The South Dakota State Jackrabbits football program represents South Dakota State University in American football. This article covers the history of the program in the first two decades. Prior to 1904, the school was known as the South Dakota Agricultural College. In 1904, the school was renamed South Dakota State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. The team played its home games at Brookings, South Dakota.

Significant milestones in the period covered include the following:

• South Dakota Agricultural began competing in intercollegiate football in 1889, eight years after the school was founded. The team played a single game against the University of South Dakota in 1889, ending in a 6–6 tie. It was the first game in the South Dakota–South Dakota State football rivalry. South Dakota State did not win a game in that rivalry until 30 years later in 1919.^[1]

• After a seven-year hiatus, the program resumed intercollegiate play in 1897 with a game against the University of Sioux Falls, ending in a 22–0 loss.^[1]

• In 1898, South Dakota Agricultural won its first football game, a 62–0 victory over a team from Watertown, South Dakota.^[1]

• The 1899 team compiled the progam's first winning record of 3–1, including shut out victories over Huron College (55–0) and Madison Normal (23–0) and ending with a 57–0 loss to Mitchell University.^[1]

• In 1903, the team commenced its rivalry with North Dakota State, now known for the Dakota Marker trophy. North Dakota State won the inaugural game by an 85–0 score. It remains the worst loss in program history, followed by an 81–0 loss to Minnesota in 1905 and an 86–6 loss to Kansas in 1947.^[1]

• In 1908, the team won its first rivalry game with North Dakota State, prevailing by an 11–5 score.^[1]

Regular opponents during the first two decades included the Flandreau Indian School, the Yankton College, the Huron University, Madison Normal School (now known as Dakota State University), and Dakota University at Mitchell (now known as Dakota Wesleyan University).

The 1889 South Dakota Agricultural football team represented South Dakota Agricultural College as an independent during the 1889 college football season. In their first season of existence, they played in one game, a 6–6 tie against the University of South Dakota.^[1]

The 1897 South Dakota Agricultural football team was an American football team that represented South Dakota Agricultural College as an independent during the 1897 college football season. In their first season since 1889, they played in one game, a 22–0 loss against Sioux Falls.^[1]

The 1898 South Dakota Agricultural football team was an American football team that represented South Dakota Agricultural College as an independent during the 1898 college football season. In its first season under head coach Bert H. Morrison, the team compiled a 1–1–1 record.^[1]

The 1899 South Dakota Agricultural football team was an American football team that represented South Dakota Agricultural College as an independent during the 1899 college football season. In its second and final season under head coach Bert H. Morrison, the team compiled a 3–1 record.^[1]

The 1900 South Dakota Agricultural football team was an American football team that represented South Dakota Agricultural College as an independent during the 1900 college football season. In their first and only season under head coach James Hutchinson, they compiled a 3–2 record.^[1]

The 1901 South Dakota Agricultural football team was an American football team that represented South Dakota Agricultural College as an independent during the 1901 college football season. The team compiled a 3–2 record.^[4]

The 1902 South Dakota Agricultural football team was an American football team that represented South Dakota Agricultural College as an independent during the 1902 college football season. The team compiled a 3–2 record.^[1]

The team began the season with L. L. Gilkey as its coach, but he was released in late October due to the lack of funds in the Athletic Association. Gilkey then returned to his regular work purchasing chickens for the Huron Produce Co.^[11]

The 1902 football season in South Dakota witnessed the death of Harry Jordan, a young man from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and led to the cancellation of games in that city.^[12] At the end of the season, an editorial was published in The Daily Argus-Leader from a correspondent in Britton, South Dakota, proposing a bill "to abolish football within the precincts of South Dakota." The appeal was based on the loss of life and "mutilation" during the prior football season, the loss of study time, and the game's tendency to promote "immorality", including betting, rioting, debauchery, and "the refinement of cruelty, needless senseless cruelty." The author denounced: "That so savage and barbarious a game can meet with the approval of Christian educators and ministers of the gospel in the year of our Lord 1902 is one of the amazing exhibitions of the century."^[13]

The 1903 South Dakota Agricultural football team was an American football team that represented South Dakota Agricultural College as an independent during the 1903 college football season. The team compiled a 1–2 record.^[1]

The 1904 South Dakota State football team was an American football team that represented South Dakota State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts as an independent during the 1904 college football season. In its first and only year under head coach J. Harrison Werner, the team compiled a 4–2–1 record.^[1]