Jackrabbits post 38-17 win at Illinois State

Saturday, September 26

Normal, Ill.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

3-0 , 2-0

Illinois State

1-3 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota State

Illinois State

Jacks stay in title hunt with win over Missouri State

9/26/2009 11:45:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

NORMAL, Ill. – The 17^th-ranked South Dakota State University football continued its best start as a Football Championship Subdivision member, improving to 3-0 with a 38-17 victory over Illinois State in Missouri Valley Football Conference action Saturday night.

Kyle Minett rushed 21 times for 146 yards and the SDSU defense did not surrender a touchdown until the final 10 seconds in upping its record to 2-0 in league play.

The Jackrabbits took advantage of good field position to score on their opening possession. Saunders Montague capped a six-play, 43-yard drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Crawford with 10:43 remaining in the first quarter.

Second-quarter mistakes by SDSU gave the Redbirds the lead. After the Jackrabbits were flagged for 12 men on the field on an Illinois State punt, Kutch put the Redbirds on the board with a 42-yard field goal.

On the ensuing possession, Crawford's pass was tipped at the line and Redbird cornerback Chris Garrett won the battle for the ball with Jackrabbit receiver Glen Fox and returned the interception 30 yards for the touchdown and a 10-7 advantage.

The Jackrabbits came right back to regain the lead, converting two long third downs as part of an eight-play, 68-yard scoring drive. Crawford ran for 18 yards on third-and-eight, then kept the drive alive with a 21-yard pass to Mike Steffen on third-and-nine. Minett finished off the drive with an 11-yard touchdown run at the 7:03 mark.

The momentum shifted firmly in the Jackrabbits' favor late in the first half. With Illinois State in Jackrabbit territory, Matt Brown's pass was intercepted by Jake Steffen, who returned the ball 24 yards to the Redbird 47. A Jackrabbit penalty on the initial snap pushed SDSU back to the Illinois State 38, but Crawford connected with Fox across the middle for a 62-yard scoring strike with 53 seconds left in the half to put SDSU ahead 21-10 at intermission.

Cole Brodie's 51-yard kickoff return to open the second half set up Peter Reifenrath's 23-yard field goal.

SDSU's strong defensive effort continued in the second half. Derek Domino's interception at the Illinois State 31 led to another Jackrabbit touchdown. Crawford completed the drive by scrambling seven yards for a touchdown.

Minett capped the Jackrabbit scoring on the first drive of the fourth quarter as SDSU again came up big on third down. Facing third-and-13, Minett broke through the line for a 64-yard touchdown run.

Illinois State backup quarterback Matt Lancaster led the Redbirds on the final scoring drive of the night, completing all six of his pass attempts before scrambling for a 7-yard touchdown run with 10 seconds left in the game. It was the first touchdown scored against the Jackrabbit defense this season.

Minett finished the game with 146 yards on 21 carries, while Crawford was 17-of-28 passing for 197 yards. Mike Steffen led the receiving corps with seven catches for 90 yards.

Defensively, the Jackrabbits were led by Conrad Kjerstad with 11 tackles. Jake Steffen added 10 stops, including 3.5 for loss. Buck Buchanan Award nominee Danny Batten was credited with two sacks among his six tackles.

Overall, SDSU held a 373-279 advantage in total offense, including 176-58 on the ground.

Brown was 17-of-32 passing for 184 yards with Eyad Salem catching six passes for 66 yards for the Redbirds. Geno Blow tallied 58 yards on 17 carries.

Kelyvn Hemphill led Illinois State with 10 tackles.

The Jackrabbits return to non-conference play Oct. 3 at nationally ranked Cal Poly. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Pacific Time (8 p.m. Central) in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Notes: SDSU leads the all-time series, 2-0 … the Jackrabbits improved to 8-2 in MVFC games since joining the league in 2008 … the win marked SDSU's first 3-0 start since 2000 … Minett's 64-yard touchdown was a career-best run … Minett posted his ninth career 100-yard game and moved into 10^th place on the Jackrabbit career rushing chartwith 2,134 yards, passing Pete Retzlaff (2,024 yards from 1951-52) … Batten upped his season sack total to 3.5 and his career total to 17.5 … Peter Reifenrath handled the place-kicking duties, making all five extra-point attempts and his lone field goal try