SDSU, USD Players Highlight STATS Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team

Last week the Missouri Valley Football Conference Preseason Poll was released and South Dakota State University was picked as the 2021 favorite for the first time since joining the conference.

It was announced on Monday that four Jackrabbits were named to the Stats Perform FCS Preseason All-America Team. First-team selections include Logan Backhaus at linebacker and offensive lineman Garret Greenfield.

SDSU reports Backhaus led with 9.5 tackles for loss while ranking second on the squad with 72 total tackles during an abbreviated 2020-21 season. He posted double figures in tackles three times, including a career-best 14 in a Football Championship Subdivision playoff quarterfinal game against Southern Illinois.

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Rock Valley, Iowa native Greenfield was a consensus All-America pick at right tackle after helping pave the way for the Jackrabbits to rush for a Division I-era best 231.7 yards per game this past spring.

Others earning recognition are running backs Pierre Strong, Jr. and Isaiah Davis also were honored on the preseason squad. Strong, a junior from Little Rock, Arkansas, was a second-team selection, while Davis earned third-team recognition as an all-purpose back.

The Jacks open the season on the road at Colorado State on Friday, September 3.

The University of South Dakota is represented by senior punter and Orange City, Iowa, native Brady Schutt for the second time in as many seasons. Schutt has turned in the fourth-best punting average in FCS in each of the last two seasons and it is his punting unit that led the nation in net punting during the spring season.

The Coyotes also begin the 2021 season on September 3 traveling to Kansas.