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6 p.m.
Football
vs Drake
South Dakota State University Athletics
Saturday, November 29
Bozeman, Mont.
2 p.m. MT/3 p.m. CT
South Dakota State University
9-4
47
at
40
Montana State
8-5
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
South Dakota State
14
10
7
16
47
Montana State
6
14
6
14
40
Zenner carries Jacks to playoff victory
11/29/2014 8:33:00 PM | Football
BOZEMAN, Mont. – Zach Zenner accounted for 324 all-purpose yards and scored a career-high five touchdowns to lead South Dakota State to a 47-40 victory over Montana State Saturday in the opening round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs at a snowy Bobcat Stadium.
The Jackrabbits ranked 13th in the FCS Coaches' poll and 14th in the Sports Network media rankings, improved to 9-4 overall and will face No. 2 seed North Dakota State in second-round action Dec. 6 in Fargo, N.D. Montana State, ranked 17th in both polls, ended its season 8-5 overall.
A Walter Payton Award candidate, Zenner tallied the first of four long scores on the second play from scrimmage and a mere 30 seconds into the game with a 45-yard touchdown run through the Bobcat defense.
Montana State countered with a 12-play, 72-yard drive that ended on a Chad Newell 3-yard touchdown run. A bobbled snap on the extra-point attempt kept the Jackrabbits in the lead at 7-6.
Zenner put the Jackrabbits ahead 14-6 with another quick-strike touchdown. This time, he took a swing pass from Austin Sumner and motored down the left sideline for a 69-yard score.
A Justin Syrovatka field goal from 21 yards out early in the second quarter extended the lead, and Zenner put the Jackrabbits out front 24-14 late in the second quarter with a 7-yard touchdown run.
Montana State pulled to within 24-20 with nine-second remaining in the first half on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Dakota Prukop to Mitchell Herbert, then took its first – and only lead – of the day on the opening drive of the second half as Newell scored from 12 yards out.
The Bobcat lead lasted all of 38 seconds as Zenner went down the right sideline for a 60-yard touchdown run, giving SDSU a 31-26 lead following the Syrovatka PAT.
A 10-yard touchdown pass from Sumner to Connor Landberg with 10 minutes remaining in the game gave the Jackrabbits a 37-26 lead, and SDSU extended the margin to 14 points at 40-26 moments later by converting the only turnover of the game – a strip-sack by Jack Sherlock – into three points on a 30-yard field goal by Syrovatka.
Newell kept the Bobcats in the game with a 6-yard touchdown run with 4:14 to play, pulling Montana State to within 40-32 after a failed two-point conversion.
Zenner, who moved into third place on the FCS career rushing charts with 6,415 yards, finally put the game out of reach with a 69-yard touchdown run with 3 minutes and 10 seconds remaining in the game. Zenner, who posted his eighth career 200-yard game and third in a first-round FCS playoff game, finished the day with 252 rushing yards on 23 carries and added two catches for 72 yards.
Montana State put together a last-ditch effort in the waning moments as Newell scored his fifth touchdown of the game from 5 yards out and the Bobcats scored the two-point conversion to make it a one-possession game at 47-40.
Landberg came up with the loose football on an onside-kick attempt to seal the Jackrabbits' third consecutive first-round playoff victory.
The two squads combined for 1,018 yards of total offense – 526 for the Jackrabbits and 492 for Montana State. Sumner completed 19-of-28 passes for 249 yards, with Trevor Wesley catching six balls for 32 yards.
For Montana State, Newell tied a school record with his five rushing touchdowns and ended the day with 111 yards on 24 carries. Prukop completed 19-of-36 passes for 280 yards, with Shawn Johnson catching four passes for 59 yards and Mitch Griebel adding four catches for 51 yards.
Jesse Bobbit recorded a career-high 13 tackles to lead the Jackrabbit defense, with T.J. Lally and Nick Mears adding eight each. Alex Singleton paced Montana State with nine tackles, including a sack.
NOTES: The Jackrabbits improved to 3-3 in FCS playoff games … MSU leads the all-time series, 10-3 … Saturday's game marked the first meeting between the two programs since 2004 … Zenner recorded the 31st 100-yard game of his career and upped his season total to 1,886 yards, giving him three of the top single-season rushing totals in program history … Zenner also crossed the 8,000-yard mark in career all-purpose yards, moving into third place in FCS history with 8,075 … Jake Wieneke had his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown reception end at eight, but caught four passes for 57 yards … SDSU tallied 500-plus yards of total offense for the fourth consecutive game … Lally went over the 100-tackle mark for the second time in three seasons … Syrovatka improved to 18-of-19 on field goals this season and 47-of-47 on PATs this season … Syrovatka set a Jackrabbit single-season record for points by a kicker with 101, surpassing Parker Douglass' mark of 99 points in 2005 ... Syrovatka has made a field goal in all 13 games this season and 15 in a row dating back to the 2013 FCS playoffs … temperature at kickoff was 1 degree … attendance was 7,747
Team Stats
SDSU
MTSU
Total Yards
526
492
Pass Yards
249
294
Rushing Yards
277
198
Penalty Yards
60
41
1st Downs
21
24
3rd Downs
6
7
4th Downs
0
6
TOP
26:12
33:48
1st Quarter
SDSU 7, MTSU 0
SDSU - Zach Zenner 45 yd run (JustinSyrovatka kick), 2 plays, 55 yards, TOP 0:30
SDSU 7, MTSU 6
MTSU - Chad Newell 3 yd run (Mitch Griebel passfailed), 12 plays, 72 yards, TOP 5:59
SDSU 14, MTSU 6
SDSU - Zach Zenner 69 yd pass from Austin Sumner (JustinSyrovatka kick) 3 plays, 74 yards, TOP 1:15
2nd Quarter
SDSU 17, MTSU 6
SDSU - JustinSyrovatka 21 yd field goal 17 plays, 85 yards, TOP 7:10
SDSU 17, MTSU 14
MTSU - Chad Newell 1 yd run (Mitch Griebel rush), 7 plays, 58 yards, TOP 3:20
SDSU 24, MTSU 14
SDSU - Zach Zenner 7 yd run (JustinSyrovatka kick), 3 plays, 47 yards, TOP 0:48
SDSU 24, MTSU 20
MTSU - M. Herbert 1 yd pass from Dakota Prukop (Luke Daly kickblocked) 9 plays, 55 yards, TOP 2:01
3rd Quarter
SDSU 24, MTSU 26
MTSU - Chad Newell 12 yd run (Mitch Griebel passfailed), 11 plays, 65 yards, TOP 4:13
SDSU 31, MTSU 26
SDSU - Zach Zenner 60 yd run (JustinSyrovatka kick), 3 plays, 66 yards, TOP 0:38
4th Quarter
SDSU 37, MTSU 26
SDSU - Connor Landberg 10 yd pass from Austin Sumner (Austin Sumner passfailed) 10 plays, 78 yards, TOP 4:45
SDSU 40, MTSU 26
SDSU - JustinSyrovatka 30 yd field goal 4 plays, 15 yards, TOP 0:58
SDSU 40, MTSU 32
MTSU - Chad Newell 6 yd run (Dakota Prukop passfailed), 10 plays, 56 yards, TOP 3:22
SDSU 47, MTSU 32
SDSU - Zach Zenner 69 yd run (JustinSyrovatka kick), 2 plays, 67 yards, TOP 1:04
SDSU 47, MTSU 40
MTSU - Chad Newell 5 yd run (M. Herbert pass), 11 plays, 76 yards, TOP 2:00
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
19
TD
2
YDS
249
INT
0
Players Mentioned
LB
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LB
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WR
/ Football
DB
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LB
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PK
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WR
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WR
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RB
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