JACKS ROLL TO WIN IN OPENER

Thursday, August 31

Brookings, S.D.

7 p.m.

South Dakota State University

Western Oregon

Photo by: Dave Eggen/Inertia

8/31/2023 11:42:00 PM | Football

Box Score POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

South Dakota State returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the first half and added more big plays on the offensive side of the ball to begin defense of its Football Championship Subdivison national title with a 45-7 victory over Western Oregon before a Dairy Drive crowd of 16,258 Thursday night at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

Top-ranked SDSU extended its school-record winning streak to 15 games in the season opener for both squads. Thursday's game also marked the first for the Jackrabbits under new head coach Jimmy Rogers.

SDSU scored on each of its first three offensive possessions in building a 35-0 lead through the first 20 minutes of the contest. The Jackrabbits took the opening kickoff and proceeded to march 72 yards on seven plays, the last 31 of which came on a Mark Gronowski pass to freshman wide receiver Griffin Wilde over the middle. Gronowski completed all four of his pass attempts on the drive for 58 yards.

Eighty seconds later, the SDSU defense tallied its first points of the night when DyShawn Gales deflected a pass into the hands of safety Colby Huerter, who returned the interception 54 yards for a touchdown.

The Jackrabbit lead grew to 21-0 later in the opening period when Isaiah Davis scampered around right end for a 4-yard touchdown run to finish off a seven-play, 52-yard drive.

SDSU's other starting safety, Tucker Large, got in the act early in the second quarter when he intercepted Gannon Walker's deep pass over the middle and weaved his way through traffic before following a convoy to the end zone for a 64-yard touchdown. It was the first interception by Large, who also returned a punt 25 yards in the opening quarter.

The Jackrabbits extended their lead to 42-0 with two more touchdowns in the second quarter — both on quarterback scrambles. First, Gronowski found paydirt from 6 yards out, while backup Chase Mason capped his first career drive directing the SDSU offense by slicing through the Wolves defense for a 33-yard scoring run.

Gronowski ended the night 8-for-10 passing for 121 yards, while Mason completed 5-of-9 attempts for 67 yards and added 40 rushing yards on three carries.

Reserves on both sides of the ball played the entire second half for the Jackrabbits. Hunter Dustman's 32-yard field goal late in the third period proved to be SDSU's only points of the second half.

Western Oregon, meanwhile, ended the shutout bid with a touchdown with 3 minutes and 47 seconds remaining in the game. Backup quarterback Jordan McCarty led the Wolves on a six-play, 78-yard drive that ended with McCarty scoring from 9 yards out. A 24-yard run by Jermaine Land on the preceding play gave WOU first and goal.

SDSU finished with a 403-209 advantage in total offense. Amar Johnson paced the Jackrabbit rushing attack with 70 yards on eight carries, while Wilde was the leading receiver with four catches for 79 yards.

McCarty was the leading rusher for WOU with 37 yards on eight carries and also completed both of his pass attempts for 40 yards. Winker ended the night 12-for-23 for only 67 yards and was picked off three times. Keyvaun Eady tallied four receptions for 39 yards.

Saiveon Williamson, starting in place of an injured Adam Bock at middle linebacker, registered a team-high eight stops for SDSU, including 1.5 tackles for loss. Western Oregon's Daron Ulrich Jr. led all players with 11 stops.

UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits host nationally ranked Montana State in the annual Beef Bowl game on Sept. 9. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. in what will be a rematch of last season's national semifinal playoff game.

NOTES

SDSU leads the all-time series, which dates back to 2003, by a 3-0 count
The Jackrabbits improved to 10-10 in season openers during the Division I era (since 2004)
Gronowski passed and rushed for a touchdown in the same game for the 15^th time in 26 career starts
Gronowski moved into sole possession of sixth place for career passing touchdowns at SDSU with 42, breaking a tie with Ron Meyer (41 touchdown passes from 1963-65)
Davis scored a rushing touchdown for the 11^th consecutive game and took over sixth place on the SDSU career rushing touchdowns chart with 33 to break a tie with Dan Sonnek (32 from 1984-87)
Jaxon Janke recorded 41 receiving yards in the game to up his career total to 2,889 yards, moving him into fifth on the Jackrabbit career list and past Cade Johnson (2,872 yards from 2017-19)
The last time SDSU returned two interceptions for touchdowns in the same game was on Nov. 27, 2021, against UC Davis in the opening round of the FCS playoffs (39 yards by Adam Bock and 59 yards by Dalys Beanum)
Eight different players notched a rushing attempt for the Jackrabbits, eight different players caught at least one pass and 23 players registered at least one tackle
Freshman safety Kolten Tilford recorded SDSU's third interception of the contest
SDSU improved to 45-7 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium
The Jackrabbits remained unbeaten in Dairy Drive games at 10-0