South Dakota St has long, wintry journey to W Illinois

The first snow storm of the winter impacted football teams throughout the upper Midwest. No one is having a worse time than South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits,

The first snow storm of the winter impacted football teams throughout the upper Midwest.

No one is having a worse time than South Dakota State.

The Jackrabbits, who at 8-2 are fighting for an FCS playoff spot, were delayed for 10 hours in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota airport on Friday on the way to play Western Illinois, according to spokesman Jason Hove.

And once South Dakota State finally got off the plane in Peoria, Illinois to make the 70-mile drive to Macomb, their bus was stuck on the highway for over an hour because of an accident.

The Leathernecks pushed the start time of the game from 1 p.m. CT until 2:30, though Hove said it'll likely be closer to 3 before the teams finally kick off.

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Hove said the Jackrabbits weren't the only team stuck in the Brookings airport. He said South Dakota was delayed for its trip to Illinois State, and Division II Sioux Falls had similarly bad luck trying to get to Arkansas for a playoff game against Henderson State.

''It was a nightmare day for a lot of teams,'' Hove said.

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This story corrects the airport to Sioux Falls, South Dakota

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AP college football website: collegefootball.ap.org