?Zach Attack? paces Jacks past Cal Poly

Saturday, September 6

Brookings, S.D.

6 p.m.

South Dakota State University

1-1

Cal Poly

0-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Cal Poly

South Dakota State

9/6/2014 11:09:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

Zach Lujan threw for three touchdowns in his first start and Walter Payton Award candidate Zach Zenner became the Missouri Valley Conference's career rushing leader as South Dakota State opened the home season with a 44-18 victory Saturday night in the inaugural Dairy Drive game.

In winning before a Coughlin-Alumni Stadium crowd of 12,219, the 11^th-ranked Jackrabbits improved to 1-1 on the season. Cal Poly dropped to 0-2.

The first half was closely contested as each team put together long scoring drives in the opening stanza. The Jackrabbits marched 86 yards on nine plays, with the drive ending on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Lujan to Trevor Wesley.

Cal Poly answered with a 14-play, 82-yard drive behind the play of quarterback Chris Brown, who threw for 24 yards and ran for another 35 yards, including the final seven yards for a touchdown. However, the Mustangs missed the extra point and their kicker in the process, to keep the score at 7-6.

Justin Syrovatka extended the SDSU lead to 10-6 midway through the second half with a 46-yard field goal, but the Mustangs responded with a nine-play, 85-yard drive capped by a 9-yard touchdown run by Kori Garcia with 4:29 to play in the half that gave Cal Poly its only lead of the night at 12-10 as the ensuing two-point conversion failed.

The Jackrabbits gained the lead for good in the final minute of the first half as Lujan hooked up with Jason Schneider from 16 yards out. SDSU also missed a conversion attempt, but took a 16-12 lead into intermission.

After forcing Cal Poly to punt on the opening drive of the second half, SDSU extended the lead 23-12 on Lujan's third touchdown pass of the day — an 11-yarder to Jake Wieneke. Earlier in the drive, Zenner broke the league rushing record on a 17-yard run.

The SDSU defense continued to find its groove in the second half against the Mustangs' triple-option attack, forcing two more punts and taking over on downs on another drive. As a team, the Jackrabbits recorded nine tackles for loss, including three by senior safety Jake Gentile.

Zenner broke into the scoring column early in the fourth quarter on a 15-yard touchdown run. The senior from Eagan, Minn., ended the game with 193 yards on 30 carries to push his career total to 4,825. The previous league record of 4,746 yards was set by Western Illinois' Herb Donaldson from 2005-08.

Brown scored his second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run midway through the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 30-18. An 89-yard pass play from Brown to Roland Jackson on the first play of the drive set up the final Mustang score.

The Jackrabbits, who gained 329 yards on the ground, sealed the victory with two late touchdowns. Reggie Gandy scored the first TD on a 1-yard run, then redshirt freshman Brady Mengarelli picked up a bobbled snap and rambled 55 yards for a score with a few ticks under a minute to play.

Lujan completed 12-of-20 passes for 184 yards and connected with six different receivers. Wesley caught three passes for 67 yards, with Schneider adding three catches for 35 yards. Wieneke was credited with two catches for 37 yards, and added 52 yards on the ground after taking a lateral and weaved his way through the Cal Poly defense to set up Zenner's touchdown run.

Defensively, SDSU was led by Nick Mears' 10 tackles. Drew Kreutzfeldt and Gentile each finished with a career-high eight tackles.

For Cal Poly, Brown finished the night 16-of-21 passing for 202 yards and added 87 yards on 20 carries. Kori Garcia tallied 86 yards rushing on 17 carries and Brandon Howe tallied four catches for 29 yards.

Nick Dzubnar registered a game-high 19 tackles for the Mustangs.

SDSU faces another Big Sky Conference opponent next week, traveling to Southern Utah on Sept. 13. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Mountain Time (7 p.m. Central) at Eccles Coliseum in Cedar City, Utah.

NOTES: Cal Poly leads the all-time series, which dates back to 2004, by a 5-3 count … SDSU ended a three-game losing streak to the Mustangs … Zenner recorded the 23^rd 100-yard game of his career … SDSU held a 502-428 advantage in total offense … the Jackrabbits were 6-of-10 on third-down attempts, compared to 5-of-13 by Cal Poly … Jackrabbit head coach John Stiegelmeier recorded his 112^th career victory, putting him one win away from tying Ralph Ginn (113-89-9 record from 1947-68) atop the SDSU career victories list … SDSU improved to 27-8 in night games at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium