Happy Hour with John Gaskins

Have the Jacks cracked?
 
Oh, sure, South Dakota State's facade of unstoppable offense and impenetrable defense splintered at least somewhat in the 21-10 loss at North Dakota last Saturday.
 
The shake-up came one game before SDSU's 2025 crumbling, when the 7-0 Jackrabbits were stampeded by No. 1 and now gone-from-FCS North Dakota State 38-7.
 
Does this squad appear to be more like the bunch that fell apart and lost three more consecutive games before gluing together a playoff-clinching win at UND and nuking New Hampshire in the first round, only to be mauled at Montana in the Round of 16?
 
Or is 2026 still headed to Nashville, where it very much appeared in the 5-1 start, with the lone blemish being a four-quarter cage fight at Northwestern, who is now in the FBS Top 25?
 
Of course, the correct answer is: Who knows? We'll find out.
 
But that's no fun, and Happy Hour is supposed to be fun. So the Happy Hour host and his weekly "Nobody's Listening Anyway" podcast co-host and Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer dive into SDSU's current state, which includes a more probing examination of what to look for in Saturday's Hobo Day game against Murray State than there would be had the Jacks left Grand Forks 8-0.
 
It's a road show for Zim, who joins from Brookings following SDSU hoops (and other sports) media day. Other topics:
 
* The 30th Anniversary of Jim Mora's second most-famous rant
 
* USD's latest big game in the DakotaDome, this time against those soaring Hawks from UND
 
* Are the Minnesota Vikings 5-0 or Fraud-and-Oh?
 
* Any big headlines out of the Media Day from SDSU men's or women's hoops? Will there be anything to ad-Meyer in First Bank & Trust Arena?

At a level of college football where NIL resources aren't nearly as high as the Power Four leagues and parity is supposedly greater, weird things are happening to the "haves" of the FCS.
 
Preseason No. 1 Montana State lost at 0-4 Idaho.
 
Preseason No. 2 Montana has lost three times, twice to FCS teams, and the Griz appear allergic to defense.
 
Preseason No. 3 South Dakota State rose to No. 1 for exactly a week before North Dakota smothered the Jackrabbits. They had been in the driver's seat for a Top 2 playoff spot and home field advantage through the championship game.
 
That same UND team had lost at Northern Iowa, which was predicted third-to-last in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. 
 
And on and on and on, just like the litany of upsets and poll plummets in the FBS.
 
How do we make sense of this? More importantly, which of the elite teams that have stumbled should we expect to see still standing in the FCS semifinals and maybe even in Nashville for the championship game?
 
Former Montana All-American receiver Samuel Akem hosts a daily FCS show, aptly named The Samuel Akem Show, and joined the Happy Hour host to break down some of these matters, plus:
 
* If South Dakota beats the Fighting Hawks in Vermillion on Saturday, have the Coyotes stiff-armed their way into contention? 
 
* How seriously should we take Youngstown State, Illinois State, and current No. 1 Tarleton State?
 
* What is up with Chase Mason completing just 52 percent of his passes, and how much of a red flag is that for the Jackrabbits' title hopes?
 
After the chat with Sam, Happy Hour clears the stage for the final two unreleased conversations from Summit League basketball Media Day on Oct. 6:
 
 
Mark Turgeon - Kansas City men
 
After 476 wins and taking three different teams to the NCAA Tournament, Turgeon stepped away from the pressures of Big Ten coaching at ever-demanding Maryland in 2021 at the age of 56.
 
With plenty of money in the bank and nothing left to prove, Turgeon mostly smelled the roses for the last five years in what most would classify as retirement.
 
But he was ready for one more adventure. Or, in more pessimistic terms, renewed torture of coaching in the NIL/portal era, this time at a forgotten place buried in a major sports and college basketball market.

Why on Earth did he choose Kansas City (formerly Missouri-Kansas City or UMKC) which has floundered in the low-major Summit League for years?
 
Turgeon answered that question and shared plenty of stories from a career full of more than just brushes with some of the biggest names in the game — coaching Allen Iverson, coaching for Larry Brown, coaching against Tom Izzo and Tim Miles, and playing for the Kansas Jayhawks in the days of the legendary old Big Eight when legends like Brown, Johnny Orr (Iowa State), Billy Tubbs (Oklahoma), and Norm Stewart (Missouri) roamed the sidelines and stirred the pot with each other.
 
Johnny Tauer - St. Thomas men
 
Unlike Turgeon, Tauer has spent the last three decades in one spot — playing and coaching at the well-funded private school in St. Thomas since 1991.
 
What kept him there? What, to him, have been the most compelling changes to the sport and its players over those 35 years? 
 
Of course, NIL and the portal have changed everything, so how has Tauer processed and adjusted to the fact that players don't stick around four or five years like they used to?
 
Also, how have the Tommies made the first Div. III to Div. I transition in the history of the sport look so easy? 
 
Refreshingly candid yet easy to listen to, Tauer takes a seat on the therapeutic davenport of coaching anxiety and joy.

After 476 wins and taking three different teams to the NCAA Tournament, Turgeon stepped away from the pressures of Big Ten coaching at ever-demanding Maryland in 2021 at the age of 56.
 
With plenty of money in the bank and nothing left to prove, Turgeon mostly smelled the roses for the last five years in what most would classify as retirement.
 
But he was ready for one more adventure. Or, in more pessimistic terms, renewed torture of coaching in the NIL/portal era, this time at a forgotten place buried in a major sports and college basketball market.

Why on Earth did he choose Kansas City (formerly Missouri-Kansas City or UMKC) which has floundered in the low-major Summit League for years?
 
Turgeon answered that question and shared plenty of stories from a career full of more than just brushes with some of the biggest names in the game — coaching Allen Iverson, coaching for Larry Brown, coaching against Tom Izzo and Tim Miles, and playing for the Kansas Jayhawks in the days of the legendary old Big Eight when legends like Brown, Johnny Orr (Iowa State), Billy Tubbs (Oklahoma), and Norm Stewart (Missouri) roamed the sidelines and stirred the pot with each other.

Unlike Turgeon, Tauer has spent the last three decades in one spot — playing and coaching at the well-funded private school in St. Thomas since 1991.
 
What kept him there? What, to him, have been the most compelling changes to the sport and its players over those 35 years? 
 
Of course, NIL and the portal have changed everything, so how has Tauer processed and adjusted to the fact that players don't stick around four or five years like they used to?
 
Also, how have the Tommies made the first Div. III to Div. I transition in the history of the sport look so easy? 
 
Refreshingly candid yet easy to listen to, Tauer takes a seat on the therapeutic davenport of coaching anxiety and joy.

At a level of college football where NIL resources aren't nearly as high as the Power Four leagues and parity is supposedly greater, weird things are happening to the "haves" of the FCS.
 
Preseason No. 1 Montana State lost at 0-4 Idaho.
 
Preseason No. 2 Montana has lost three times, twice to FCS teams, and the Griz appear allergic to defense.
 
Preseason No. 3 South Dakota State rose to No. 1 for exactly a week before North Dakota smothered the Jackrabbits. They had been in the driver's seat for a Top 2 playoff spot and home field advantage through the championship game.
 
That same UND team had lost at Northern Iowa, which was predicted third-to-last in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. 
 
And on and on and on, just like the litany of upsets and poll plummets in the FBS.
 
How do we make sense of this? More importantly, which of the elite teams that have stumbled should we expect to see still standing in the FCS semifinals and maybe even in Nashville for the championship game?
 
Former Montana All-American receiver Samuel Akem hosts a daily FCS show, aptly named The Samuel Akem Show, and joined the Happy Hour host to break down some of these matters, plus:
 
* If South Dakota beats the Fighting Hawks in Vermillion on Saturday, have the Coyotes stiff-armed their way into contention? 
 
* How seriously should we take Youngstown State, Illinois State, and current No. 1 Tarleton State?
 
* What is up with Chase Mason completing just 52 percent of his passes, and how much of a red flag is that for the Jackrabbits' title hopes?
 
After the chat with Sam, Happy Hour clears the stage for the final two unreleased conversations from Summit League basketball Media Day on Oct. 6: