#5 South Dakota State at #4 Kennesaw State
The Jackrabbits treated Duquesne like a team that didn’t belong in the playoffs. That may be debatable, but they didn’t belong on the same field as SDSU in the Second Round. The scariest thing, Taryn Christion was very average overall in the game. This was obviously a by-product of non-necessity. Mikey Daniel was the lead back, helping the Jacks churn up over 300 yards. Winning a game no matter the opponent is an impressive feat. This is debatably the best offense in the FCS.
Kennesaw State was drawn into a toe-to-toe brawl with Wofford. The triple option offenses wore on each other, but the Owls came through in the end. They also get to host a second straight playoff home game. The running game against Wofford was balanced, with five different rushers taking the ball at least five times. Four of those rushers and a different fifth also went for more than 10 yards. That doesn’t sound like much, but playing a mirror image opponent makes that exponentially more difficult.
Of the four games in this round, this one screams shootout. And the thing that’s most amazing is that both teams will look to do it completely different ways. So who plays the better defense? Kennesaw State is probably the better team on that side of the ball. Better offense? SDSU is more versatile, but each looks excellent at what they do. The Owls are at home also, so they seem the favorite. Still, the intangible for which SDSU possesses from playing in an elite conference will trump this hand.
Prediction: South Dakota State 31, Kennesaw State 28
