Jackrabbits roll past UW-Oshkosh

Saturday, September 20

Brookings, S.D.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

3-1

UW-Oshkosh

0-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

UW-Oshkosh

South Dakota State

9/20/2014 11:00:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

South Dakota State scored touchdowns on three consecutive offensive plays in the first quarter, including two by Walter Payton Award candidate Zach Zenner, and head coach John Stiegelmeier became the school's career wins leader as the Jackrabbits defeated Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 41-3, Saturday night.

Playing before a Beef Bowl crowd of 13,731 at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium, the 10^th-ranked Jackrabbits improved to 3-1 in their non-conference finale. UW-Oshkosh fell to 0-3.

"I feel blessed to be part of South Dakota State — the number of years we've been here and the number of great individuals we've been blessed to work with from the presidents to the athletic directors to the assistant coaches to the assistant coaches' wives, but specifically the great players that we've had around. It's just been a fun experience and a blessed experience. And it's been a team for (wife) Laurie and I," said Stiegelmeier, who recorded career win No. 114 to pass Ralph Ginn (113-89-9 record from 1947-68) atop the SDSU coaching victories list.

Zenner opened the scoring for the Jackrabbits with a 2-yard touchdown run with 6 minutes, 26 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, capping SDSU's first drive of the game that covered 82 yards on nine plays.

Moments later, SDSU turned to the air for its next touchdown as Zach Lujan connected on a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jason Schneider on the first play of the next Jackrabbit drive.

Freshman J.T. Hassell blocked a punt on the next Oshkosh possession, giving the Jackrabbits the ball at the Titan 36-yard line. Zenner wasted little time as he went the distance on the opening play of the drive to give SDSU a 21-0 with two minutes to play in the opening stanza.

Zenner, who hit the century mark for rushing yards in the first quarter and ended the game with 209 yards on 23 carries, scored his third touchdown of the game on a 10-yard burst with 9:46 to play in the second quarter. SDSU maintained its 28-0 lead at halftime.

The Jackrabbits' final touchdown of the night came on the opening drive of the second half as Lujan again hooked up with Schneider — this time from 5 yards out — to push the SDSU lead to 35-0.

For the second consecutive week, the Jackrabbit defense carried a shutout into the fourth quarter. The Titans, behind backup quarterback Brett Kasper, cracked the scoring column on a 24-yard field goal by Nate Ray with 6:39 to play in the game.

UW-Oshkosh also had a long field goal attempt blocked early in the second quarter and a third-quarter drive ended with an interception in the end zone by Jackrabbit cornerback Je Ryan Butler.

Justin Syrovatka, who made a 31-yard field goal in the third quarter, closed out the scoring for the Jackrabbits with a 26-yarder in the final minute.

SDSU finished with a 497-236 advantage in total offense, including a 292-72 edge in rushing yards. Brady Mengarelli added 63 yards on 15 carries in a backup role for the Jackrabbits.

Lujan finished the night 13-of-19 passing for 170 yards, connecting with eight different receivers. Schneider led the receiving corps with three catches for 59 yards, while Trevor Wesley added three receptions for 42 yards.

UW-Oshkosh's starting quarterback Dylann Rauch was the Titans' leading rusher with 23 yards on four carries and also completed 15-of-22 passes for 85 yards. Kasper completed all six of his pass attempts for 79 yards, including a 51-yard pass play to Joe Sommers, who led all receivers with five receptions for 89 yards.

Dallas Brown posted a career-high nine tackles to lead the Jackrabbits. T.J. Lally contributed six tackles. Reese Dziedzic and Levi Kossow shared team-high honors for UW-Oshkosh with seven stops.

The Jackrabbits will have a bye week before opening Missouri Valley Football Conference play Oct. 4 at Illinois State.

NOTES: Saturday's game marked the first-ever meeting between SDSU and UW-Oshkosh in football … UW-Oshkosh is a member of NCAA Division III and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference … the Jackrabbits improved to 28-20 in Beef Bowl games … Zenner, who was named the Outstanding Player of the 48^th Annual Beef Bowl, recorded the 25^th 100-yard game and seventh 200-yard game of his career … Zenner became the 24^th player in the history of the Football Championship Subdivision to cross the 5,000-yard mark for his career and moved into 18^th place in all-time rushing with 5,174 yards … Zenner also moved from 21^st to 17^th in FCS career all-purpose yards with 6,547 … Schneider now ranks ninth in career receptions at SDSU with 129, passing both Dennis Thomas (127 receptions from 1982-85) and Darren Baartman (128 catches from 1988-91) in Saturday's game … Jackrabbit right tackle Trevor Greger sat out the game due to injury, ending a streak of 33 consecutive starts dating back to 2011 … senior Ryan Ode made his first career start in Greger's place