Jackrabbits Look to Put the Freeze on Western Illinois Saturday

It was a day of big plays for South Dakota State, as the Jackrabbits kept their FCS Playoff hopes alive with a 32-17 win at Indiana State last Saturday, setting up another 'must win' game for SDSU this Saturday, as they host Western Illinois in Brookings.

Against the Sycamores last weekend, the Jacks took advantage of not one - but two - scoring plays of over 90 yards, a touchdown run from Zach Zenner (94 yards) and a touchdown pass from Austin Sumner to Jake Wieneke (92 yards), to even their Missouri Valley Conference record at 3-3 with two games to play.

I asked SDSU head coach John Stiegelmeier about that 'instant offense' in Terre Haute:

Apart from needing a win to keep their post season hopes alive, the Jackrabbits are also keeping an eye on the weather, as they host Western Illinois Saturday afternoon in Brookings.

Early forecasts call for temperature at kickoff to be 19 degrees, which would make it the second coldest game ever at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

I asked Coach Steigelmeier about his experiences with cold weather home games in his more than 25 years with SDSU football, and what adjustments, if any, his team will make to accommodate for the cold against Western Illinois:

Kickoff Saturday is 2:00pm in Brookings.

The Jackrabbits close the regular season November 22nd when they host South Dakota.