2015 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

2015 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football
FCS Playoffs First Round vs. Montana, L 17–24
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
STATS	#15
FCS Coaches	#16
2015 record	8–4 (5–3 MVFC)
Head coach	John Stiegelmeier (19th year)
Offensive coordinator	Eric Eidsness
Defensive coordinator	Clint Brown
Home stadium	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium (Capacity: 17,000)

2015 MVFC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#1 North Dakota State +^		7	–	1					13	–	2
#5 Illinois State +^		7	–	1					10	–	3
#8 Northern Iowa ^		5	–	3					9	–	5
#15 South Dakota State ^		5	–	3					8	–	4
Western Illinois ^		5	–	3					7	–	6
Indiana State		3	–	5					5	–	6
Youngstown State		3	–	5					5	–	6
South Dakota		3	–	5					5	–	6
Southern Illinois		2	–	6					3	–	8
Missouri State		0	–	8					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

The 2015 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represented South Dakota State University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by 18th-year head coach John Stiegelmeier and played their home games at Coughlin–Alumni Stadium. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 8–4, 5–3 in MVFC play to finish in a three way tie for third place. They received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs where they lost in the first round to Montana.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	11:00 AM	at Kansas*	#16	Memorial Stadium • Lawrence, KS	FSN	W 41–38	30,144
September 12	6:00 PM	Southern Utah*	#9	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium • Brookings, SD	ESPN3	W 55–10	13,423
September 26	5:00 PM	Robert Morris*	#6	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium • Brookings, SD	Midco/ESPN3	W 34–10	12,153
October 3	6:00 PM	#3 North Dakota State	#5	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium • Brookings, SD (Dakota Marker)	Midco/ESPN3	L 7–28	17,348
October 10	6:00 PM	#19 Indiana State	#8	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium • Brookings, SD	Midco/ESPN3	W 24–7	9,347
October 17	3:00 PM	at #11 Youngstown State	#7	Stambaugh Stadium • Youngstown, OH	MVC TV/ESPN3	W 38–8	14,974
October 24	2:00 PM	#22 Northern Iowa	#6	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium • Brookings, SD	Midco/ESPN3	L 7–10	16,042
October 31	2:00 PM	at Missouri State	#14	Plaster Sports Complex • Springfield, MO	MVC TV/ESPN3	W 39–0	3,729
November 7	2:00 PM	#2 Illinois State	#11	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium • Brookings, SD	Midco/ESPN3	W 25–20	9,081
November 14	2:00 PM	at South Dakota	#5	DakotaDome • Vermillion, SD (South Dakota Showdown Series)	Midco/ESPN3	W 30–23	10,345
November 21	1:00 PM	at Western Illinois	#5	Hanson Field • Macomb, IL	ESPN3	L 24–30 2OT	1,853
November 28	2:00 PM	at #16 Montana*	#10	Washington–Grizzly Stadium • Missoula, MT (FCS Playoffs First Round)	ESPN3	L 17–24	14,575
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from STATS FCS Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

Game summaries

@ Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Jackrabbits	17	14	3	7	41
Jayhawks	7	7	14	10	38

See also: 2015 Kansas Jayhawks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–2	2012	KU, 31–17

Southern Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Thunderbirds	7	0	0	3	10
#9 Jackrabbits	3	24	7	21	55

See also: 2015 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–1	2014	SDSU, 26–6

Robert Morris

	1	2	3	4	Total
Colonials	0	10	0	0	10
#6 Jackrabbits	7	13	7	7	34

See also: 2015 Robert Morris Colonials football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First Meeting

North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#3 Bison	7	14	7	0	28
#5 Jackrabbits	0	0	7	0	7

See also: 2015 North Dakota State Bison football team and Dakota Marker

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
40–58–5	2014, FCS 2nd Round Playoffs	NDSU, 27–24

Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#19 Sycamores	0	0	7	0	7
#8 Jackrabbits	0	14	0	10	24

See also: 2015 Indiana State Sycamores football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–2	2014	SDSU, 32–17

@ Youngstown State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#7 Jackrabbbits	7	10	7	14	38
#11 Penguins	2	3	3	0	8

See also: 2015 Youngstown State Penguins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–6	2014	YSU, 30–27

Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Panthers	0	3	7	0	10
#6 Jackrabbits	0	0	7	0	7

See also: 2015 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
19–28–2	2014	SDSU, 31–28

@ Missouri State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#14 Jackrabbits	10	12	10	7	39
Bears	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2015 Missouri State Bears football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–1	2014	SDSU, 32–28

Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#2 Redbirds	7	0	7	6	20
#11 Jackrabbits	0	13	6	6	25

See also: 2015 Illinois State Redbirds football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–3	2014	ILST, 45–10

@ South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
#5 Jackrabbits	3	7	0	20	30
Coyotes	7	0	13	3	23

See also: 2015 South Dakota Coyotes football team and South Dakota–South Dakota State football rivalry

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
51–52–7	2014	SDSU, 37–14

@ Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
#5 Jackrabbbits	0	10	0	7	7	0	24
Leathernecks	3	0	7	7	7	6	30

See also: 2015 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–4	2014	SDSU, 59–24

FCS Playoffs

First Round–@ Montana

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 Jackrabbits	0	0	10	7	17
#16 Grizzlies	7	17	0	0	24

See also: 2015 Montana Grizzlies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–7	2009 FCS Playoffs	MONT, 61–48

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	16	9 (8)	7 (8)	6 (6)	5 (6)	8	7	6	14	11	5	5	10–T	15
Coaches	15	10 (1)	8 (2)	7 (1)	7 (1)	9	7	6	13	11	5	5	12	16