Brian Kimmes
Our beloved Jackrabbit football team did more than just win its third consecutive game on Saturday. By defeating the University of Central Arkansas Bears, the Jacks re-affirmed SDSU as a superior football program compared to the University of South Dakota. Just one week ago, Central Arkansas stomped USD, 24-0.
Now, officially, we are not supposed to care about what USD does and we are supposed to be above comparing ourselves to USD. We are not supposed to rub it in to USD fans that we had a solid victory against a team that beat them by 24 points.
I am a fifth-year senior and remember the days when beating the U was all that mattered. I cannot help myself. I must take this opportunity to tell USD fans that SDSU has a better football program.
USD fans like to claim the difference between top Division-II schools and Division-I-AA schools is minimal, if it exists at all. They say good D-II schools can compete with D-I-AA schools. They are wrong.
USD has been ranked as high as 11th in polls this year. The Coyotes are a good Division-II team. So, according to USD fan logic, they should be able to compete with schools at our level. Central Arkansas is at our level. How did USD fare against Central Arkansas? They were shut out.
Making matters worse for the USD faithful, Central Arkansas is in its first year of Division-I status. It is almost a D-II team still.
Losing to Central Arkansas does not appear to coincide with the logic of USD fans. USD should have been able to compete with Central Arkansas. Looking at the statistics from the game, USD did have some success against the Bears, except for the most important stat: points. The Coyotes failed to score a single point.
This past week’s game proves how much further ahead the Jackrabbit football program is than the Coyote football program. It is easy to look at the success USD has had and the struggles SDSU has had in the past few years, and conclude USD has a better football program. That is just false. This season you can compare the two schools because they played a mutual opponent in Central Arkansas. SDSU defeated the Bears, 20-7, and USD was shut out, 24-0. Which team has a better program? SDSU.
USD fans are incorrect in believing top Division-II teams are at the same level as Division-I-AA schools. Division I-AA is a significant upgrade in competition. That fact has been evident to SDSU fans for the past couple of years.
USD is contemplating moving to Division I. Within the next couple of months, USD is expected to announce whether it will pursue the move. If the Coyotes move to Division I, they need to significantly lower their expectations. If the coaches, fans, players or administration believe they can move to D-I and immediately find the same level of success they have now, they are delusional. It takes time to develop a quality program at the next level. Our Jackrabbit football program is beginning to find more and more success at the higher level, and it is well on the way to establishing itself as top Division-I-AA program.
#1.883398:2207854054.jpg:ball_talk.jpg:Brian Kimmes, Ball Talk:
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