Jackrabbits rout Texas State, 38-3, in Beef Bowl

Saturday, September 22

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

1-3

Texas State

1-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Texas State

South Dakota State

9/22/2007 1:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

Redshirt freshman Kyle Minett rushed 11 times for 134 yards and a touchdown, and the South Dakota State defense did not allow Texas State in the end zone as the Jackrabbits snapped a three-game losing streak with a convincing 38-3 victory before a Beef Bowl-record crowd of 14,920 Saturday night at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

Both teams are now 1-3 on the season. SDSU will host another Southland Conference opponent, Stephen F. Austin (Texas) in the 94th Hobo Day Game on Sept. 29. Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m.

Texas State opened the scoring with what would be its only points of the night on their opening possession of the game. The Bobcats marched 59 yards on 14 plays before Andrew Ireland kicked a 48-yard field goal with 5 minutes, 24 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Jackrabbits came right back to take the lead with a quick strike from Ryan Berry to JaRon Harris with 3;54 remaining in the first quarter to cap a three-play, 73-yard drive. On a wide receiver screen, Harris caught the ball near the line of scrimmage and streaked 49 yards for his second touchdown reception in as many weeks. Parker Douglass added the extra point ? the 100th of his career in 101 attempts.

Douglass added a 30-yard field goal in the opening minute of the second half following a blocked punt by Jason Bonwell gave the Jackrabbits the ball at the Texas State 29.

SDSU made it 17-3 as Cory Koenig finished a nine-play, 80-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge.

Penalties and dropped passes led to the Bobcats' inability to for much of the remainder of the game. After Texas State missed a field goal on its first possession of the second quarter, the Bobcats went three-and-out on each of their next four possessions, gaining just 16 yards.

Minett and the Jackrabbits put the game out of reach in the final minute of the first half. Minett caught a swing pass from Berry along the right sideline and rumbled 40 yards for his first collegiate touchdown.

After a scoreless third quarter, SDSU tacked on two more touchdowns in the final quarter. Koenig scored again from a yard out at the 13:59 mark, and Minett, who was named the Outstanding Player of the 41st Annual Beef Bowl, capped the scoring with a 29-yard run around the right end on an option play to close out the first 100-yard rushing performance of his career.

The Jackrabbits out-gained Texas State 431-325 in total offense, despite running 24 fewer plays. SDSU averaged 7.7 yards per play in its balanced offensive attack that consisted of 179 yards rushing and 252 yards passing.

Berry finished the night 15-of-24 for 226 yards and one interception. Harris led the receivers with four catches for 71 yards.

Bobcat starter Bradley George completed 14-of-24 passes for 119 yards before leaving the game in the third quarter due to injury. Clint Toon finished up, completing 10-of-17 attempts for 54 yards and an interception.

Adrian Thomas caught six passes for 42 yards. Karrington Bush led the Bobcat ground attack with 13 carries for 105 yards.

Defensively, Jimmy Rogers led the Jackrabbits with 12 tackles. Tyler Koch contributed nine strops.

Ric Palmer made a game-high 13 tackles for Texas State.

SDSU Notes: The series between SDSU and Texas State is now tied at 1-1 ... the Jackrabbits improved to 3-1 against Southland Conference opponents ... SDSU avoided its first 0-4 start since 1969 ... Saturday's crowd was the fifth largest in Coughlin-Alumni Stadium history and the most for a non-Hobo Day game ... SDSU improved to 44-15 in home games under John Stiegelmeier, including 14-4 in night games at CAS ... Minett's 100-yard rushing performance was the second by a Jackrabbit player this season (Cory Koenig 28-117 against Western Illinois on Aug. 30) ... Douglass ended the night 103-of-104 in career extra-point attempts ... Douglass is perfect on kicks this season: 7-for-7 on field goals and 11-of-11 on PATs ... Berry completed passes to eight different receivers before giving way to Reed Burckhardt, who was 2-for-3 passing for 16 yards ... after catching just one pass in the first three games, Chris Wagner hauled in three receptions Saturday for 28 yards ... Koenig also completed a pass for 10 yards ... SDSU dominated on special teams, with Paul Aanonson racking up 102 return yards (four punt returns for 61 yards and two kickoff returns for 51 yards) ... Dean Priddy averaged 43.2 yards on four punts, landing three inside the Texas State 20-yard line, with a long of 51 ... Stefan Geissler recorded his first career interception late in the fourth quarter ... SDSU is now 22-19 in Beef Bowl games, winning seven of the last nine