South Dakota State running back Isaiah Davis taking his place among Jackrabbits' all-time greats

Oct. 4—BROOKINGS — Ever since his breakthrough performance on national television at the 2020/21 FCS national championship game, it's been obvious that South Dakota State running back Isaiah Davis was on his way to becoming one of the best in the nation and in Jackrabbit football history.

The question gradually became just how good can he get, and we're starting to get a pretty good idea. He's perhaps as good as anyone who's played at the FCS level, or for South Dakota State. And that's saying something.

Josh Ranek. Kyle Minett. Zach Zenner. Pierre Strong. That's the Mount Rushmore of Jackrabbit running backs.

They're going to have to make room for a fifth.

Davis rushed for 1,451 yards and 15 touchdowns last year, his first season as the No. 1 featured back, after rushing for over 1,500 yards in his first two seasons while splitting time with Strong, who's now a Cleveland Brown. After getting limited carries in this year's non-conference games, Davis ran for 132 yards and three touchdowns in last week's Missouri Valley Football Conference opener against North Dakota, once again showcasing the speed, size, cutting and physical running style that make him the centerpiece of a national championship offense. NFL scouts have the 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior firmly on their radar.

"He's very good," said UND coach Bubba Schweigert. "We've had a lot of good ones in our league and they've had a lot of good ones here. There's (running backs) that go to the NFL out of this league and he's going to be another one."

Davis's size and speed made him stand out early in Joplin, Mo., where he grew up. He started seeing action on the varsity as a sophomore, both at running back and linebacker, and by his junior year he was the starter and an obvious candidate to play college football.

He rushed for 1,676 yards as a junior, and SDSU coaches began making a big push to get him in blue and yellow. Joplin High School football coach Curtis Jasper remembers SDSU assistant Zach Lujan visiting that winter, during basketball season, and making an impression on everyone at the school. The Jackrabbits weren't especially well-known in Joplin at the time, but the more they learned the more they liked. Davis committed to SDSU that summer.

"Every college I visited had nice facilities, a nice locker room and a nice field," Davis told his hometown newspaper, the Joplin Globe, after committing. "Every program talked about the family atmosphere, but it just felt different at South Dakota State. As soon as I got there, the players were really welcoming and honest with us when we asked questions. It showed that they really cared about us and wanted us to be there."

Then came what Jasper calls a 'magical' senior season. Davis rushed for 2,283 yards, scored 45 touchdowns and led the Eagles to the Missouri Class 6 state championship. He became the first player in school history to be named the state's Gatorade player of the year.

"He was a similar player to what you see today," Jasper said. "He was a lunchpail kind of guy with a very high football IQ. His vision and his stiff arms were unreal. His cuts in the second level when he got in the open field were just incredible. He was the whole package."

That package, Jasper said, extended beyond the football field. A basketball and track star as well, Davis volunteered his time helping to coach youth flag football, reading to grade school children and giving back to the community. It made him a local star as a teenager, and it seemed a foregone conclusion that big things were on the horizon.

It didn't take long for Davis to make a huge impression. Active as a true freshman in the COVID-delayed spring season of 2021, Davis had three carries for eight yards in the first two games as he sat behind Strong. Then in the home opener against Western Illinois he busted loose, rushing for 118 yards on just nine carries. Two weeks later he carried 22 times for 150 yards and three touchdowns in a statement win at Southern Illinois. After almost a month off due to COVID cancellations he ran for 84 yards and a score in a win over NDSU at the Fargodome, and he went for 156 on just 10 carries in the playoff opener against Holy Cross.

But it was at the national championship game in Frisco that Davis truly arrived. After his 1-yard touchdown run gave the Jacks a 7-0 lead, SDSU's offense struggled to move the ball with quarterback Mark Gronowski out with an injury. Sam Houston State scored 17 unanswered points to take a 10-point lead, but the Jacks gave it to the freshman and got out of his way. A 28-yard touchdown run saw Davis break three tackles and bowl his way into the end zone. Then came what is still the most memorable run of his career — an 85-yard dash that gave SDSU the lead.

Davis bursted up the middle, sped past a pair of defenders at the second level, cut to avoid another, and after speeding up the field was approached by Bearkat safety Braiden Clopton at the 50-yard line. Davis unleashed a vicious stiff-arm, sending Clopton flying backwards as Davis raced the rest of the way home. With a national television audience watching, Twitter blew up with viewers wowed by Davis' physical running.

Jasper was watching from Joplin High's graduation ceremony.

"I'll never forget that," Jasper said. "I was in my (graduation) robe, watching the game updates on my phone. He kept going off."

Davis finished the game with 178 yards and three touchdowns and finished his freshman year with 818 yards on just 96 carries.

Despite Sam Houston having won the game, the assembled media mostly just wanted to talk about Davis during the postgame press conference, to the point that Davis seemed to start getting annoyed by the questions. His team had just lost the national championship game, after all.

"That's because he gets it," Japser said. "He's a team-first guy. That's one of the reasons we were so good when he was here. He wants to win, and his will to win brings the best out of his teammates."

The Jacks returned hoping to make another run in 2021, but Davis missed half of the season with a shoulder injury. He still ended up rushing for 701 yards as Strong carried the load in his absence, ultimately leading SDSU to the semifinals and getting taken in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

That opened the door for Davis to take over as the No. 1 back last year, and he carried them to the program's first national championship. He was at his best in the postseason, surpassing 100 yards in all four playoff games including 103 yards and a touchdown in the title game win over North Dakota State. He ran for 217 yards in two meetings against the Bison last year.

"Isaiah has always been very unselfish since he got here," said since-retired coach John Stiegelmeier. "Whether he was splitting time with Pierre or if he was the main guy, he did whatever we asked. So to see him step up like that and play his best football in the playoffs was really important to our team and really neat to see for him."

With a national championship in hand, and with tight end Tucker Kraft going to the Packers in the third round of the draft to add to the number of Jackrabbits in the NFL, SDSU's top returners found themselves getting more and more attention from NFL draft experts and observers this offseason. Many ranked Davis in the top 10 of potential draft eligible running backs — in all of college football, not just the FCS level. Dane Brugler of The Athletic ranked Davis the second-best senior back in the entire draft class. That opened a lot of eyes, but wasn't necessarily surprising.

"I didn't expect that but I probably should have," said Gronowski, who's helped the Jacks to a 4-0 start this year. "Just based on his work ethic and how he brings it every single day and how talented he is. His ability to just play ball — whether he's got it in his hands, catching it, lining up in the slot — he can do about anything on the football field."

Davis is aware of the increased hype surrounding him. And it does affect him. Though he hasn't publicly declared if this will be his last year or not (he still has the extra pandemic year available), Davis realizes the opportunity he's going to have and makes sure to carry himself accordingly.

"It's cool to see my name on all those draft boards and things like that but it's not my focus," he said. "My focus is on my teammates and how I can get myself and them better every day. For me personally, I've got to prepare like a professional, so if I do get that opportunity to play professionally I'll have those same habits. I'm ready to take on any challenge that comes my way."

Proof of Davis' unselfishness is in the first three games this season. He had only four carries for 19 yards in the opener against Division II Western Oregon and just eight carries at Target Field in a 70-7 win over Drake. He's not in this for stats, though the numbers are sure to continue to increase now that the Jacks are into conference play. With Amar Johnson emerging as an all-conference caliber secondary back, it's not all on Davis to carry the load, but he's capable when it's necessary, and holding himself to an ever-higher standard.

"A lot of my goals last year I didn't even achieve," he says without elaborating. "So this year the bar is even higher. What's that saying — aim for the moon and you'll reach the stars? I have confidence I can play at an even higher level than I have before. I feel great. I just have to take advantage of every opportunity I get."

So how does Davis stack up to the Jackrabbit greats? Statistically he'll fall well short of Ranek (6,744 yards) and Zenner (6,548), but Strong, who is in third place at 4,527, is within reach. Davis enters Saturday's game at Illinois State with 3,264 yards. But those are just numbers, and anyone in the Jackrabbit program will tell you numbers barely tell the story of Davis' impact, now or in the future.

"He's one of the best that's ever come to South Dakota State, for sure," said coach Jimmy Rogers, who played alongside Minett and was on staff to see Zenner and Strong. "We've had really talented players from Ranek to Zenner to Pierre to Zay. To compare 'em? They played at different times so I'm not gonna do that. I can speak on how Isaiah has prepared himself from the moment he stepped on campus to be the best player he could be at South Dakota State, and he's done that every single day. People wonder how he got here. He got here through consistent effort, day in and day out and being about the team and having a relentless work ethic. That's why he's gonna have not just an NFL opportunity but an NFL career. I thoroughly believe that."