FULL MONDAY SHOW: "Survive & Advance" episode with Dan Jackson & Kurtiss Riggs
Update: 2025-10-06
Description
Something seemed to be in the air in road games for perennial Dakotas college football powerhouses in their road games Saturday. That "something" was an upset alert.
* 14.5- point favorite South Dakota State, the No. 2 team in the FCS, trailed at No. 24 Youngstown State 17-7 at halftime.
* 24.5-point favorite North Dakota State, the top-ranked team and defending FCS champion, barely led No. 6 Illinois State 18-16 after three quarters.
* Augustana, the eighth or 13th ranked Division II team, depending on which poll you prefer, trailed 28-10 after three quarters against a University of Sioux Falls team that had lost by a combined 43 points the previous two weeks to Duluth and Mankato, the two top 15 squads the Vikings are battling for NSIC supremacy.
In all three cases, the powerhouse prevailed with "program wins" or "culture wins" to keep championship dreams realistic.
Winners win, so goes the old USF mantra.
But should fans of those juggernauts be as miffed after the fact as they were in the moment with losses staring them in the face?
Should "survive and advance" or "just win, baby" be the right way to look at those close calls, or is there reason to be unsatisfied with not winning big enough?
The foremost TV football analyst of South Dakota should know. Kurtiss Riggs guided the Sioux Falls Storm to 11 professional indoor football championships in 20 years and was part of staffs at both USF and Roosevelt High School that won multiple titles. He provides perspective of how difficult it is to stay at the top and keep hungry — if not spoiled — fan bases satisfied.
Speaking of coaches of spoiled fan bases, Riggs' best friend Kalen DeBoer survived another week of scorching scrutiny by fending off now-formidable Vanderbilt at home after ESPN's College Gameday came to town. Hear Riggs' insight into how the Crimson Tide are coming into their own in DeBoer's second season, plus thoughts on DeBoer's "Gameday" interview while sitting next to the looming shadow that is his predecessor, Nick Saban.
Riggs also offers opinions on how No. 2 Brandon Valley took down No. 1 Sioux Falls Lincoln in South Dakota's Class 11AAA high school game of the year, plus takeaways from some rather inspiring veteran quarterback play in the NFL — particularly from Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and Dak Prescott.
Strange days, indeed.
Before that, Happy Hour host John Gaskins puts his spin on how the Jacks, Bison, and both Augustana and Minnesota Vikings won and what we should make of it.
Then, SDSU coach Dan Jackson deep dives into how SDSU survived in Youngstown.
Was it a fire-and-brimstone halftime speech for the ages? Was it masterful on-the-fly schematic adjustments?
How else could one explain the flip from a 17-7 halftime deficit to barnstorming the Penguins for 21 unanswered third quarter points en route to a 35-30 conference-opening win?
How else could one explain the Jackrabbits failing to establish their brand of physical football for the entire first half — with only 72 rushing yards and running back Julius Loughridge accounting for just 34 yards on nine carries — to hammering YSU with 139 rushing yards after halftime (with 142 coming from Loughridge?)
Well, this is a something else. Jackson explains how the script flipped once SDSU returned to the field for the third quarter. Plus:
- How does Jackson assess a 14-30, 189 yard, 1 TD, 1 INT game from QB Chase Mason?
- Why was Nebraska transfer Alex Bullock the by-far go-to receiver, catching 10 of Mason's 14 completitions for 162 yards?
- How has Larchwood's Dawson Ripperda become the type of player that makes maybe the biggest play of the game, a strip sack late in the first half that kept the score at 17-7 as YSU was driving after Mason's first interception of the year?
- Same thing for sophomore linebacker Chase Van Tol (Tea Area) who before Ripperda's big play chased down a Penguin ball carrier on a long run to save a touchdown with the score at 14-7, a tackle that saved four points as YSU had to settle for a field goal three plays later?
- Why does punter Alex Pellum wear two different shoe sizes?
Finally, a look at 2-3 Northern Iowa, who comes into Brookings for Saturday's "Hobo Day" game.
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