Jackrabbits recover to defeat UNI

Saturday, October 18

Cedar Falls, Iowa

4 p.m.

South Dakota State University

5-2 , 2-1

Northern Iowa

3-4 , 1-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota State

UNI

10/18/2014 9:14:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — Justin Syrovatka connected on a 44-yard field goal with 1 minutes, 42 seconds remaining as South Dakota State recovered from a number of anxious moments down to stretch to defeat Northern Iowa, 31-28, Saturday at the UNI-Dome.

SDSU, ranked 16^th by the FCS Coaches and 18^th in the Sports Network media poll, improved to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. UNI, rated 19^th in both polls, fell to 3-4 overall and 1-2 in league play.

Syrovatka's game-winning field goal came after Northern Iowa rallied from 14 points down late in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 28. David Johnson scored on a 2-yard run with 4:59 to play and Ray Mitchell returned an interception on a deflected pass 58 yards for a touchdown a minute and a half later.

The Jackrabbits then put the game-winning drive together, highlighted by a juggling catch and run of 40 yards by Jason Schneider from Zach Lujan to the Panther 31.

UNI drove into Jackrabbit territory on the ensuing drive, but Melvin Taveras made a leaping interception on a deep pass from backup quarterback Brion Carnes at the SDSU 4 with 50 seconds remaining.

SDSU strung together their longest scoring drive of the season, chewing up more than seven minutes off the clock on the opening drive of the game. Jake Wieneke capped the 17-play, 84-yard drive with an 8-yard touchdown reception from Lujan. SDSU converted five times on third down on the drive.

UNI tied the game at 7-all early in the second quarter as Johnson cut to the left sideline and scored from 50 yards out. The Panthers turned an interception late in the first half into points as starting quarterback Sawyer Kollmorgen found fullback Barkley Hill from 2 yards out to make the score 14-7 UNI heading into halftime.

SDSU scored the next three touchdowns to take a 28-14 lad midway through the fourth quarter. After a Nick Mears interception on UNI's first possession of the second half, the Jackrabbits knotted the game at 14-all as Walter Payton Award candidate Zach Zenner scored from a yard out.

The tide further shifted in the Jackrabbits' favor later in the quarter as linebacker Dallas Brown picked off a Kollmorgen pass and rambled in from 30 yards out to give SDSU the lead back at 21-14.

The Jackrabbits appeared on the verge of putting the game away midway through the fourth quarter as they put together another methodical scoring drive. The 13-play, 84-yard drive ended on Zenner's second 1-yard touchdown run of the game, making the score 28-14.

Zenner finished the game with 80 yards on 29 carries as he became the second SDSU running back in history to top 1,000 rushing yards in three consecutive seasons. Lujan finished the game 21-of-38 passing for 223 yards, but was intercepted three times. Schneider led the Jackrabbit receiving corps with nine catches for 117 yards as he hit the century mark for the second consecutive game.

Mears led the Jackrabbit defense with seven tackles, while Jack Sherlock marked his return to the lineup with six tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.

For UNI, Johnson paced the offense with 78 yards on nine carries and was one of three Panthers with five catches for 43 yards, along with Charles Brown and Chad Owens. Carnes was 11-of-21 passing for 93 yards, while Kollmorgen ended the night 9-of-14 passing for 85 yards, with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Brett McMakin led all players with 14 tackles to lead the Panthers' defensive effort.

SDSU returns home to face another nationally ranked opponent in Youngstown State on Oct. 25. Kickoff for the 101^st Hobo Day Game is set for 2 p.m. at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

NOTES: Northern Iowa leads the all-time series, 28-19-2 … the Jackrabbits have won each of the last two meetings, both of which have been decided by a field goal … Zenner moved into eighth place on the Football Championship Subdivision career rushing charts with 5,547 yards … Zenner also moved into 11^th in FCS career all-purpose yards with 6,973 … Schneider recorded the fifth 100-yard receiving game of his career and took over fourth in SDSU career receiving yards with 2,022, passing Rusty Lenners (1,942 yards from 1993-96) … Syrovatka is 9-of-10 on field goals this season and has made at least one in all seven games … attendance was 15,049