MVFC Playoffs: South Dakota State 58, Eastern Illinois 10

South Dakota State's Zach Zenner stiff arms an Eastern
Illinois defender. Zenner ran for 295 yards and 3 TDs.
(Photo: The Collegian/Nick Lowrey)

South Dakota State won their first ever FCS playoff game (in fact, first ever playoff game, period) on Saturday as they destroyed Ohio Valley Champion Eastern Illinois 58-10. It took the Jackrabbit offense approximately half a quarter to get going and that was all she wrote for the Panthers of Eastern Illinois. Standout running-back Zach Zenner ran for 295 yards and three TDs as he lead the march against the Panthers. Quarterback Austin Sumner added a touchdown as time expired in the first half to give the Jackrabbits a 34-3 lead entering halftime.

The most important aspect of this game was the Jackrabbit defense. Eastern Illinois came into this game boasting a powerful offensive attack that featured two Walter Payton Award finalists, Jimmy Garoppolo and Erik Lora. Garoppolo was held to 221 yards (half to Lora) and most importantly was kept from throwing a touchdown the entire game. The Jackrabbit defense was stout and put Eastern Illinois out of the game almost before it got started. Erik Lora did have 12 catches for over 100 yards but his impact was kept minimal as he was frequently unable to do anything after the catch.

Zach Zenner's day was basically done halfway through the third quarter, Reggie Gandy came in and put up insane numbers as a back-up. Gandy ran 16 times for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns. In other words, South Dakota State's offensive line absolutely destroyed the Eastern Illinois defensive front on their way to over 434 yards of rushing. Here are some more numbers to show you how dominant the Jackrabbit performance was:

Zach Zenner runs away from the Eastern Illinois
defense on his way to a 68-yard TD run.
(Photo: Elisha Page/Argus Leader)

Total Offense:

South Dakota State LB's, Ross Shafrath (44) and Chris Tracy (7)
wrap up Eastern Illinois receiver Sam Hendricks
(Photo: Elisha Page/Argus Leader)

 Eastern Illinois - 399
 South Dakota State - 580

Time of Possession:

 Eastern Illinois - 22:57
 South Dakota State - 37:03

Penalty Yards:

 Eastern Illinois - 9-100
 South Dakota State - 4-20

First Downs

 Eastern Illinois - 17
 South Dakota State - 29


Most importantly, the score, 58-10, showed how dominant the South Dakota State Jackrabbits were on Saturday. Not only does this score show how good South Dakota State was on Saturday, but it also shows how good the Missouri Valley Football Conference really is. Now, the Ohio Valley has been getting some more rep this year with Tennessee State, Tennessee-Martin, Eastern Kentucky all ending at 8-3 with Tennessee-Martin getting an FBS win (20-17) over Memphis. However, Eastern Illinois won the OVC auto-bid going 6-1 in the conference and 7-4 overall.

What does all this mean? Well, In my opinion it means one of a couple things. First, maybe Eastern Illinois just didn't come to play. We saw it when South Dakota State traveled to Northern Iowa earlier this year (although, I'm still certain that Northern Iowa was a more powerful team than their record shows) Secondly, maybe the OVC isn't as good as they've been pumped up to be this year. Or thirdly, the Missouri Valley really is as good as its been pumped up to be this year. One thing is for certain however, the selection committee really messed up this years bracket. It was stated that South Dakota State was one of the last two selected (along with Stony Brook) but South Dakota State was obviously not the worst, or even the second worst, team in the playoffs this year. This next week matchup between North Dakota State and South Dakota State should not be happening and it is an absolute slap in the face to the Missouri Valley Football Conference that it is, in fact, happening. However, regardless of our opinions, North Dakota State and South Dakota State will battle it out again after three weeks, this time the loser's season will be done.

Next weekend, three Missouri Valley teams will be playing. Two, North Dakota State and South Dakota State will be playing each other and the third, Illinois State, will be traveling to Boone, North Carolina to take on Appalachian State. We all know the how the Bison and the Jacks match up, since we've seen it once before. However, Illinois State at Appalachian State is a very interesting game. Appalachian State will feature a very dynamic quarterback Brett Jackson, however, their defense is allowing close to 24 points a game. Looking back at their schedule, the Mountaineers have been very consistent. Winning 30-something to 20-something has been a common theme in their 2012 season. Illinois State will need to be firing on all cylinders if they want to walk away from Boone with a win and a chance to move on in the playoffs.

Illinois State at Appalachian State will begin at 2:00 EST while North Dakota State vs South Dakota State will begin at 4:00 EST.