No. 19 Jackrabbits rally past Missouri State

Saturday, October 11

Brookings, S.D.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

4-2 , 1-1

Missouri State

3-3 , 0-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Missouri State

South Dakota State

10/11/2014 11:52:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

Jerry Rice Award candidate Jake Wieneke scored three touchdowns and the South Dakota State defense pitched a second-half shutout as the 19^th-ranked Jackrabbits rallied for a 32-28 victory Saturday night at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

Playing before a Hall of Fame Game crowd of 11,348, the Jackrabbits improved to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Missouri State dropped to 3-3 overall, 0-2 in league play.

A redshirt freshman from Maple Grove, Minn., Wieneke gave SDSU a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter as he caught a pass from Zach Lujan across midfield along the right sideline and weaved his way to the middle of the field and past the Bear defense for a 78-yard touchdown.

The rest of the half belonged the Missouri State, which scored the next 21 points to take a 28-10 lead. Quarterback Kierra Harris scored the first two touchdowns on two 12-yard runs two minutes and three seconds apart. His first scoring run capped an 11-play, 79-yard drive, while his second touchdown came two plays after a Dylan Cole interception deep in SDSU territory.

The Bears again took advantage of a short field after a Jackrabbit turnover to push the margin to 28-10. Jeremy Springer intercepted a pass by SDSU backup quarterback Tyler Finnes and returned the ball to the SDSU 19. Four plays later, Calan Crowder scored his second touchdown of the game, from two yards out.

SDSU gained some momentum heading into halftime with its longest drive of the night, a 10-play, 85-yard march that ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Lujan to Wieneke with 35 seconds remaining in the half.

Although neither team scored in the third quarter, the Jackrabbit defense began to assert itself, limiting Missouri State to 23 yards of total offense in 13 plays.

The Jackrabbits drew to within a field goal early in the fourth quarter as Lujan and Wieneke hooked up for the third time on a 26-yard pass play. SDSU added the two-point conversion on a pass from Lujan to Jason Schneider.

After forcing a three-and-out, SDSU put together what proved to be the game-winning drive. A Lujan pass to Schneider for 14 yards put the Jackrabbits across midfield before Walter Payton Award candidate Zach Zenner rambled 34 yards to the MSU 1. Zenner scored on the next play and Justin Syrovatka's extra point provided the final margin.

Missouri State's next drive ended on an interception, but the Bears put together their best drive of the second half in the closing minutes. MSU picked up three first downs, moving the ball to the Jackrabbit 31, but Harris' pass on fourth-and-8 with under a minute to play was broken up by Trey Carr to seal the SDSU victory.

Wieneke posted the sixth-most receiving yards in a single game by a Jackrabbit receiver, finishing the night with eight receptions for 183 yards. Schneider also topped the century mark with seven receptions for 105 yards. Lujan ended the game 17-of-28 passing for 310 yards, while Zenner carried 27 times for 149 yards as he moved into the Football Championship Subdivision career top 10 for rushing yards.

SDSU finished with a 439-249 advantage in total offense.

For Missouri State, Harris led the way on the ground with 65 yards on 15 carries and completed 12-of-25 passes for 113 yards. Julian Burton led Bear receivers with six catches for 66 yards.

Jackrabbit linebacker T.J. Lally led all players with 10 tackles, with Nick Mears adding nine stops. Dylan Cole and Christian Hoffmann each tallied nine tackles to lead Missouri State.

SDSU returns to action Oct. 18 at Northern Iowa. Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m. at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

NOTES: The Jackrabbits lead the all-time series, which dates back to 2008, by a 6-1 count … Wieneke became the first Jackrabbit player to catch three touchdowns in a game since Colin Cochart in a 2009 FCS playoff game at Montana … Wieneke recorded his third 100-yard receiving game of the season, while Schneider hit the century mark for the fourth time in his career … SDSU had two receivers over 100 yards in the same game for the first time since Dale Moss (139 yards) and Aaron Rollin (133) against Southern Illinois in 2011 … Schneider moved from ninth to fifth place in career receptions at SDSU with 142 and from 10^th to fifth in career receiving yards with 1,902 … Zenner posted the 27^th 100-yard game of his career in moving into ninth in FCS career rushing with 5,467 yards … Zenner ended the night with 938 rushing yards for the season … Zenner also moved into 12^th place in FCS career all-purpose yards with 6,867 … Lally reached double figures in tackles for the eighth time in his career … SDSU played without starting defensive end and starting strong safety Jake Gentile … Jackrabbit head coach John Stiegelmeier received the Ralph Ginn Award for Coaching Excellence from South Dakota State University earlier in the day