2014 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

The 2014 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represented South Dakota State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by 18th-year head coach John Stiegelmeier, the Jackrabbits compiled an overall record of 9–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing fourth in the MVFC. South Dakota State received an at–large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where the Jackrabbits defeated Montana State in the first round before falling to fellow MVFC member and eventual national champion, North Dakota State, in the second round. The team played home games at Coughlin–Alumni Stadium in Brookings, South Dakota.

2014 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football
NCAA DIvision I Second Round, L 24–27 at North Dakota State
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 12
FCS Coaches	No. 13
Record	9–5 (5–3 MVFC)
Head coach	John Stiegelmeier (17th season)
Offensive coordinator	Eric Eidsness (9th season)
Defensive coordinator	Clint Brown (6th season)
Home stadium	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium
Seasons ← 2013 2015 →

2014 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State +^		7	–	1					15	–	1
No. 2 Illinois State +^		7	–	1					13	–	2
No. 10 Northern Iowa ^		6	–	2					9	–	5
No. 12 South Dakota St. ^		5	–	3					9	–	5
No. 19 Indiana State ^		4	–	4					8	–	6
No. 22 Youngstown State		4	–	4					7	–	5
Southern Illinois		3	–	5					6	–	6
Western Illinois		3	–	5					5	–	7
Missouri State		1	–	7					4	–	8
South Dakota		0	–	8					2	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	2:30 pm	at No. 24 (FBS) Missouri*	No. 10	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	ESPNU	L 18–38	60,589
September 6	6:00 pm	Cal Poly*	No. 12	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD		W 44–18	12,219
September 13	7:00 pm	at Southern Utah*	No. 11	Eccles Coliseum Ceder City, UT		W 26–6	5,017
September 20	6:00 pm	Wisconsin–Oshkosh*	No. 10	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD		W 41–3	13,731
October 4	2:00 pm	at No. 22 Illinois State	No. 9	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL		L 10–45	10,919
October 11	6:00 pm	Missouri State	No. 19	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD	Midco SN	W 32–28	11,348
October 18	4:00 pm	at No. 20 Northern Iowa	No. 18	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, IA		W 31–28	15,049
October 25	2:00 pm	No. 17 Youngstown State	No. 13	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD		L 27–30	14,480
November 1	2:30 pm	at No. 1 North Dakota State	No. 18	Fargodome Fargo, ND (Dakota Marker)	Midco SN	L 17–37	18,832
November 8	12:00 pm	at No. 17 Indiana State	No. 22	Memorial Stadium Terre Haute, IN		W 32–17	4,905
November 15	2:00 pm	Western Illinois	No. 19	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD		W 59–24	3,204
November 22	2:00 pm	South Dakota	No. 16	Coughlin–Alumni Stadium Brookings, SD (rivalry)	Midco SN	W 37–14	10,631
November 29	3:00 pm	at No. 17 Montana State*	No. 14	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT (NCAA Division I First Round)	ESPN3	W 47–40	7,747
December 6	2:30 pm	at No. 2 North Dakota State	No. 14	Fargodome Fargo, ND (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 24–27	18,113
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[1][2]

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
Sports Network	10	12	11	10	9	9	19	18	13	18	22	19	16	14[3]	12
Coaches	10	11	10	10	9	9	19	16	15	19	22	19	15	13[4]	13