Jackrabbits smother Georgia Southern, 44-6

Saturday, September 12

Brookings, S.D.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

1-0

Georgia Southern

1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Georgia Southern

South Dakota State

9/12/2009 11:00:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

The South Dakota State University defense recorded nine sacks and kept Georgia Southern out of the end zone, while the Jackrabbit offense put up 31 second-half points to roll to a 44-6 victory Saturday at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

The 21st-ranked Jackrabbits played their season opener in front of a Cereal Bowl-record crowd of 12,354. Georgia Southern dropped to 1-1.

The Jackrabbit defense was relentless, holding GSU to 11 net yards rushing and 243 yards of total offense and forcing four turnovers. Ten different players notched at least a half-sack in the game, led by Buchanan Award nominee Danny Batten with 1.5.

Conrad Kjerstad, Corey Jeske and General Parnell all intercepted passes. Junior linebacker Derek Domino led SDSU with 11 tackles.

Senior quarterback Ryan Crawford completed his first eight passing attempts and finished the game 15-of-21 for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Both of his scoring strikes were to Mike Steffen, covering four and 62 yards in a span of 2 minutes, 35 seconds in the third quarter. SDSU scored its third consecutive touchdown of the third quarter on a 5-yard Kyle Minett run.

“At halftime, my challenge to the offense was that we didn't finish drives. We had field goal attempts instead of finishing it. Film always shows all the things you can work on, but it was a great team effort,” head coach John Stiegelmeier said.

Minett tallied 128 yards on 22 carries. Glen Fox led the SDSU receiving corps with eight catches for 57 yards, with Steffen adding four catches for 98 yards.

The two teams traded long field goals in the first quarter. Kyle Harris put SDSU on the board with a 44-yard field goal, while Adrian Mora answered with a 46-yarder for the Eagles. Mora added 36-yard field goal in the third quarter.

The Jackrabbits led 13-3 at halftime following a 2-yard run by Minett and 37-yard field goal by Harris. Playing in place of regular starting kicker Peter Reifenrath, Harris added a 40-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to make the score 37-6.

SDSU capped the scoring late in the fourth quarter on a 5-yard touchdown pass by backup quarterback Thomas O'Brien to Sam Kavanagh.

Lee Chapple finished the game 25-of-39 passing for 174 yards with two interceptions for Georgia Southern. Darreion Robinson led the Eagles in both rushing and receiving, gaining 47 yards on six rushing attempts and adding nine receptions.

South Dakota State opens Missouri Valley Football Conference play Sept. 19 by hosting Indiana State in the Beef Bowl. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium, and will be preceded by a barbecue from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Georgia Southern hosts Western Carolina on Sept. 19.

NOTES: The win was SDSU's first over Georgia Southern in four tries ... the Jackrabbits are now 11-3 in Cereal Bowl games ... SDSU ended a three-game losing streak in season openers and 9-4 in season openers under head coach John Stiegelmeier ... Minett posted the eighth 100-yard game of his career ... Harris was 3-for-4 on field goals, missing from 46 yards in the second quarter ... SDSU featured a balanced offensive attack with 193 yards rushing and 185 through the air ... as a team, the Jackrabbits recorded 14 tackles for loss, covering 94 yards ... Steffen's 98 yards receiving were a career high and his 62-yard touchdown reception was a career long