Jacks fall in season opener

Saturday, September 11

Newark, Del.

1 p.m. ET

South Dakota State University

0-1

Delaware

2-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
South Dakota State	0	0	3	0	3
Delaware	17	3	6	0	26

9/11/2010 4:55:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

NEWARK, Del. - Delaware rolled up 400 yards of total offense and held South Dakota State without a touchdown, posting a 26-3 victory in a matchup between nationally ranked teams Saturday afternoon at Delaware Stadium.

The Blue Hens, ranked 16^th in the Sports Network/Fathead.com media poll and 17^th by the FCS coaches, improved to 2-0. SDSU, ranked ninth in both polls, was playing its season opener.

Mistakes plagued the Jackrabbits early on, committing two penalties on the opening drive of the game before quarterback Thomas O'Brien's first pass of the season was intercepted by Anthony Bratton at the SDSU 30.

Delaware took advantage of the short field, scoring on a 7-yard pass from Walter Payton Award candidate Pat Devlin to Phillip Thaxton to cap an eight-play drive.

The Blue Hens scored again on a 40-yard field goal by Mike Perry and extended the lead to 17-0 late in the first quarter. After another interception gave Delaware the ball at the SDSU43, Andrew Pierce scored from 3 yards out to finish off another eight-play drive.

SDSU came back to put together its best drive of the first half only to come up empty. After O'Brien began to find a rhythm, the Jackrabbit drive stalled at the Delaware 27 and Kyle Harris' 44-yard field goal attempt was no good after a high snap.

Delaware strung together a nine-play, 66-yard drive midway through the second quarter before Perry converted a 27-yard field goal to put the Blue Hens out front 20-0.

The Jackrabbits broke into the scoring column 87 seconds into the second half. On the opening kickoff, Brandon Hubert caused Anthony Grant to fumble and Chris Tracy recovered at the Blue Hen 11. SDSU moved the ball to the 3 before having to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Harris.

The Delaware rushing attack began chewing up big chunks of yardage in the second half. The Blue Hens gained 105 yards on the ground in the third quarter alone, en route to a 257-25 advantage for the game. David Hayes scooted around the left end for a 26-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes and 3 seconds remaining to put the Blue Hens on top 26-3. The extra point was missed.

Pierce led the way with 26 carries for 165 yards in topping the 100-yard for the second consecutive week, with Hayes adding 11 carries for 64 yards. Delaware owned a 15-minute advantage in time of possession, 37:32 to 22:28.

Devlin connected with seven different receivers, ending the day 14-of-25 yards for 143 yards. Nihja White and Thaxton each caught three passes for 27 and 23 yards, respectively.

The Jackrabbit offense was paced by Tyrel Kool, who hauled in nine receptions for 107 yards. O'Brien completed 23-of-45 passes for 225 yards, but was intercepted three times.

SDSU's Walter Payton Award candidate Kyle Minett was limited to 32 yards on 14 carries.

Defensively, Anthony Wise made a career-high 16 tackles to lead SDSU. Derek Domino added 10 stops. Marcus Burley and Andrew Harrison shared team-high honors with nine tackles for Delaware.

The Jackrabbits are scheduled to play their home opener Sept. 18 against Missouri Valley Football Conference rival Illinois State. Kickoff for the 15^th Annual Cereal Bowl is set for 6 p.m. at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

NOTES: Saturday's game marked the first meeting between SDSU and Delaware in football ... the Jackrabbits dropped to 9-5 in season openers under head coach John Stiegelmeier ... SDSU has not opened the season with a road win since winning at Grand Valley State (Mich.), 35-20, in 1999 ... the Jackrabbits were last held without a touchdown in a 17-3 loss to Wisconsin-La Crosse to open the 2006 season ... Dean Priddy booted a career-best 72-yard punt late in first half ... Priddy averaged 55 yards on four punts ... SDSU was 3-for-15 on third-down attempts and 1-for-4 on fourth-down tries ... attendance was listed at 19,854