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No. 6 South Dakota (7-2, 4-1 MVFC) plays at No. 5 South Dakota State (6-2, 3-1) at 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET) Saturday at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, and ESPNU has the game. Ranks are from our Week 8 FCS Top 25.
It's the 120th meeting in the Interstate Series, and it may be the biggest in years. The winner keeps pace at the top of the Missouri Valley, and both teams are chasing one of the eight first-round byes in the FCS playoffs.
Kickoff is 3 p.m. CT (4 p.m. ET) on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings, South Dakota. The game airs on ESPNU and streams on ESPN+, with Jason Ross Jr. on play-by-play and Tyoka Jackson as the analyst.
South Dakota and Youngstown State share the Valley lead at 4-1. South Dakota State is 3-1, and North Dakota is 3-2 after losing in Vermillion last week.
A South Dakota win would put the Coyotes at 5-1 and leave the Jackrabbits with two league losses. A South Dakota State win would pull the Jacks even with the Coyotes in the loss column and give them the head-to-head edge. The Jackrabbits already own a 27-20 win over Youngstown State.
South Dakota has won four straight under first-year head coach Matt Vitzthum. The latest was a 26-23 overtime win over North Dakota in the DakotaDome, and Brayden White caught the winning touchdown. The Coyotes also beat Southern Illinois 31-10 and won 48-20 at Murray State during the streak.
Both losses came on the road in September, 38-24 at FBS Boise State and 47-28 at Youngstown State. The Coyotes score 37.7 points per game and give up 24.2.
South Dakota State lost 21-10 at North Dakota on Oct. 17, its only league loss. The Jackrabbits bounced back with a 42-9 win over Murray State on Hobo Day, and they shut out the Racers in the second half for the second straight week.
Second-year head coach Dan Jackson's team beat Youngstown State 27-20 and won 31-14 at Illinois State. Its other loss was 34-18 at FBS Northwestern. The Jacks are 5-0 at home, score 37.1 points per game and allow just 15.8.
The headline matchup is South Dakota's passing game against a South Dakota State defense that hasn't allowed a second-half point in two weeks.
USD QB Austyn Modrzewski (redshirt freshman): Modrzewski has completed 138 of 207 passes for 1,893 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. His 24 touchdown passes tie for the FCS lead, according to South Dakota Athletics. This is his first start in the rivalry.
USD WR Brayden White (redshirt freshman): White has 41 catches for 569 yards and eight touchdowns, the most touchdown catches in the MVFC. He was the league's offensive player of the week after the North Dakota game.
USD RB Charles Pierre Jr. (redshirt senior): Pierre has 713 rushing yards and seven touchdowns on 111 carries.
USD LB Wade Abrams (redshirt senior): Abrams leads the Valley in tackles. Redshirt junior linebacker Gabriel Hardman has a team-best 6.0 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles, and sophomore kicker Bohdie Ing is 8 for 8 on field goals.
SDSU QB Chase Mason (graduate student): The Nebraska transfer has completed 81 of 148 passes for 1,200 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. He went 18 of 26 for 197 yards against Murray State.
SDSU RB Josiah Johnson (sophomore): Johnson leads an offense that runs for 263.4 yards per game. He has 826 yards and nine touchdowns on 136 carries.
SDSU WR Grahm Goering (graduate student): Goering leads the Jacks with 28 catches for 415 yards.
SDSU LBs Jes Krcil (junior) and Cullen McShane (senior): Krcil leads the team with 51 tackles. McShane had a game-high 10 against Murray State and shares the team lead with two sacks.
Turnovers are even on paper. Both teams are plus-6 in turnover margin, so the team that breaks that tie on Saturday likely gets the extra possession it needs.
The series began in 1889, before South Dakota was a state. South Dakota State leads it 58-54-7. Since 1950, the Jackrabbits are 33-24-1 against the Coyotes.
South Dakota won last year's game 24-17 in Vermillion on Nov. 8, 2025. South Dakota State won the 2024 meeting in Brookings 20-17 in overtime.
Brookings has been a hard place for the Coyotes. They are 0-7 there since the series resumed in 2002, and their last win at South Dakota State was 41-28 on Nov. 4, 2000.
Both teams were in the FCS playoff committee's first top 10 of 2026, with South Dakota State fifth and South Dakota eighth. The top eight seeds get first-round byes, so the loser could slip out of a bye spot when the committee updates its list.
In our bracket projection after Week 7, South Dakota State was the No. 5 seed and South Dakota was No. 8. As far as Redshirt Sports knows, the committee doesn't use our poll, but it can be a good indicator.
