Aug. 31—STILLWATER, Okla. — All week long, South Dakota State players and coaches insisted that only a win would be seen as a satisfactory outcome in their trip to Boone Pickens Stadium to face the 17th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys. No moral victories.So if we’re going to take them at their word, Saturday’s 44-20 loss in front of 52,202 fans was a failure. The two-time defending FCS champions saw their 29-game winning streak snapped, and they were never really a true threat to win this thing.The Cowboys scored the first 10 points of the game, led 17-6 at halftime and never let the Jackrabbits get within single digits in the second half. Oklahoma State went 10-4 last year and returned 20 starters from that team — they have aspirations of contending for a Big 12 title and the College Football Playoff this year. And they showed the Jackrabbits and their fans why. This was an impressive performance by a loaded and well-coached squad, and it felt like OSU certainly has more in the tank if they ever need it. They did what a team like that is supposed to do to an FCS opponent — even the national champions.“They were as good as advertised,” said Jacks coach Jimmy Rogers, who fell to 15-1 as a head coach in suffering his first defeat. “They did a lot of really good things offensively and then defensively at times they just took the wind out of our sails.”None of which is to say this was a disaster for the Jacks. Far from it.The Jacks moved the ball. Their defense did a commendable job containing the nation’s best running back. Sophomore wide receiver Griffin Wilde and running back Amar Johnson alleviated any concerns about the Jacks losing all of those offensive weapons from last year. And while the 24-point margin marks SDSU’s most lopsided defeat since their 51-16 loss to James Madison in the 2017 semifinals, the Jacks were still kinda-sorta hanging around into the fourth quarter, trailing 41-20 with plenty of time left and refusing to take starting quarterback Mark Gronowski out of the game.The All-American was not at his sharpest — he completed 20of-36 throws and threw a costly interception in the first half — but ultimately showed poise and toughness in throwing for 264 yards and two touchdowns while Wilde caught seven passes for 150 yards.The Jacks were working in several new ...
