South Dakota State University’s football team beat Augustana’s on Saturday in the 57th “Beef Bowl”.
The two teams haven’t met since 2004.
The Viking defense forced three turnovers, keeping the score much closer than some predicted. Despite the Vikings’ defensive success – the Jackrabbits came out on top.
Jimmy Rogers is SDSU’s head coach. He said the 24-to-3 win is a wake-up call to the players.
“There are some things that are a positive. But in the end when you have 3 turnovers and you have nine penalties for 110 yards and almost as much penalty yardage as they do total offense, you play better teams you play a team at this level with the speed and the size and the physicality you’re gonna pay for those. We gotta learn and we gotta learn in a hurry. We’ve gotta grow up. We’ve gotta mature in many ways. Some of this is lack of discipline, some of this is an immaturity thing and it’s on me surely. I’ll address it on Monday, and we’ll grow as a team and get better,” Rogers said.
JayVian Farr is a defensive back for Augustana. He said the team learned a lot in the loss.
“A lot of people will look at the score and see 24-3, but there were many plays we could have got off on third downs and long second downs, and even on offense there were a couple where we missed some plays. We’ll go back to the drawing board like other teams will,” Farr said.
The sold-out game produced a crowd over 19,000, having an impact on Augustana. The largest crowd the D-2 school played for last year was around 5,000 fans in a game against the University of Sioux Falls. Farr said although the crowd was bigger, it’s still the same game.
“I mean for me personally, I would say because it’s 19,000 fans, sold out and I think the historic background in the rivalry that it has, is a really great thing. It sets the stage even more. But once you get out here you realize it’s 100 yards, 53 yards wide and it’s just playing ball. Granted, we didn’t get the W, but I know we’re gonna take a lot from this one and I can’t wait to get back to the guys in the film room and just get better,” Farr said.
Now – both teams look ahead as they vie for a playoff spot in their respective divisions.
