mom who has had the [Music] hard path of having to deal with three kids all playing a ton of sports and my dad who you all know is a full-blown certified ham so mom has more than earned her special day and then some so happy mother's day mom love you and let's get katie katie go ahead yeah you guys can't make me look bad down here annie george happy early mother's day i'll see you soon thanks for always being my number one fan and watching me on the sidelines love you and katie actually you know she's been down there in the cold working oh yeah and we're climate controlled we're comfortable she can't grind it she actually should have gone first she should have you know what she brings up a good point though is mothers the biggest fans in all of this i used to host a radio show at 4 00 a.m mom would set the alarm and wake up for it i said mom there's a podcast she said mike i don't care outstanding no hi tonight from the apex in las vegas another exciting ufc fight night featuring our women's main event maria marina rodriguez versus michelle watterson prelim starts six eastern on espn plus followed by the main card at 8 eastern on espn to get espn plus go to espnplus.com or download the espn app and there you saw it for the first time in his illustrious 24 year career at south dakota coach stig [Applause] john stiglemeyer got the gatorade bath that will send the jackrabbits to the national championship game we started the broadcast lori his lovely wife the players call him moms call her moms she's gonna be making more rice krispie treats this afternoon after this victory 11 dozen for every win over 22 000 career and i have a feeling these may be the sweetest tasting of all as they get ready to head to try and do the whole thing down in texas [Applause] and you hear the 9 000 on hand here in brookings and this is a perfect scenario for them it is 2 47 eastern it is 147 in south dakota this party is going to start from now and probably not end until the wee hours of sunday morning and matt you know how coaching staffs are though i'm sure that this coaching staff's going to get out of this game and see oh we've got an opportunity to already get a look at whoever our opponent's going to be between james madison and sam houston say these guys are machines so you believe that they're gonna go watch the second semi-final in the locker room immediately after because i think i tend to agree with you on that one and this will do it that'll be the final play of the game and for the first time in program history congratulations to south dakota state who will be making their first ever fcs championship game appearance after beating delaware 33-3 a complete effort in every phase from this team today winning the line of scrimmage and your freshman quarterback mark burnowski we talked about him at the start of the broadcast we saw him throwing running had a receiving touchdown he was every bit as advertised the poise and the reason he has earned the trust and confidence of this team statistically the scoreboard is 33-3 but south dakota state 354 total yards is balanced as you're going to get 168 on the ground and 186 through the air let's go back to the studio quickly and kevin connors [Applause] hi matty thanks so much and we want to let our audience know that the other fcs semi-finalist program you're going to your first national title game how does it feel i feel sweet i'm really proud of our team i love them i thank god for him everyday i can tell you're getting a little emotional you had said to us that this team is different different in a sense that they could win a national title why are they different uh they're so close katie they're uh they're brothers literally um they spent so much time with covid and they found positives every day they're just really a special group of student athletes in a national semifinal your defense holds its opponent to just three points what did you think of their performance on that side of the ball well they played with uh relentless pursuit i got to give some credit to their quarterback uh delaware's quarterback did a phenomenal job but i thought her up front really dominated and they had some fun too speaking of your quarterback he is as advertised what did you think of his game and what does he do for your offense i think the first thing he does is leads us you know even as a true freshman and then obviously he has the skills to run the ball and throw the ball very smart football player and his humility is unbelievable well congratulations to you best of luck and i think lori's got 11 dozen rice krispies bars to make you got to go home and get to work [Applause] thanks katie thank you that is that is awesome you could see the emotion on on coach diggs face to be at one pro first of all just to be somewhere for 24 years and then to have the teams that he's had we've mentioned nine consecutive playoff appearances they are very successful but then to finally get over this hump and enjoy this moment to be playing for their first ever national championship game back down to katie mark that's a bad man very good job we are on live tv great job there mark when you arrived on campus back in the fall and you were getting familiar with your teammates and your coaches when did you first know this team was capable of winning a national championship i mean coming in right away i just felt like it was just a great group of guys great group of coaches that just really want it really just putting all the effort every single day and really want to know every single day and um i just knew right from the start that this is just a great organization great um great best to be the nation you have had an incredible season you can throw it you can clearly catch it you can run it and break tackles i have to ask you about that trick play what's going through your mind when you make a pass you make the catch and then you break through multiple tackles to get to the end zone we've been practicing that play all year long and i've been waiting to bring it out right when coach called it i was just super excited if you had the biggest smile and just had to worry about just catching it first of all and then just not dropping it and then just go and make a play off of it it was just a really exciting play i know this is your first season but to see the excitement from all of your teammates to get to a national title game for coach stig what does that mean to you to be able to play a part in that it feels great i mean this is just a great group of guys i've always been 100 every single play and uh just to do it for stig and also one of our last seniors preston tetzlaff uh this is gonna be his last season and tomorrow our next week should be his last game so we're doing it for him and doing it for coach sid i know you have another game to watch congratulations and great job handling all the distractions from your teammates thank you so much thank you so much yeah katie what we saw there was was poise in the interview pocket eddie granowski with all those players running in but the true freshman quarterback lived up to every bit of his pregame billing mike golic jr he showed a little bit of everything this afternoon you just saw it in the interview there this is a guy that is way more mature than his year's show tough as nails accurate going downfield when they asked him to make big plays in this passing attack he executed at the helm of this offense sometimes the term game manager has a dirty connotation to it matt this guy went out no matter what the situation was and he executed he didn't try and play outside of himself he played to the exact standard this team knows that he not only lives up to but helps set himself 162 yards through the air 10 of 16 very fundamentally sound in that department two touchdown passes but what a day what a moment for south dakota state for katie george and mike golick jr i'm matt barry one first checked off the box for the jackrabbit they get an opportunity next week for now kevin connors and trevor maddich they get the phil show

Channel: Wally the Bronco Too

Views: 7,251

Rating: 4.884058 out of 5

Keywords: 2021 NCAA FCS Championship Semifinal, Delaware, South Dakota State

Id: bRYoZx6nGlU

Length: 127min 26sec (7646 seconds)

Published: Sat May 08 2021