South Dakota’s 2026 season opener isn’t your typical Week 1 matchup against an FCS team from a smaller conference.

Central Connecticut State comes to Vermillion as a two-time defending Northeast Conference champion, the preseason favorite to win it for a third straight year and a program coming off consecutive FCS Playoff appearances.

But here’s what makes the matchup interesting: for all the success both programs have had recently, USD and CCSU enter Week 1 trying to answer a lot of the same questions.

There is significant roster turnover. There are new faces being asked to replace really productive players.

And neither team has publicly settled its quarterback situation.

Before getting to any of that, though, I have to give some credit to the guy who has CCSU in this position.

Adam Lechtenberg

You can’t talk about CCSU without discussing Adam Lechtenberg, their head coach who deserves his flowers.

Lechtenberg has some Midwest roots, too. He’s a native of Butte, Nebraska, played defensive back as a walk-on at Nebraska and began his college coaching career down the road at Wayne State College. He’s crossed the country several times to places like TCU, Memphis, Virginia Tech and Central Oklahoma before he returning CCSU, where he previously coached in 2010 and 2011.

And the turnaround has been pretty ridiculous.

CCSU was picked dead last in the NEC entering 2024.

They won the conference.

Then they came back in 2025 and won it again.

Lechtenberg has now won consecutive NEC Coach of the Year awards and has led CCSU to the first back-to-back FCS Playoff appearances in program history. The Blue Devils have 15 wins over the last two seasons, the most in the NEC over that stretch.

Now the league’s coaches have picked CCSU to win it again. The Blue Devils received six of eight first-place votes and placed a league-high 10 players on the preseason All-NEC team.

That’s not an accident.

Lechtenberg has built something in New Britain (there’s some trivia for you).

Putting the NEC in Perspective

As much as I respect the program, there is a difference between winning the NEC and playing week after week in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

The conferences actually haven’t crossed paths very often recently, but when they have, the numbers favor the Valley.

Over the last five completed seasons — 2021 through 2025 — NEC teams are 1-5 against MVFC opponents.

The lone win came in 2024, and it’s worth mentioning because it was a legitimate one: Duquesne went into Youngstown State and beat the No. 20 Penguins, 28-25.

Otherwise, the recent meetings have gone the other way. Youngstown State beat Duquesne 31-14 in 2022 and then 40-7 in the 2023 FCS Playoffs. In 2025, Mercyhurst lost at Youngstown State and South Dakota State, while Robert Morris lost 56-17 at Youngstown.

The playoff numbers tell a similar story.

The NEC is 0-5 in the FCS Playoffs over the last five seasons. Against the MVFC specifically, NEC teams are 0-3 all-time in the FCS Playoffs — Robert Morris against North Dakota State in 2010, Duquesne against South Dakota State in 2018 and Duquesne against Youngstown State in 2023.

But I wouldn’t look at those numbers and assume CCSU is walking into the DakotaDome as some sacrificial Week 1 opponent.

In each of the last two years, Lechtenberg’s team went on the road to Rhode Island in the playoffs and made it a game.

CCSU lost 21-17 in 2024 and 27-19 in 2025. Last year’s team trailed 24-7 at halftime before holding Rhode Island to three second-half points and making things interesting.

So yes, there is a conference-strength difference here.

There is also evidence that CCSU can play with good FCS teams.

A Lot of Familiar Questions

And that’s where we get to the 2026 version of the Blue Devils.

Because this isn’t exactly the same team that won the NEC last year.

Start at quarterback.

Brady Olson is gone after throwing for 3,132 yards, 25 touchdowns and just seven interceptions last season.

CCSU’s replacement appears to be coming down to #10 Brett Griffis, a former James Madison transfer who spent last season in the program, and Rhode Island transfer Conner Kenyon (oddly enough is on the website but his X profile doesn’t show anything but he was on the Honor Roll).

If that situations sounds familiar to USD fans, it should.

South Dakota is entering its opener with its own uncertainty at quarterback, so both sidelines will be learning about the most important position on the field in real time.

For what it’s worth, nearly every CCSU practice clip I’ve been able to find has shown Griffis operating the offense. That’s certainly not an official depth chart, but if I had to make a guess right now, I’d lean toward #10 Brett Griffis getting the first opportunity in the DakotaDome.

And whoever wins the job isn’t just replacing a quarterback.

He’s replacing the quarterback who threw virtually every meaningful pass CCSU attempted last season. Griffis finished 2025 just 2-of-6 for 17 yards behind Olson.

The Turnover Doesn’t Stop There

CCSU also loses the centerpiece of its running game.

Elijah Howard, the two-time NEC Offensive Player of the Year, rushed for more than 1,100 yards last season after also winning the conference’s top offensive honor in 2024.

Donny Marcus is gone. Jadon Turner is gone. Olson was also one of the team’s leading rushers from the quarterback position.

So there is going to be a very different backfield lining up against South Dakota.

Defensively, the Blue Devils have some major production to replace as well, most notably 2025 NEC Defensive Player of the Year Jack Stoll.

That’s why I don’t think “two-time defending conference champion” tells the whole story of this game.

CCSU has earned that title.

But this particular CCSU team has some serious questions to answer.

Just like USD does.

Don’t Confuse Turnover With a Rebuild

Here’s the other side of it: Central Connecticut still has dudes.

And most of the proven offensive talent that does return is on the perimeter.

Start with #0 Donovan Wadley.

Wadley was the 2023 NEC Offensive Player of the Year at Merrimack before eventually landing at CCSU. Last season he caught 24 passes for 469 yards, an eye-popping 19.5 yards per catch, and three touchdowns. He’s also one of the conference’s best return specialists.

Then there’s #40 Michael Trovarelli, who led CCSU with 493 receiving yards and six touchdowns, and #88 Sean O’Brien, a 6-foot-7 tight end.

All three are preseason All-NEC selections.

So whoever wins the quarterback job will at least have experienced weapons around him.

The biggest name on the other side of the football is #39 Chris Jean.

Jean enters 2026 as a first-team Stats Perform preseason All-American and the active FCS leader with 31 career passes defended — eight interceptions and 23 pass breakups. He’s also on the preseason Buck Buchanan Award watch list.

If you’re looking for a few CCSU numbers to remember Saturday afternoon, I’d start with #0 Wadley, #40 Trovarelli, #88 O’Brien, #39 Jean and #10 Griffis.

What I’m Watching

That’s why I think this is a really good opener.

On paper, South Dakota should have advantages. The MVFC has consistently performed at a different level than the NEC, and USD gets this game inside the DakotaDome.

But I’m not dismissing a Lechtenberg team to keep it competitive early.

However, how quickly will this version of CCSU replace what it lost?

Can a new quarterback settle in on the road? Can a rebuilt backfield replace Howard’s production? Can the new pieces in the front seven hold up against an MVFC offensive line?

USD has plenty of its own questions to answer.

That’s what makes August 29 interesting.

Two playoff programs. Two rosters replacing important pieces. Two uncertain quarterback situations.

One team comes from the league that has set the standard in FCS football. The other comes from a conference that hasn’t had much postseason success recently — but is coached by a guy who has spent the last two years beating expectations.

I’ve got a lot of respect for what Adam Lechtenberg has built at Central Connecticut.

Now we’ll find out how quickly he can fair in a hostile, blacked out DakotaDome.