Jackrabbit Illustrated

Welcome back, Jacks fans! Today is where the fun begins in college basketball season, at least for the Summit League, with conference play starting today.  These mid-major teams have survived a challenging nonconference schedule. Win or loss, those games against Power Five schools are meant to prepare each team for the final two months of the season. Each program has had its chance to find its identity and now are ready to showcase that against its biggest rivals.  As you might have heard, the men’s side is wide open. There is no clear favorite like there has been in years past and big names like Mike Daum, David Jenkins Jr., John Konchar and Zach Jackson are gone. However, there are many rising players ready to take over.  Rather than go full into detail for each team and spoil future opponent insight posts, I’ll just give a short description of what my impression is of each team right now.  South Dakota (9-5): If there was a favorite in the league, it...

Offense Love Mark’s game! Great arm that can make all the throws and has great mobility. He’s a big time competitor and was the top QB in Illinois for 2020. #Jack20nTop https://t.co/pkvBGRnAPV — Jackrabbit_Illstrtd (@JackIllustrated) December 18, 2019 QB:  Mark Gronowski , 6'3, 210; Naperville, IL (Neuqua Valley) Committed June 28 Attended camp Total Offense: 2,509 yards, 27 TDS, passing 132/194, 1,663 yards, 15 TD Awards and honors:DVC Offensive Player of the Year, Illinois 8A All-State Additional offers: Valparaiso, Butler, D2s The Missouri Gatorade and MaxPreps player of the year is in. Isaiah runs with great physicality but really developed great explosiveness his senior season. The talent in the RB room only gets deeper! #Jack20nTop https://t.co/3uTSgK5RYq — Jackrabbit_Illstrtd (@JackIllustrated) December 18, 2019 RB:  Isaiah Davis , 6'1, 220; Joplin, MO (Joplin) Committed June 21 Attended camp Stats: 2,283 rushing yards, 47 TDs Awards and ...

Hello again, Jacks fans! Now that football season is over, the best show in town lies in Frost Arena with the men’s and women’s basketball teams for the next two to three months.  As usual, my blog will focus mostly on the men’s program. As of late, the Jacks have gotten a chance to catch their breath after what seemed like a marathon start to the season.  SDSU has lost two games in a row in challenging road environments. Against Indiana at Assembly Hall had to be a great experience for everyone involved. Despite the loss, that looks like a fun place to play and watch some college hoops.  The Montana State game was a battle as the Bobcats pulled away with a late run to beat the Jacks by seven.  It is a tough, yet a crucial point in the season for the men. As a mid-major, you continue to face challenging nonconference opponents while conference play inches closer. With college football season coming to an end, college basketball teams start getting mo...

The Jacks season wrapped up with a disappointing loss on Saturday to UNI.  This whole season I had no doubt in my mind that this team was one of the top teams in the country.  I was sure of it and I still sort of am.  However, the inability to stretch the field on offense and not take care of the football ultimately doomed this team and at the end of the season, you are your record.  This year, the record was 8-5 which is unacceptable for the standard that has been set for this program.  So let's dive into what went right and what didn't in 2019. Rave: The defense.  The Jacks have made the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons.  For a majority of the previous 7 the offense carried this team and the defense played a true bend but don't break style.  2019 was different. The defense was phenomenal and only allowed 16.7 ppg. They recorded 36 sacks and forced 18 interceptions.   In addition, they held opponents to just a 34% conversion...

It was just a few weeks ago that the Jacks defeated the Panthers rather handily by a score of 38-7.  The Jacks took care of the ball in that contest while the Panthers did not; committing 4 turnovers that turned a competitive game into a rout.  Here is the preview for that game and I would encourage you to read it before reading the rest of this article as much of the info has stayed the same besides the stats.  While much is the same, there are some potentially huge differences in this game.  I'll use this blog to lay out those differences so that we are all prepared for Saturday. 1. UNI Injuries In the first matchup, UNI was without Briley Moore (TE), Isaiah Weston (WR), Deion McShane (WR), Tyler Hoosman (RB), and Nick McCabe (RB).  In the first round against San Diego, Weston and McShane played.  Weston reaggravated his injury and his status for Saturday is unknown.  McShane, a dynamic athlete, is still recovering from his knee injury and ...