BROOKINGS, S.D. – South Dakota State seized control of a nip-and-tuck contest with a big third-quarter performance to pull away from Missouri State for a 49-24 victory Saturday afternoon at Dykhouse Stadium. The No. 13 Jackrabbits (6-3, 5-1 MVFC) piled up 21 unanswered points in the third quarter, recording three of their six rushing touchdowns, while holding the Bears offense to just 26 total yards during the period.
After the Bears (4-5, 2-4 MVFC) battled back from a 14-point deficit in the first half, the Jackrabbits turned the tide for good with touchdowns on their first three possessions after the break. The Jacks rushed for 213 yards and a season-high six touchdowns on the day, while the receiving tandem of Dallas Goedert (113 yards) and Jake Wieneke (114 yards) each topped the 100-yard receiving mark and combined to total 227 receiving yards.
Jackrabbits quarterback Taryn Christion, who finished the day with 22-of-37 for 324 passing yards, completed all three of his pass attempts for 36 yards as part of SDSU’s 61-yard scoring march on its initial second-half possession. The Jacks would score two more times over the next 3:42 to put the game out of reach.
SDSU capitalized on a failed fake punt attempt by the Bears, punching it home in just two plays on Brady Mengarelli’s 19-yard run that pushed the margin to 35-17. Isaac Wallace would cap another two-play scoring drive with his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon at the 5:32 mark.
Missouri State ended its second-half dry spell with a nine-yard Erik Furmanek scoring catch from Brodie Lambert, slicing the Bears’ deficit to 18 early in the fourth quarter. Mengarellil would tack on a 10-yard run for SDSU with just under six minutes left on the clock to complete the scoring.
The SDSU defense held the Bears to 336 yards of offense and 11 first downs on the afternoon, including just 114 yards in the second half. The Jacks also came up with a pair of second-half takeaways to help their cause.The home club also enjoyed a banner offensive day, racking up 548 yards while converting 9-of-15 third-down attempts
South Dakota State started the game as impressively as it ended the afternoon, racing out to a 14-0 edge just over 10 minutes into the contest. The Jacks took advantage of a costly MSU penalty to help orchestrate a 72-yard scoring march on the game’s opening drive. After Colby Isbell and Tristan Crowder teamed up on a third-down sack to force a punt attempt, a roughing the kicker call gave the Jacks new life. Wallace accounted for the next 21 SDSU yards, before Mengarelli broke off a 31-yard run to set the Jacks up with a first-and-goal at the MSU 7. Christion hit Goedert for a four-yard gain, and Mikey Daniel carried it in from three yards out for the early 7-0 SDSU lead.
After using 11 plays on their opening drive, the Jacks would need only two to reach the end zone later in the first quarter. Christion connected with Mengarelli for a 35-yard gain on the initial play of the drive, then found a wide-open Goedert for a 51-yard scoring strike and a 14-point advantage with 4:13 left on the clock.
But the Bears charged back, using a pair of Brodie Lambert touchdown passes within a span of 64 seconds to even the score. Zac Hoover took a swing pass at the MSU 9 and out-raced the SDSU defense to the end zone for a 91-yard scoring play that equaled the third-longest pass completion in school history.
The MSU defense followed with a critical play of its own on the first play of the Jacks’ ensuing series, as Anthony Upchurch pulled down a diving interception of a Christion pass to hand the ball back to his offense at the SDSU 38. Two plays later, Lambert lofted a 38-yard pass to Malik Earl, who beat the SDSU defender to the end zone for the game-tying touchdown with 1:35 to play in the period.
After trading punts with the Bears on the next two possessions, the Jacks engineered another 11-play scoring drive to regain the upper hand. Christion hooked up with Wieneke for a 17-yard completion before the SDSU ground attack carried the load with eight straight rushes to set up Isaac Wallace’s one-yard scoring run.
The Bears defense delivered another momentum-shifting play late in the half, as Matt Rush stopped Wallace for no gain at the MSU 27 on a 4th-and-1 try with 2:34 to play. MSU fed off the stop with a 12-play, 70-yard scoring drive that was fueled by a pair of Holliman runs totaling 30 yards. Lambert hit Erik Furmanek for 10 yards and Hoover for a nine-yard gain, then ripped off an eight-yard run on third down at the SDSU 11 to set up Zach Drake’s 22-yard field goal to close the half.
Hoover finished with 113 receiving yards, while Lambert passed for 224 yards and three touchdowns to lead the MSU offense. Dylan Cole notched his sixth consecutive double-digit tackle total, completing his day with a game-high 14 stops for the Bears defense.
Missouri State will embark on its final road trip of the season next Saturday (Nov. 12), when the Bears meet Illinois State for a noon kickoff at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Ill.
Postgame Notes: Missouri State dropped to 1-8 all-time vs. South Dakota State, including an 0-5 mark against the Jacks in Brookings … Dylan Cole broke into the Bears’ career top five for tackles with his 14 stops; he moved past both DeLaun Fowler (420) and Dennis O’Hagen (423) to the No. 4 spot on the list with 428 for his career, 24 shy of John Harvey in the No. 3 position … Zac Hoover’s 91-yard TD reception from Brodie Lambert matched a Trevor Wooden-to-Jermaine Saffold scoring pass vs. Illinois State (10/8/11) as the third-longest in program history … Hover logged his second-consecutive (and second career) 100-yard receiving day with his 113 yards on three catches … Deion Holliman led the Bears with a career-high 49 rushing yards.
