Aug_ABBR. 24—BROOKINGS — It's easy to forget, after he led South Dakota State to wins in his first seven starts at quarterback last year, that Chase Mason was something of a question mark when the Jackrabbits opened the 2025 campaign with the former Nebraska Cornhusker outfielder as their QB1. Yes, the Jacks were pretty confident the 6-foot-4, 240-pound gunslinger was going to be good, maybe even great, given his measurables and athleticism, but nobody really knew for sure.
After all, he hadn't been a starting college quarterback yet, sitting behind Mark Gronowski for three years and taking snaps at running back and receiver with only occasional time as an actual behind-center signal-caller. But the former Viborg-Hurley standout aced his first test as a college QB, completing 65 percent of his passes for 2,005 yards and 15 touchdowns with just four picks, going 8-0 as a starter until the Jacks' season ended with a 50-29 playoff loss to Montana.
He missed five games to injury and the Jacks went 1-4 in those games, as if to fully illustrate Mason's importance to the team. Whatever questions there may have been about Mason's ability to run the offense, or lead the huddle, have been answered, and now he's back for one final year, having spurned lucrative offers to transfer so he can make one last run at an FCS championship and build his draft stock in the process. This is it — the last charge of Chase Mason, SDSU quarterback — and all indications are that it's setting up to be something special.
Coaches and teammates have spent the summer raving about their quarterback. The NFL-caliber arm seems to have somehow gotten stronger, the accuracy is improved, as is the decision-making and defense-reading, which is scary for opponents given that Mason was already mostly outstanding in those areas. Is he an NFL Draft pick? A high one? Who knows — mock drafts tend to look markedly different in the spring following the season than in the summer before it.
But the NFL can wait, anyway. Right now, Mason is focused on guiding the Jacks to Nashville and the national championship, and the teammates who saw Mark Gronowski take SDSU to two of them believe he has everything it takes to do so. " I guess you could say there's tons of pressure on him this year, but what I love about Chase is that I don't really think he feels the pressure," said sixth-year wideout Grahm Goering. " And I think that's what makes him good, is he kind of goes out there and, you know, he thinks he's the best quarterback on the field.
And I think that's huge because I've never really seen that guy stunned even a little bit. He's gone through some adversity, but every time he's on the field he's calm and composed, and that's really good. Sometimes I'm like, I just want to see some juice. Like, are you driven for this? But yeah, he is. And that's what makes him great. " Well, that and an uncommon set of physical tools. He can throw the ball 80 yards in the air. He's been clocked at 22-mph in a sprint (that translates to a 40-time between 4.3 and 4.5 depending on how long it takes to reach top speed).
And remember, the dude is 6-4, 240. Jackson didn't say if they'd clocked the speed of his passes, but Mason can throw a baseball over 90-mph, and the heat he can put on short and intermediate passes to fit them into tight windows or reach receivers downfield when he's out of the pocket continues to be mind-blowing. " Some of the throws Chase makes, people might be like, oh, that's a good throw, but they really don't understand how crazy they are," said running back Ramon McKinney, a former QB who transferred to SDSU this year. "
Like, the velocity he throws the ball with is nuts. Coming from a former quarterback, his arm talent is next level. I see some of the throws he makes and I'm just happy the receiver was watching. " But being a physical freak isn't enough. Mason was good last year, but his accuracy was not at an NFL level, and that's ultimately what kept previous SDSU quarterbacks like Gronowski and Taryn Christion from getting drafted. He hasn't much altered what is an unconventional delivery, but continued reps appear to have sharpened his touch, and he says he's devoted considerable effort to his footwork.
And Mason and his coaches believe he can increase his accuracy through a greater command of his surroundings. Understanding routes, ball trajectory, reading defenses, adjusting to coverages and making calls and checks at the line will make throws easier, and that's where he seems to have grown the most over the summer. " You can see it, like, even when I go against him, I can see it by his communication with the offensive line at the beginning of the play," said D-tackle Logan Green. "
I mean, he's flipping coverages, changing calls, and doing the stuff that a high level quarterback should be doing. And that's really cool to see. And it kind of flusters me when I'm on the D-line. I was like, what's he got up his sleeve? Like, what's he dialing up on us now? " When Mason was backing up Gronowski and serving as a utility player it was obvious he could probably be an effective running back or tight end, and there was some concern that he played with too much recklessness.
But after rushing for 464 yards in 2024 he didn't take off much last year, totaling 174 yards on the ground. The Jacks don't want to expose their quarterback to too much punishment, but they do want to take advantage of his speed and creativity, and coaches say he's developed an ability to work seamlessly in and out of the pocket. " We're trying to find ways for him to improve," said head coach Dan Jackson. " I think specifically an area that he's working on is taking the athlete that he was as a Wildcat quarterback and then the quarterback that he was last year and really combining those two characteristics and traits.
And he's really done that this fall camp. He's running, creating, scrambling and throwing, scrambling and running, staying in the pocket. He's so much more comfortable in the pocket, which is going to help us with the sacks that we had too many of last year. A lot of them were on him. And so he's improved in his pocket presence, awareness and his ability to use his legs and how to protect himself, when to get down, when to slide. " When Mason replaced Gronowski last year, much was made of the shoes he had to fill from a leadership standpoint, as that was thought by most to be Gronowski's best and most important trait as a quarterback.
Mason was smart enough not to try to be Gronowski, but he didn't blow off the responsibility, either. It was a difficult needle he was being asked to thread, but teammates said he did so brilliantly. " Everybody wants to talk about his athletic gifts but I think he's a great guy and he's really really grown in his leadership," said offensive tackle and fellow captain Quinten Christensen. " Both (Mason and Gronowski) are great leaders. They don't need to do it the exact same way.
They're two different guys, they're two different people. That doesn't mean one's better than the other but I think Chase approached it the exact way he should have. He's still himself. I mean, he's still that funny, charismatic guy but when it's time to go it's time to go and people listen to him. " Added Green: "There's one guy in the locker room you can count on to show up and be himself, and that's Chase. I mean, day in and day out, he's the exact same person.
He doesn't miss a beat. When he shows up, he's in a positive attitude. He's ready to get after it at practice. He's one of the best competitors on this football team. " Mason is aware of the spotlight that's on him, locally and nationally. He's aware of the pressure to win, and says he doesn't feel any pressure to perform for NFL scouts. He wants to play in the league, but isn't obsessing over it. If there's one thing that's been consistently impressive about Mason since he established himself as a once-in-a-generation athlete it's that he himself seems completely unimpressed.
When asked if he's soaking up his final days as a Jackrabbit, he thought for a second, shrugged and said, "Um, I don't really look at it like that. I mean, ever since I focused on football I've kind of viewed it like, you don't really know when it's going to be your time to step up to the plate and you don't really know when it's going to be your last time on the field. That's what I try to tell people, that you never know when it's going to be your last game or your last practice.
So you go out there and be the same person every single day and treat every single practice like it's a game because that's the only way you're going to be ready to step up. " And the NFL? The draft? Going back to the national championship? " The thing is, if I go and play how I should and lead this team how I should, it'll take care of itself. And I don't really think about it too much. "
