JACKS ROLL TO WIN OVER USD

Saturday, October 8

Brookings, S.D.

2 P.M.

South Dakota State University

5-1 , 3-0

South Dakota

1-4 , 0-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota

South Dakota St.

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

10/8/2022 6:53:00 PM | Football

Box Score

A ball-control offense and a stifling defense that registered seven sacks lifted South Dakota State to a 28-3 victory over in-state rival South Dakota before a sold-out Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Saturday afternoon.

Playing before the second-largest crowd in stadium history at 19,332 fans, the Jackrabbits ran their winning streak to five games to improve to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. USD dropped to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in league play. SDSU entered the matchup ranked second in the Football Championship Subdivision media poll conducted by Stats Perform and third in the American Football Coaches Association rankings.

SDSU overcame a slow start after spotting USD an early 3-0 lead and being in danger of going down two scores. The Coyotes took the opening kickoff and marched 50 yards on eight plays before settling for a 37-yard field goal by Eddie Ogamba four minutes into the contest. A 29-yard run by Travis Theis on third-and-3 on the first set of downs put USD in field goal position.

The Jackrabbits came up empty on their first three possessions, punting twice before having a 53-yard field goal attempt blocked.

As action moved to the second quarter, USD was on the brink of extending its lead after taking over at the Jackrabbit 9-yard line after a muffed punt. However, SDSU safety Cale Reeder came with a game-changing play by intercepting Coyote quarterback Carson Camp in the end zone on third-and-goal from the 8.

It was the second interception of the game by the Jackrabbits, following a pickoff by Dalys Beanum on the Coyotes' second drive of the game. Beanum added a blocked kick on a 50-yard field goal attempt later in the second quarter.

The SDSU offense built off the new-found momentum with a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard catch and run to the end zone by Jaxon Janke on a pass over the middle by Mark Gronowski.

The Jackrabbits built their lead to 14-3 later in the second quarter on a 47-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Davis, who broke a couple tackles near the line of scrimmage before running away from the USD defense for his longest carry of the season.

SDSU imposed its will in the second half, racking up more than 12 minutes in time of possession in the third quarter alone and scoring a pair of touchdowns to put the game away. After receiving the second-half kickoff, the Jackrabbits strung together an eight-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by a 5-yard Davis touchdown run. That was followed by a methodical 15-play, 80-yard march that chewed up more than eight minutes and bridged into the fourth quarter before Davis plunged in from a yard out for his third touchdown of the game.

Davis ended the afternoon with 108 yards on 15 carries. Gronowski completed 12-of-20 passes for 136 yards, while Jaxon Janke led the receiving corps with four catches for 76 yards.

Overall, the Jackrabbits held a 344-136 advantage in total offense. USD managed only 44 yards through the air as Camp completed only 5-of-12 passes. Theis paced the Coyotes on the ground with 73 yards on 13 carries.

USD picked up only six first downs in the contest, compared to 22 by SDSU, and went 3-of-14 on third-down attempts.

Adam Bock, Reeder and Jason Freeman each tallied a team-high seven tackles for the Jackrabbits, with Bock notching a pair of sacks and Freeman and Reeder each being credited with one. Reece Winkelman added five stops, including 1.5 sacks.

Stephen Hillis made a game-high 11 tackles for USD.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits will make the trek to Fargo, North Dakota, Oct. 15 for the annual Dakota Marker matchup against top-ranked North Dakota State. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. at the Fargodome.

NOTES

SDSU leads the all-time series, 56-52-7, and has won eight of the 10 meetings in the Division I era
The game marked the first meeting between the two programs at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium since 2018
Saturday's attendance was 39 less than the stadium record of 19,371 against North Dakota State on Oct. 26, 2019
SDSU's final touchdown drive of 15 plays and 8:13 time of possession marked the longest drive of the season in both categories
Davis recorded his third 100-yard game of the season — second in a row — and 10^th of his career
Davis also rushed for three touchdowns in a regular season game at Southern Illinois (2020-21) and in an FCS playoff game at Villanova (2021)
Jaxon Janke has caught a touchdown pass in four consecutive games
Winkelman moved into fifth place on the Jackrabbits' career sacks chart with 18.5, passing Eric Cohen (18 sacks from 1978-80) among others, and also took over fifth place in career tackles for loss with 36.5
Reeder's interception was his team-leading second of the season
SDSU has intercepted at least one pass in all six games this year
The Jackrabbits held USD to 92 net yards rushing to extend their Division I-era record streak of keeping opponents to less than 100 yards on the ground to six contests
SDSU finished with a 33:51 to 26:09 advantage in time of possession