Mark Gronowski

Mark Gronowski
Gronowski at a post-game press conference in 2023
South Dakota State Jackrabbits – No. 11
PositionQuarterback
Class
Redshirt
Redshirt
Senior
MajorMechanical Engineering
Personal information
Born: (2001-10-05) October 5, 2001 (age 23)[1]
Naperville, Illinois, U.S.
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight230 lb (104 kg)
Career history
College
Bowl games
High schoolNeuqua Valley
(Naperville, Illinois)
Career highlights and awards

Mark Gronowski (born October 5, 2001)[1] is an American college football quarterback for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits.

Early life

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Gronowski grew up in Naperville, Illinois and attended Neuqua Valley High School.[2] As a senior, he completed 132 of 194 pass attempts for 1,663 yards with 15 touchdowns and one interception while also rushing for 846 yards and 12 touchdowns.[3] Gronowski committed to play college football at South Dakota State, which was his only Division I scholarship offer, over offers from Butler and Valparaiso, which play in the non-scholarship Pioneer Football League, and from Division II Quincy and Bemidji State.[4][5] He also had offers to walk-on at Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Stanford.[6]

College career

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Gronowski's freshman season at South Dakota State (SDSU) was postponed from the fall to the spring of 2021 due to COVID-19.[7] He was named the Jackrabbits starting quarterback going into his freshman season.[8] Gronowski passed for 1,584 yards and 15 touchdowns and also rushed for 577 yards and seven touchdowns.[9] He was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) Offensive Player of the Year, as well as the conference Freshman and Newcomer of the Year, at the end of the season.[10] South Dakota State advanced to the 2021 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, but Gronowski suffered a serious knee injury on the first offensive drive of the game and the team lost 23–21 to Sam Houston State.[11][12] He used a medical redshirt for the 2021 fall season to recover from his injury.[13]

Gronowski returned as SDSU's starting quarterback at the beginning of the 2022 season.[14][15] He was named second-team All-MVFC as the Jackrabbits returned to the FCS National Championship Game.[16][17][18] Gronowski was named the games Most Valuable Player after dominating the Bison, completing 14 of 21 pass attempts for 223 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 57 yards and one touchdown in a 45-21 victory over North Dakota State.[19] He finished the season with 2,967 passing yards and 26 touchdowns with five interceptions and also rushed for 408 yards and 12 touchdowns.[20]

Gronowski won the Walter Payton award as a junior.[21] South Dakota State repeated as FCS national champions and he repeated as the Most Valuable Player of the FCS Championship Game after completing 13-of-21 passes for 175 yards and one touchdown with an interception and rushing eight times for 62 yard and one touchdown in a 23-3 win against Montana.[22] Gronowski finished the season with 3,058 passing yard and 29 touchdown passes while also rushing for 402 yards and eight touchdowns.[23]

Statistics

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Season Games Passing Rushing
GP Record Comp Att Pct Yards Avg TD Int Rate Att Yards Avg TD
South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2020 10 8–2 108 188 57.7 1,565 8.3 15 3 151.1 83 577 7.0 7
2021 DNP (Injury-ACL)
2022 15 14–1 232 356 65.2 2,967 8.3 26 5 156.5 111 408 3.7 12
2023 15 15–0 209 307 68.8 3,058 9.9 29 5 179.7 93 402 4.3 8
Career 40 37−3 549 851 64.6 7,590 8.9 70 13 163.6 287 1,387 4.8 27

Personal life

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Gronowski's father, Ray Gronowski, played quarterback at Drake University. His older sister Sarah played softball at Butler.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b @debgronowski (October 5, 2023). "Happy 22nd Birthday Mark! Birthdays are not just about getting older but reflecting on the amazing journey you've had so far! Keep shining on and off the field. 💙💛 ~ your biggest fans. @mgronowski11 @RayGronowski" (Tweet). Retrieved May 21, 2024 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "Neuqua Valley's Patrick Hoffmann reunites with Mark Gronowski". Naperville Sun. August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  3. ^ "He's like duct tape': Neuqua Valley's Mark Gronowski is the 2019 Naperville Sun Football Player of the Year". Naperville Sun. December 1, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  4. ^ Borg, Zach (May 18, 2021). "Inspiration & Motivation Always Present For Mark Gronowski". DakotaNewsNow.com. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  5. ^ OHalloran, Tim (June 26, 2019). "Gronowski adds a SDSU offer". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  6. ^ a b Brugler, Dane (August 27, 2024). "Meet the under-the-radar QB who could rise up 2025 NFL Draft boards". The Athletic. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  7. ^ "Freshman Mark Gronowski named starting quarterback for South Dakota State football". Argus Leader. February 19, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  8. ^ "South Dakota State football: Mark Gronowski healthy, Chase Mason out". Argus Leader. April 4, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  9. ^ "Gronowski named MVFC Offensive Player of Year". Rapid City Journal. May 28, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  10. ^ "Jackrabbits QB Gronowski ready for different Fargodome feel in 2nd Dakota Marker start". The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  11. ^ "Freshman QB Mark Gronowski powers South Dakota State to cusp of national title game". Mitchell Daily Republic. May 7, 2021. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  12. ^ "FCS championship: South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski suffers 'serious' injury". Argus Leader. May 16, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  13. ^ "Gronowski set to return after serious knee injury". The Brookings Register. August 11, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  14. ^ "Mark Gronowski ready to reclaim star status as South Dakota State quarterback; backups battle for role". Argus Leader. August 9, 2022. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
  15. ^ "South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski returns from injury". Watertown Public Opinion. August 29, 2022. Retrieved August 30, 2022.
  16. ^ "Missouri Valley Football Conference awards: South Dakota State's John Stiegelmeier named coach of the year". Mitchell Daily Republic. November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  17. ^ "Gronowski looking like himself heading into Montana State rematch". The Brookings Register. December 16, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  18. ^ "Grownowski leads South Dakota St past Montana St in FCS semi". Associated Press. December 18, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
  19. ^ "Different Dakota: SD State wins 1st FCS title over ND State". CBS Sports. Associated Press. January 8, 2022. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  20. ^ Le Cren, Matt (January 16, 2023). "Former Neuqua Valley star Mark Gronowski's first college season had a nightmarish end. His second? The stuff of dreams". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
  21. ^ Fernandez, Jonathan (January 6, 2024). "South Dakota State football quarterback Mark Gronowski wins 2023 Walter Payton Award". Argus Leader. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  22. ^ "South Dakota State repeats as FCS champs with 29th consecutive win, 23-3 over Montana". FOX Sports. Associated Press. January 7, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  23. ^ "College Achievers: Gronowski caps junior football season in a big way". Daily Herald. January 8, 2024. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
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