Turnovers plague Jacks in playoff loss

Saturday, December 16

Harrisonburg, Va.

3:30 p.m.

South Dakota State University

James Madison

Photo by: Keith Lucas

12/16/2017 8:17:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Jason Hove

HARRISONBURG, Va. – A ball-hawking James Madison defense forced 10 South Dakota State turnovers – five in each half – and the Dukes slammed the door shut on a Jackrabbit comeback with two long touchdown runs early in the third quarter en route to a 51-16 victory in the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals Saturday afternoon at Bridgeforth Stadium.

The top-seeded and defending national champion Dukes ran their winning streak to 26 games in improving to 14-0 on the season. SDSU, seeded fifth, had its record-setting season end with an 11-3 overall record.

Each of the Jackrabbits' five first-quarter drives ended on turnovers, yet SDSU trailed only 7-0 after the first stanza. SDSU's opening drive ended at the JMU 21 on a fumble, but the Jackrabbit defense didn't allow JMU to pick up more than two first downs on any first-quarter drive.

The Dukes later cashed in on a short field after forcing a second fumble in as many possessions deep in SDSU territory as Bryan Schor hit Riley Stapleton on third-and-goal from two yards out.

SDSU tied the game on its first possession of the second quarter, capping an eight-play, 74-yard drive on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Taryn Christion to Jake Wieneke. With his 59^th career touchdown reception, Wieneke took over sole possession of second place in FCS history in that category. He also set a new FCS standard with a reception in 53 consecutive games earlier in the contest.

Schor and Stapleton hooked up for their second touchdown of the first half on the ensuing possession, this time from 15 yards out, giving the Dukes the lead for good at 14-7.

The Jackrabbits pulled to within 14-10 on a 37-yard field goal by Chase Vinatieri with 56 seconds remaining in the first half, but JMU stole back the momentum with a 38-yard kickoff return by Marcus Marshall and a 30-yard pass from Schor to Stapleton that moved the ball deep into SDSU territory. Schor later scored from a yard out with nine seconds remaining to push the JMU lead to 21-10 heading into halftime.

Any hopes of an SDSU comeback were dashed when Marshall rushed for touchdowns of 65 and 87 yards in the first five minutes of the third quarter to put JMU up 35-10.

Ball security continued to be an issue for the Jackrabbits, who turned the ball over on five of six possessions – a fumble and four interceptions – between the third and fourth quarters. One of the interceptions was returned 59 yards for a touchdown by the Dukes' Raven Greene.

All-America tight end Dallas Goedert closed out the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown reception in the the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Goedert's score came one play after a 65-yard interception return by Christian Rozeboom. The sophomore linebacker also recovered a JMU fumble in the first quarter.

JMU finished with a 463-366 advantage in total offense, although the two teams were even in total yards at 202 at halftime. Marshall gained 203 yards on 15 carries, while Schor tallied 203 yards through the air, completing 18-of-25 passes. Stapleton finished with five passes for 70 yards, with David Eldridge adding five catches for 75 yards.

For the Jackrabbits, Isaac Wallace and Brady Mengarelli each gained 66 yards on respective totals of 13 and nine carries. Wieneke ended his final collegiate game with game highs of seven catches and 105 yards, with Goedert adding five receptions for 43 yards. Christion totaled 234 yards on 18-of-43 passing and was picked off six times, including three times by Jimmy Moreland.

Nick Farina led the Jackrabbit defense with 10 tackles, followed by nine from Rozeboom and eight by Logan Backhaus. Rashad Robinson tallied a game-high 12 tackles for JMU.

NOTES
* Saturday's game marked the first meeting between SDSU and James Madison
* SDSU dropped to 6-7 in FSC playoff games
* Wieneke recorded his second consecutive 100-yard game and 25^th of his career
* Wieneke finished third in FCS history with 5,147 receiving yards, while finishing with an SDSU and Missouri Valley Football Conference record of 288 receptions
* Goedert finished third in program history with 198 receptions, fourth in career receiving yards with 2,988 and fifth with 21 receiving touchdowns
* Cade Johnson set an SDSU single-season record for kickoff return yards with 839, breaking the previous mark of 824 by Rick Wegher in 1984
* Center Jacob Ohnesorge made his 53^rd consecutive start to tie T.J. Lally's school record (2010-13)
* Vinatieri made his 10^th consecutive field goal attempt to finish the season 13-of-14

-GoJacks.com