Jackrabbits burned at Cal Poly

Saturday, September 17

San Luis Obispo, Calif.

6:00 PM

South Dakota State University

1-2

Cal Poly

1-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota State

Cal Poly

9/17/2011 10:42:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- Cal Poly quarterback Andre Broadous accounted for four touchdowns -- two on the ground and two through the air -- and the Mustang defense returned two interceptions for scores in posting a 48-14 victory over South Dakota State in non-conference football action Saturday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Both teams moved to 1-2 on the season.

Cal Poly, which was playing its home opener, drew first blood, scoring on its opening drive of the game as Broadous connected with a streaking Jarred Houston for a 29-yard touchdown. The scoring play came on third-and-21.

The Jackrabbits tied the game late in the quarter, converting on fourth-and-2 as Zach Zenner caught a screen pass from Thomas O'Brien, slipped through a tackle and rambled down the left sideline for a 36-yard touchdown.

The second quarter was all Cal Poly. Broadous put the Mustangs on top for good as he scored on a 23-yard scramble on the first play of the stanza, then hooked with Mark Rodgers on a 69-yard touchdown pass down the middle three minutes later.

Cal Poly pushed its lead to 27-7 at the 4-minute, 7-second mark when Bijon Samoodi picked off an errant O'Brien throw, scoring from 46 yards out.

SDSU put together a long drive on the final possession of the first half, only to come up empty. O'Brien began to find a rhythm with junior wide receiver Aaron Rollin, with the tandem accounting for four receptions for 57 yards. However, with the Jackrabbits out of timeouts in the closing seconds, O'Brien scrambled up the middle for 14 yards to the Cal Poly 1 but SDSU could not get another play off before time expired.

The Mustangs extended their lead to 34-7 on the opening drive of the second half, going 81 yards on eight plays. Broadous set up his 1-yard touchdown run with a 41-yard pass to David Mahr on the previous play.

SDSU came right back with a touchdown of its own, putting together a nine-play, 83-yard drive that ended with a 6-yard touchdown pass from O'Brien to Jason Schneider with 9:24 to play in the third quarter.

The Jackrabbits appeared on the verge of trimming the margin to two scores, but on third-and-goal from the Cal Poly 6, O'Brien's pass intended for Brandon Hubert was intercepted in the end zone by Asa Jackson. An All-America candidate, Jackson returned the interception 100 yards for a touchdown, ending any hopes of a Jackrabbit comeback.

Cal Poly rolled up 522 yards of total offense, including 289 on the ground. Jake Romanelli, who scored the final Mustang touchdown of the day, gained a game-high 10 yards on 17 carries. Broadous added 69 rushing yards on 13 carries and ended the day 12-of-16 passing for 213 yards and two scores.

O'Brien crossed the 300-yard mark for the first time in his career, also setting a career high for completions as he finished the game 28-of-45 for 376 yards. Rollin hauled in a career-best nine receptions for 109 yards and Dale Moss added eight receptions for 106 yards.

The Jackrabbits failed to establish a running game, totaling 38 net yards on 28 attempts. Tyrel Kool mustered only 25 yards on 12 carries and O'Brien was sacked five times.

Dirk Kool led the Jackrabbit defense with 13 tackles, with fellow linebacker Mike Lien adding 10 stops. Samoodi paced Cal Poly with 11 tackles.

SDSU opens Missouri Valley Football Conference action next Saturday (Sept. 24) at Illinois State. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Ill.

NOTES: Cal Poly leads the all-time series, 5-2, and has won the last three meetings ... the Mustangs notched nine tackles for loss, compared to two by SDSU ... O'Brien's previous career highs were 26 completions and 285 yards in a 2009 victory over Northern Iowa ... SDSU had two 100-yard receivers in the same game for the first time since a 2008 game at Northern Iowa (JaRon Harris 9-120, Glen Fox 6-102) ... Cal Poly was 10-of-15 on third-down attempts, compared to 5-of-14 by the Jackrabbits ... Zach Buchner started at right guard in place of an injured Josh Kage ... seven different Jackrabbit players caught at least two passes in the game ... Zenner tallied 157 all-purpose yards (18 rushing, 43 receiving, 96 on kickoff returns) ... attendance was 11,075