Jackrabbits Return Home for Hobo Day Matchup
October 23, 2026
BROOKINGS, S.D.–The South Dakota State football team will play its first home game in nearly a month as it returns to Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Saturday for a Hobo Day matchup against Murray State.
Kickoff before a sellout crowd is slated for 2 p.m. The game will be televised on Midco Sports Two and the ESPN+ streaming platform.
South Dakota State enters Saturday’s contest with a 5-2 overall record and a 2-1 mark in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Jackrabbits were knocked out of the top spot in the Football Championship Subdivision rankings after a 21-10 road loss Oct. 17 at North Dakota. SDSU is fifth in both the Stats Perform media poll and American Football Coaches Association rankings this week.
Murray State, meanwhile, holds a 1-6 overall record and remains in search of its first league victory this season with an 0-3 mark after dropping a 48-20 home decision to South Dakota last week.
THE SERIES: Saturday’s game will mark only the third all-time meeting on the gridiron between South Dakota State and Murray State.
The Racers joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference at the start of the 2023 season, but the two squads did not square off until Nov. 2, 2024, when SDSU scored a 52-7 victory on its home field at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
SDSU made its inaugural trip to Murray State on Oct. 18, 2025, and came away with a 35-14 victory after intercepting a season-high four passes.
HOBO HISTORY: South Dakota State has compiled a 66-40-5 record on Hobo Day, which began with a 6-3 victory over Yankton College on Nov. 2, 1912.
While the records show 111 Hobo Day games, there have been 113 Hobo days. There was no game in 1918 during World War I and in 1943, the game was between two Army special training teams from campus. In 2020, Hobo Day was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Jackrabbits have won their last four homecoming games and seven of nine played at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, which opened in 2016.
RANKINGS STREAK: South Dakota State has held a top-five ranking in all nine Football Championship Subdivision polls conducted thus far during the 2026 season.
The Jackrabbits began the season at No. 3 in the Stats Perform media poll and held the No. 2 spot for five weeks before ascending to No. 1 in early October.
SDSU was ranked first for two weeks before falling to No. 5 after last week’s loss at North Dakota and has now appeared in the top 25 of 198 consecutive Stats Perform polls dating back to October 2012.
The Jacks previously held the top spot in 29 consecutive polls from Oct. 17, 2022, until relinquishing the top spot following their regular season loss at North Dakota State on Oct. 19, 2024.
CAPTAINS: Leading the Jackrabbit football team are six captains:
- Quinten Christensen, Sr., offensive lineman, Wessington Springs;
- Logan Green, Sr., defensive tackle, Northboro, Iowa;
- Coleman Kuntz, Sr., tight end, Beaumont, Calif.;
- Chase Mason, Grad., quarterback, Hurley;
- Dawson Ripperda, Sr., defensive end, Larchwood, Iowa;
- Chase Van Tol, Jr., linebacker, Tea.
Christensen, Green and Mason are each in their second seasons as team captains while Kuntz, Ripperda and Van Tol are in their first seasons in the leadership role.
YEAR 23 IN FCS: The 2026 season marks the 23rd year South Dakota State has competed in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Since joining the Division I ranks in 2004, the Jackrabbits have compiled a 198-89 record (.690 winning percentage).
In the decade of the 2020s, SDSU has put together a 73-17 record, which is good for an .811 winning percentage.
ELITE COMPANY: With 14 consecutive appearances in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, South Dakota State enters the 2026 season tied for the third-longest all-time streak since the subdivision was formed in 1978.
Overall, the Jackrabbits have qualified for the FCS playoffs 15 times, with the first berth coming in 2009 and followed by the current streak that began in 2012. SDSU has compiled a 25-13 record in FCS playoff games, winning back-to-back national championships in 2022 and 2023 after a runner-up finish during the 2020-21 spring season.
In addition, the Jackrabbits advanced to the semifinal round in 2017, 2018, 2021 (fall) and 2024.
Montana holds the all-time FCS playoff streak with 17 consecutive appearances from 1993-2009. North Dakota State moved its streak to 16 seasons in 2025 before departing for the Football Bowl Subdivision and the Mountain West Conference this past offseason. SDSU’s 14 consecutive appearances match New Hampshire’s run from 2004-17.
