SDSU cruises into FCS semifinals

Saturday, December 9

Brookings, S.D.

2 p.m.

South Dakota State University

11-2

New Hampshire

9-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

New Hampshire

South Dakota State

Photo by: Inertia Sports Media/Dave Eggen

12/9/2017 6:54:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Wide receiver Jake Wieneke caught two touchdown passes and ran for another for a South Dakota State team that cruised into to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals for the first time in program history with a 56-14 victory over New Hampshire Saturday afternoon at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

The fifth-seeded Jackrabbits improved to 11-2 overall in winning their seventh straight game. SDSU will travel to top-seeded and defending national James Madison next Saturday (Dec. 16) for the right to play in the FCS national championship game. Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time (3:30 p.m. Central) at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The game will be televised on ESPNU..

For the second week in a row, the SDSU offense clicked early and often. The Jackrabbits took the opening kickoff and drove 70 yards on only six plays. Junior quarterback Taryn Christion hit Dallas Goedert for 19 yards on the first play before back-to-back 15-yard completions to Wieneke. Christion later scored on a 13-yard run.

Wieneke's first touchdown of the day came on the next Jackrabbit possession as he took the ball on an end around, got a key block downfield from Tyler Weir as he turned the corner and scored from 48 yards out.

SDSU made it 3-for-3 on first-quarter drives with a 12-play, 85-yard scoring march. All but 24 yards — a one-handed catch by Wieneke — came on the ground as Isaac Wallace scampered into the end zone from 13 yards out in the final minute of the opening stanza for a 21-0 Jackrabbit lead.

After forcing New Hampshire to punt for the fourth time in as many drives, the tandem of Christion and Wieneke put the Jackrabbits up 28-0 in the second quarter on a 32-yard scoring strike. A senior from Maple Grove, Minnesota, Wieneke set a new Missouri Valley Football Conference record for career receptions and also topped the 5,000-yard mark for career receiving yards on the day.

New Hampshire put together its best drive of the first 30 minutes in the closing minutes of the first half. The Wildcats went for it on fourth-and-goal from the SDSU 1, but linebackers Dalton Cox and Christian Rozeboom stuffed running back Evan Gray just before he crossed the plane of the goal line to keep the score 28-0 at intermission.

The two squads traded punts for most of the third quarter until a flurry of a combined three touchdowns in a 26-second span. First, Wallace weaved his way for a 48-yard touchdown run that put SDSU up 35-0.

On the next New Hampshire drive, the Wildcats needed only one play to score as Trevor Knight found Kieran Presley behind the SDSU defense for a 75-yard touchdown.

SDSU countered on the ensuing kickoff as redshirt freshman Cade Johnson motored 99 yards to paydirt for his second kickoff return touchdown of the season.

Wieneke capped his day with a 10-yard touchdown catch in the right corner of the end zone with 9 minutes and 20 seconds to play. He ended the day with season highs of nine catches for 140 yards.

Mikey Daniel pushed the SDSU lead to 56-7 moments later with a 13-yard touchdown run. Each of the last two Jackrabbit touchdowns came after respective interceptions by Larenzo Williams and Marshon Harris.

Gray capped the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run. He led UNH with 60 yards on 16 carries.

SDSU held a 455-348 advantage in total offense. Wallace led the ground game with 79 yards on seven carries. Christion completed 13-of-25 passes for 190 yards and added another 48 yards on the ground on 13 carries on a day in which he became the Jackrabbits' all-time leader in total offense.

Wildcat quarterback Trevor Knight completed 18-of-34 passes for 236 yards, with Presley recording seven catches for 133 yards.

The Jackrabbits were led defensively by Ryan Earith with six tackles, including a sack. Cox, Chris Balster and Rozeboom all tallied five stops.

NOTES
• Saturday's game marked the first-ever meeting between SDSU and New Hampshire
• The Jackrabbits improved to 6-6 in FCS playoff games, including a 2-0 mark against Colonial Athletic Association teams
• SDSU tied its longest winning streak of the Division I era (since 2004), matching the seven-game streak of the 2006 squad
• The last six of the Jackrabbits' seven consecutive wins have been against ranked opponents as New Hampshire was 20^th in the FCS Coaches' final regular season rankings and 21^st in the STATS FCS media poll
• Wieneke upped his career receptions total to 281, breaking the previous MVFC record of 273 by Lance Lenoir of Western Illinois from 2013-16
• Wieneke recorded the 17^th multi-touchdown game of his career and moved into a second-place tie for career touchdown receptions by an FCS player with former New Hampshire standout David Ball (58 touchdown receptions from 1995-98)
• Wieneke ended the day with 5,052 career receiving yards in posting his 24^th career 100-yard game
• Christion upped his career total offense tally to 9,478 yards, breaking the previous Jackrabbit standard of 9,284 yards by Austin Sumner (2011-14)
• Brady Mengarelli moved into eighth in career rushing at SDSU with 2,611 yards, passing the late Darwin Gonnerman (2,598 yards from 1966-68)
• Center Jacob Ohnesorge made his 52^nd career start at center, putting him one away from tying linebacker T.J. Lally (53 career starts from 2012-15) for the most starts by any player in program history
• Williams leads the team with four interceptions this season
• The Jackrabbits have forced at least one turnover in all 13 games this season
• SDSU improved to 13-2 in two seasons of play at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, including a 3-0 mark in postseason contests
• Attendance was 5,583

-GoJacks.com