No. 13/14 SDSU blanks Bears, 39-0

Saturday, October 31

Springfield, Mo.

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

6-2 , 3-2

Missouri State

1-7 , 0-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota State

Missouri State

10/31/2015 6:39:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The South Dakota State University defense turned in another strong performance and the Jackrabbit offense put together eight scoring drives in a 39-0 shutout victory over Missouri State Saturday afternoon at Plaster Stadium.

SDSU, ranked 13^th in the Football Championship Subdivision coaches' poll and 14^th in the STATS media poll, improved to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Missouri State remained winless in league play at 0-5 and fell to 1-7 overall.

The Jackrabbits took the opening kickoff and marched 52 yards on seven plays to open a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game, following a 45-yard kickoff return by Je Ryan Butler. Brady Mengarelli, who accounted for 41 yards on the drive, capped the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run on a fly sweep.

SDSU consistently had the ball in Bear territory throughout the first half, but had to settle for three Jay Carlson field goals over its next four drives. Carlson booted a 34-yarder late in the first quarter, then established a new career long on back-to-back kicks with field goals of 41 and 47 yards in the second quarter. The middle of his three field goals came after the Jackrabbits took over on downs at the Missouri State 18 after the Bears fumbled the snap on a fourth-down attempt.

Lujan directed the Jackrabbits on another touchdown drive late in the first half. He first connected with Jake Wieneke on a 47-yard pass play to the MSU 7, then found Matt Raymond in the end zone on the next snap to push the SDSU lead to 22-0.

The Jackrabbits extended their lead to 29-0 on their first possession of the second half as Lujan hit a wide-open Wieneke across the middle for a 48-yard touchdown. Wieneke finished the game with seven catches for 161 yards.

Carlson connected on his fourth field goal – and second 41-yarder – of the game midway through the third quarter before the Jackrabbits closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Taryn Christion to Connor Landberg. Christion's fourth touchdown pass of the season capped an 11-play, 87-yard drive that took more than six minutes off the clock.

The SDSU defense, which came into Saturday's game surrendering an average of 15.9 points per game, allowed Missouri State to cross midfield only once in its first 11 possessions. The Bears were forced to punt nine times in the game and turned the ball over on downs twice.

Junior linebacker Jesse Bobbit led the Jackrabbit defense with eight tackles, including a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Chris Balster, starting in place on an injured Nick Mears at strong safety, registered seven stop.

Missouri State linebacker Dylan Cole recorded a game-high 18 tackles.

SDSU finished with a 439-211 advantage in total offense. Lujan ended the afternoon 15-of-19 passing for 208 yards, with Christion completing 9-of-11 pass attempts for 97 yards. Mengarelli topped the century mark in rushing for the second time this season, carrying 15 times for 142 yards – an average of 9.5 yards per attempt.

The Bears managed only 89 yards through the air, completing 14-of-30 attempts. Ryan Heaston was the offensive leader for Missouri State with 73 rushing yards on 14 carries.

The Jackrabbits close out home action next Saturday (Nov. 7). Kickoff for the Coughlin-Alumni Stadium farewell game is set for 2 p.m.

NOTES: SDSU leads the all-time series, 7-1, and has won the last two meetings … Wieneke turned in his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season and 11^th of his career … Wieneke moved into fourth place on the SDSU career receiving yards chart with 2,346 yards, passing JaRon Harris (2,241 receiving yards from 2005-08) … Wieneke also tied Harris for third on the program's career receiving touchdown list with 24 ... defensive lineman Kellen Soulek came up with his first career interception in the closing seconds of the first half for the only turnover of the game … SDSU is plus-9 in turnover margin this season (11 takeaways, 2 turnovers) and has yet to lose a fumble … J.R. Plote and Cole Langer each recorded two of the Jackrabbits' seven tackles for loss … Carlson became the first Jackrabbit to kick four field goals in a game since Parker Douglass in a four-overtime game at Western Illinois to open the 2007 season … the Jackrabbit defense has allowed only three touchdowns over its last 18 quarters … SDSU improved to 3-0 on the road this season … the Jackrabbits' last shutout victory was a 29-0 blanking of Indiana State in 2013 … attendance was 3,729