South Dakota State Beats Montana to Win 2024 FCS Championship for 2nd Straight Title

Make it back-to-back national championships and 29 straight wins for South Dakota State.

The Jackrabbits repeated as FCS champions on Sunday, knocking off Montana 23-3.

That concluded a perfect 15-0 season and made them just the fifth program in FCS history to repeat as national champions, joining Georgia Southern (1985-86; 1989-90; 1999-00), Youngstown State (1993-94), Appalachian State (2005-07) and North Dakota State (2011-15; 2017-19).

Quarterback Mark Gronowski led the way for the Jackrabbits, throwing for 175 yards, a touchdown and an interception, while Isaiah Davis rushed for 87 yards and a score and the team's receiving twins wideout, Jaxon Janke (four catches for 66 yards) and Jadon Janke, (five catches for 55 yards and a touchdown) each posted strong efforts.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Gronowski had another big game—he won the 2023 Walter Payton Award, given to the best offensive player in FCS football, after throwing for 2,359 yards, 23 touchdowns and just three interceptions in 11 regular-season games while adding 220 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.

Still, this was a tight one at the half, as South Dakota State held just a 7-3 lead. But a pair of lost fumbles and a turnover-on-downs in the second half stopped Montana in its tracks, contributing to 16 unanswered points from the Jackrabbits in the final two quarters.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that the stingy South Dakota State defense put the clamps on Montana. Or that Gronowski played well under the brightest of lights. This team had exactly two wins decided by one score or less the entire season, and outscored teams in the playoffs by the incredible margin of 146-15.

Yes, you read that correctly. South Dakota State was about as dominant a team as you'll see at any level this season, and were more than deserving champions.