Jacks hold off Jayhawks, 41-38

Saturday, September 5

Lawrence, Kan.

11 a.m.

South Dakota State University

1-0

Kansas

0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

South Dakota State

Kansas

9/5/2015 4:59:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: SDSU Sports Info

LAWRENCE, Kan. – South Dakota State scored on its first five possessions and the Jackrabbit defense held off a Kansas comeback to defeat the Jayhawks, 41-38, in the football season opener for both teams Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

The win marked the first for the Jackrabbits over a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent since moving to Division I in 2004.

The Jackrabbits got on the board less than three minutes into the game. A 60-yard pass play from Zach Lujan to Jake Wieneke put SDSU deep in Jayhawk territory. The drive eventually stalled before Jay Carlson booted a 28-yard field goal.

After a Dallas Brown interception and 53-yard return gave SDSU the ball at the Jayhawk 27, Brady Mengarelli scored on the second play of the drive on a 25-yard run.

Kansas cut the deficit to 10-7 on a 91-yard kickoff return for touchdown by Ryan Schadler, but the Jackrabbits reeled off the next 21 points. Lujan and Wieneke connected on touchdown passes of 29 and 16 yards before SDSU took advantage of a short field to score on a 29-yard swing pass from Lujan to Mengarelli. The last touchdown came after the second turnover of the game when KU quarterback Montell Cozart fumbled after being hit by Nick Mears and Jesse Bobbit recovered.

The Jayhawks ended the first-half scoring with a 19-yard touchdown run on a reverse by Tre Parmalee and carried the momentum into the third quarter, pulling to within 31-28 on touchdown runs of 3 and 26 yards by Ke'aun Kinner, who led all players with 157 rushing yards on 27 carries.

SDSU stemmed the tide momentarily with a 24-yard field goal by Jay Carlson late in the third quarter, but the Jayhawks countered with a 23-yard field goal by Nick Bartolotta early in the fourth quarter.

The Jackrabbits put the ball in the hands of redshirt freshman Isaac Wallace coming down the stretch, marching 75 yards on 10 plays for what proved to be the game-winning score with 6 minutes and 18 seconds to play. Wallace scored on a 3-yard run two plays after Dallas Goedert caught a 23-yard pass on fourth-and-5 from the KU 29.

KU drove the length of field to get within 41-38 with 2:18 to play on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Cozart to Kent Taylor. The Jackrabbits picked up one first down on the ensuing drive but were forced to punt. A 26-yard punt return by Parmalee gave the Jayhawks the ball at their own 41, and they later moved to the SDSU 33 in the closing seconds. In an attempt to spike the ball and set up a potential game-tying field goal, Cozart fumbled the snap, allowing time to expire.

Kansas, playing under first-year head coach David Beaty, held a 576-463 advantage in total offense with a near-equal split of rushing and passing with 291 through the air and 285 on the ground. Cozart completed 25-of-38 passes and carried 17 times for 94 yards. Ten different players caught passes for KU, including Parmalee with three catches for 82 yards.

Lujan ended the day 17-of-33 passes for 293 yards and three touchdowns, with Wieneke posting eight receptions for 160 yards. Wallace gained 118 yards on 24 carries.

Bobbit led the Jackrabbit defense with 10 tackles, followed by eight stops from T.J. Lally.

NOTES: Kansas leads the all-time series, 2-1 … SDSU improved to 1-7 against FBS opponents since 2008 … the Jackrabbits' 41 points were their most against an FBS opponent (previous high was 20 against Nebraska in 2013) … Wieneke turned in the eighth 100-yard game of his career and scored a touchdown for the 10^th time in the last 11 games … Mengarelli's 25-yard touchdown run tied his career-long rush … SDSU was 2-for-2 on fourth-down attempts, while Kansas was 4-for-5 … time of possession was nearly equal at 30:04 for Kansas and 29:46 for SDSU … the Jackrabbits committed three penalties for 25 yards, compared to seven for 75 yards by Kansas … freshman punter Brady Hale averaged 41.6 yards on five attempts, landing four inside the KU 20-yard line … temperature at kickoff was 86 degrees … attendance was 30,144