VILLANOVA, Pa. — South Dakota State turned in a strong second half Saturday afternoon to down Villanova, 35-21, and return to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons.
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The unseeded Jackrabbits, who tied a single-season school record for victories, improved to 11-3 overall and will face No. 8 Montana State in semfinal action next Saturday (Dec. 18). Kickoff is slated for noon Mountain Time (1 p.m. Central) at Bobcat Stadium in Bozeman, Montana.
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Trailing 21-14 at halftime, South Dakota State gained the momentum for good with a dominant third quarter on both sides of the ball. After forcing a three-and-out on the defensive end on Villanova's first possession of the second half, the Jackrabbits drew even with a nine-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Davis.
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The Jackrabbits gained the lead for good on their next possession, taking advantage of a short Villanova punt. After Davis gained two yards on fourth-and-1 from the VU 40, quarterback Chris Oladokun hooked up down the middle of the field with Jaxon Janke for a 38-yard touchdown.
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SDSU made it three scores in as many second-half drives with another 2-yard Davis touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter and the Jackrabbit defense came up with a pair of turnovers down the stretch to seal the victory. Michael Griffin intercepted a pass deep in Jackrabbit territory for the first takeaway, while Dalys Beanum forced a fumble and Caleb Sanders came up with the recovery for the other turnover.
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Davis, who shouldered the bulk of the rushing load after Walter Payton Award finalist Pierre Strong, Jr. left the game in the first quarter due to injury, opened the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown run at the 6:40 mark of the first quarter. A sophomore from Joplin, Missouri, Davis ended the game with 174 yards on 25 carries and tied a career high with his three touchdowns.
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Villanova answered later in the first quarter on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Smith to Rayjoun Pringle.
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In the second quarter, Janke caught a 10-yard touchdown from Oladokun to give SDSU the lead back at 14-7, but the remainder of the opening half belonged to Villanova. The Wildcats tied the game on a 7-yard touchdown scramble by Smith, then took a 21-14 lead with 44 seconds remaining on a 55-yard pass from Smith to Jaaron Hayek.
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The Jackrabbits finished with a 418-378 advantage in total offense, outgaining Villanova 266-107 on the ground. Besides Davis, Amar Johnson tallied 64 yards on 14 carries while Strong was limited to 17 yards on only three carries.
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Oladokun completed 11-of-19 passes for 152 yards, with Jaxon Janke leading the receiving corps with 119 yards on six catches.
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For Villanova, Smith completed 17-of-26 passes for 271 yards and was the Wildcats' leading rusher with 44 yards on nine carries. Pringle collected five catches — four in the first half — for 119 yards.
 Adam Bock led the Jackrabbit defense with seven tackles, followed by six from Logan Backhaus, Cale Reeder and Griffin.
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Villanova linebacker Forrest Rhyne led all players with 21 tackles.
 NOTES
SDSU leads the all-time series, 2-0, with both matchups taking place in FCS playoff games
The Jackrabbits improved to 14-10 in FCS postseason games, including a 4-1 mark against Colonial Athletic Association opponents
SDSU also made semifinal appearances in 2017, 2018 and during the 2020-21 spring season
The Jackrabbits also won 11 games in 2017
SDSU improved to 6-1 in road games this season
The Jackrabbits have forced 10 turnovers — nine interceptions and one fumble — in three playoff games this season
Davis now has rushed for 945 yards and scored 11 touchdowns in seven career postseason games
Jaxon Janke topped the 100-yard mark for receiving for the sixth time this season and crossed the 1,000-yard mark in 2021 with 1,061 yards
Backhaus moved into a tie with Doug Miller (322 tackles from 1989-92) for eighth place on the Jackrabbit career tackles list
Bock upped his single-season tackles total to 119, which ranks fifth at SDSU after passing both Chris Coauette (115 tackles in 2004) and T.J. Lally (117 tackles in 2014) in Saturday's game