Upcoming Event: Football versus Illinois State on November 15, 2025 at 2 p.m.
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2 p.m.
Football
vs Illinois State
South Dakota State University Athletics
Saturday, November 10
Carbondale, Ill.
1 p.m.
South Dakota State University
7-2 , 5-2
57
at
38
Southern Illinois
2-8 , 1-6
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
South Dakota State
10
20
20
7
57
Southern Illinois
3
14
21
0
38
Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia
Offense keeps rolling in win at SIU
11/10/2018 5:22:00 PM | Football
CARBONDALE, Ill. – The top two offenses in the Missouri Valley Football Conference were on full display Saturday afternoon as South Dakota State and Southern Illinois combined for nearly 1,200 yards of total offense. When the dust settled, the sixth-ranked Jackrabbits came away with a 57-38 victory at Saluki Stadium to bolster their chances for a seventh-consecutive berth in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
With its third win in a row, SDSU improved to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in league play. SIU dropped to 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the MVFC.
The Jackrabbits never trailed, although the game was tied on two occasions. SDSU marched 64 yards on eight plays on the opening drive of the game, drawing first blood on a 1-yard touchdown run by Mikey Daniel.
The two teams traded field goals before the Salukis tied the game at 10-all early in the second quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Matt DeSomer.
SDSU grabbed a momentary 17-10 lead via special teams as Don Gardner broke through the line and blocked a Saluki punt that was scooped up at the goal line by Jadon Janke for a touchdown. It was the first action of the season for Janke, a wide receiver from Madison.
DeSomer's second 1-yard touchdown run on the ensuing 13-play, 75-drive for Southern Illinois knotted the game at 17-all with 5 minutes and 24 seconds to play in the opening half.
The Jackrabbits took control thanks to numerous big plays. Pierre Strong, Jr. scored on a 72-yard touchdown run on the second play of the next SDSU drive and Cade Johnson caught a 56-yard touchdown pass on the opening play of the final Jackrabbit possession of the first half to give SDSU a 30-17 halftime lead.
SDSU quarterback Taryn Christion became the MVFC's career passing yardage leader on a 64-yard throw to tight end Blake Kunz late in the first quarter and topped the 12,000-yard mark for career total offense on his first touchdown pass of the game.
Christion and Johnson hooked up again for a 42-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. That score was sandwiched around a pair of 10-yard touchdown runs in the third quarter by DeSomer, who kept the Salukis in the game at 36-31. DeSomer ended the day 16-for-32 passing for 184 yards and gained 66 yards on 14 carries with the four scores.
Strong iced the game for the Jackrabbits with two more long touchdown runs in the second half. He cut through the Saluki defense for a 43-yard score in the third quarter and capped the scoring with a 24-yard run three minutes into the fourth.
A redshirt freshman from Little Rock, Arkansas, Strong ended the afternoon with a career-high 188 yards on 14 carries as he topped the century mark for the second week in a row. Daniel tallied 97 yards on 20 carries, adding his second 1-yard touchdown run of the game late in the third quarter.
SDSU finished with a 656-541 advantage in total offense as Christion completed 13-of-23 passes for 341 yards. Johnson grabbed seven receptions for a career-high 198 yards.
SIU's D.J. Davis led all players with 201 rushing yards on 13 carries. Landon Lenoir led the Salukis with seven catches for 48 yards, with Raphael Leonard adding three receptions for 76 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown for his team's final score.
Defensively, linebacker Christian Rozeboom led all players with 12 tackles for the Jackrabbits. Brandon Snyder made five stops, including a sack, and picked off a pass. Jordan Brown broke up three passes.
Qua Brown paced the Saluki defense with 11 tackles.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits close out the regular season next Saturday (Nov. 17) by hosting South Dakota in the annual South Dakota Showdown Series game. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
NOTES
With its third win in a row, SDSU improved to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in league play. SIU dropped to 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the MVFC.
The Jackrabbits never trailed, although the game was tied on two occasions. SDSU marched 64 yards on eight plays on the opening drive of the game, drawing first blood on a 1-yard touchdown run by Mikey Daniel.
The two teams traded field goals before the Salukis tied the game at 10-all early in the second quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Matt DeSomer.
SDSU grabbed a momentary 17-10 lead via special teams as Don Gardner broke through the line and blocked a Saluki punt that was scooped up at the goal line by Jadon Janke for a touchdown. It was the first action of the season for Janke, a wide receiver from Madison.
DeSomer's second 1-yard touchdown run on the ensuing 13-play, 75-drive for Southern Illinois knotted the game at 17-all with 5 minutes and 24 seconds to play in the opening half.
The Jackrabbits took control thanks to numerous big plays. Pierre Strong, Jr. scored on a 72-yard touchdown run on the second play of the next SDSU drive and Cade Johnson caught a 56-yard touchdown pass on the opening play of the final Jackrabbit possession of the first half to give SDSU a 30-17 halftime lead.
SDSU quarterback Taryn Christion became the MVFC's career passing yardage leader on a 64-yard throw to tight end Blake Kunz late in the first quarter and topped the 12,000-yard mark for career total offense on his first touchdown pass of the game.
Christion and Johnson hooked up again for a 42-yard touchdown early in the third quarter. That score was sandwiched around a pair of 10-yard touchdown runs in the third quarter by DeSomer, who kept the Salukis in the game at 36-31. DeSomer ended the day 16-for-32 passing for 184 yards and gained 66 yards on 14 carries with the four scores.
Strong iced the game for the Jackrabbits with two more long touchdown runs in the second half. He cut through the Saluki defense for a 43-yard score in the third quarter and capped the scoring with a 24-yard run three minutes into the fourth.
A redshirt freshman from Little Rock, Arkansas, Strong ended the afternoon with a career-high 188 yards on 14 carries as he topped the century mark for the second week in a row. Daniel tallied 97 yards on 20 carries, adding his second 1-yard touchdown run of the game late in the third quarter.
SDSU finished with a 656-541 advantage in total offense as Christion completed 13-of-23 passes for 341 yards. Johnson grabbed seven receptions for a career-high 198 yards.
SIU's D.J. Davis led all players with 201 rushing yards on 13 carries. Landon Lenoir led the Salukis with seven catches for 48 yards, with Raphael Leonard adding three receptions for 76 yards, including a 53-yard touchdown for his team's final score.
Defensively, linebacker Christian Rozeboom led all players with 12 tackles for the Jackrabbits. Brandon Snyder made five stops, including a sack, and picked off a pass. Jordan Brown broke up three passes.
Qua Brown paced the Saluki defense with 11 tackles.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits close out the regular season next Saturday (Nov. 17) by hosting South Dakota in the annual South Dakota Showdown Series game. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
NOTES
- SDSU leads the all-time series, 6-3, and has won three games in a row in the series that dates back to 2008
- The Jackrabbits have scored in 32 of 36 quarters (plus an overtime session) in 2018
- Christion topped the 300-yard mark for the 14th time in his career and ended the day with 10,892 career passing yards, surpassing the previous league record of 10,591 yards by Illinois State's Matt Brown from 2009-12
- Christion ended the day with 12,263 career yards for total offense
- Johnson recorded the sixth 100-yard receiving game of the season and his fourth multi-touchdown game of 201
- Johnson went over the 1,000-yard mark for receiving for the season, ending the day with 1,014 yards on 49 receptions (20.7 yards per reception)
- SDSU went over the 500-yard mark for total offense as a team for the fifth time this season and tallied 50-plus points for the fourth time
- Attendance was 4,433
-GoJacks.com-
Team Stats
SDSU
SIU
Total Yards
656
541
Pass Yards
341
188
Rushing Yards
315
353
Penalty Yards
36
50
1st Downs
22
23
3rd Downs
5
3
4th Downs
0
2
TOP
30:10
29:50
1st Quarter
SDSU 7, SIU 0
SDSU - Mikey Daniel 1 yd run (Chase Vinatieri kick), 8 plays, 64 yards, TOP 3:42
SDSU 7, SIU 3
SIU - Cerra, Griffin 50 yd field goal 6 plays, 11 yards, TOP 2:30
SDSU 10, SIU 3
SDSU - Chase Vinatieri 21 yd field goal 5 plays, 71 yards, TOP 1:55
2nd Quarter
SDSU 10, SIU 10
SIU - DeSomer, Matt 1 yd run (Cerra, Griffin kick), 12 plays, 76 yards, TOP 5:11
SDSU 17, SIU 10
SDSU - Jadon Janke 0 yd blocked punt return (Chase Vinatieri kick)
SDSU 17, SIU 17
SIU - DeSomer, Matt 1 yd run (Cerra, Griffin kick), 13 plays, 75 yards, TOP 5:32
SDSU 24, SIU 17
SDSU - Pierre Strong 72 yd run (Chase Vinatieri kick), 2 plays, 72 yards, TOP 0:15
SDSU 30, SIU 17
SDSU - Cade Johnson 56 yd pass from Taryn Christion (Chase Vinatieri kickfailed) 1 plays, 56 yards, TOP 0:08
3rd Quarter
SDSU 30, SIU 24
SIU - DeSomer, Matt 10 yd run (Cerra, Griffin kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:16
SDSU 36, SIU 24
SDSU - Cade Johnson 42 yd pass from Taryn Christion (Taryn Christion passfailed) 3 plays, 54 yards, TOP 1:17
SDSU 36, SIU 31
SIU - DeSomer, Matt 10 yd run (Cerra, Griffin kick), 6 plays, 86 yards, TOP 1:35
SDSU 43, SIU 31
SDSU - Pierre Strong 43 yd run (Chase Vinatieri kick), 5 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:05
SDSU 50, SIU 31
SDSU - Mikey Daniel 1 yd run (Chase Vinatieri kick), 9 plays, 63 yards, TOP 4:29
SDSU 50, SIU 38
SIU - Leonard, Raphae 53 yd pass from DeSomer, Matt (Cerra, Griffin kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:48
4th Quarter
SDSU 57, SIU 38
SDSU - Pierre Strong 24 yd run (Chase Vinatieri kick), 7 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:01
Game Leaders
CMP
13
TD
2
YDS
341
INT
0
Players Mentioned
CB
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RB
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CB
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WR
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WR
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TE
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LB
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S
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RB
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