Dan Jackson wins appeal, Chase Mason gets sixth year for SDSU title defense

South Dakota State did not just win an eligibility appeal. Dan Jackson and his staff preserved the centerpiece of a team that expects to chase another FCS title, and Chase Mason’s return for a sixth year immediately lifts the Jackrabbits’ 2026 ceiling.

Jackson, hired on Dec. 31, 2024 as the 22nd head coach in South Dakota State history, won the fight after Mason’s initial NCAA petition was denied. The result matters far beyond paperwork. Mason was already listed on SDSU’s 2026 roster as a senior quarterback wearing No. 7, a sign the program was planning for him as the face of the offense in a season that now carries real championship weight.

That weight has been building for years. Mason arrived in Brookings in January 2022 after spending the fall 2021 semester on Nebraska’s baseball team. He was listed on SDSU’s 2022 roster as a redshirt freshman quarterback from Hurley, South Dakota, then spent the entire 2022 football season out. By 2023, he was on the field in nine games, completing 16 of 26 passes for 267 yards and a touchdown. In 2024, SDSU used him in both the passing game and the run game, and by 2025 he had become the team’s passing leader and the engine of the offense.

The numbers from last season explain why the extra year matters. ESPN listed Mason at 2,005 passing yards, 15 passing touchdowns and four interceptions in 2025, while PFF graded him at 81.2 overall. His season also showed how much he had fought to get there. A 2025 profile detailed how he tore an ACL in high school on Aug. 28, 2020, then tore his right ACL again early in his first spring camp at South Dakota State after leaving Nebraska baseball because he still had the itch to play football.

Mason’s value to SDSU was on display in October 2025, when he injured himself on the opening drive at Murray State after finishing a 14-play, 82-yard march with a 6-yard touchdown run. Luke Marble stepped in and helped carry the Jackrabbits to a 35-14 win, and Mason later returned for a playoff victory over New Hampshire. Now, with his sixth season secured, SDSU gets back the quarterback who helped rally teammates and recruits through coaching changes and who has already shown he can handle both the burden and the tempo of a title chase.

For a program that had reached 190 wins in its Division I era by 2025 and 100 Missouri Valley Football Conference wins by Oct. 4, 2025, Mason’s return is more than a roster note. It keeps South Dakota State squarely in the national conversation and gives the Jackrabbits the kind of proven quarterback continuity that can separate a contender from the field.