BROOKINGS South Dakota State is headed to the FCS semifinals for a fourth straight season after the Jackrabbits beat Villanova 23-12 in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
Top-seeded SDSU trailed in the first quarter and fought through 42 miles per hour wind gusts on Saturday to get the win. Jackrabbit head coach Jimmy Rogers said the adversity that his team faced will be good for the team in the long run.
We battled. It was a tough game and it was tough elements to play in. Theres not much you can do in that type of weather. I think [these types of games] you learn from. You never know when youre playing for a national championship, Rogers said.
Villanova got a first down on its first possession, but then had to punt. Nathan Fondacaro then punted it into his own lineman and the Jacks took over at the Villanova 31. SDSU failed to move the ball and Hunter Dustman came on and hit a 42-yard field goal to put the Jacks up 3-0 with 8:38 left in the first quarter.
Neither team would score the rest of the quarter and it was the Wildcats who scored the first touchdown of the game. Jalen Jackson ran through a wide open hole and dashed 25 yards to the end zone. The extra point was no good and Villanova led 6-3 with just under eight minutes left in the first half.
Villanova forced another SDSU three-and-out and the Wildcats were handed good field position once again as they took over at the Jackrabbit 41. They faced a third and three, but a delay of game and a Quinton Hicks sack forced a punt.
Matthew Durrance then flipped the momentum in SDSUs favor as he blocked the punt and the ball bounced right up to him and he ran 45 yards to the end zone to put the Jacks up 10-6 with 4:23 left in the first half.
That was huge, Rogers said. I told [Durrance] at the beginning of the week I envisioned that. I told him that on Monday and he kind of chuckled. Then he got the opportunity and it was good to see. I didnt envision the touchdown, but I did envision the block.
Durrance added that the blocked punt was something that changed the momentum and he was lucky that the ball bounced right into his hands after he blocked it.
A couple punts earlier we saw a look that we liked and we wanted to switch it up to the short side. We got the look that we wanted and it worked out perfectly. I was telling people that [the ball bouncing right up to me] will probably never happen again. A couple people came up to me and said it was a game-changing play, he said.
Villanova would cut into the lead before halftime. The Wildcats made their way inside the SDSU 30 but ended up settling for a field goal. Matthew Mercurio came on and hit from 46 yards out to make it 10-9 at halftime.
The Jacks were moving the ball well on their first drive of the second half, but a Zach Heins fumble gave the Wildcats the ball at their own 28. Villanova then went three-and-out and the Jacks would extend their lead at the midway point of the third quarter. Mark Gronowski connected with Jaxon Janke for a 20-yard score to make it 17-9 heading into the fourth.
Villanova had the ball at the SDSU six yard line to begin the fourth but was only able to come away with three points. Isaiah Davis then finally broke one on the next drive as he went 66 yards to the house and that gave SDSU a 23-12 lead with 12:34 left in the game.
Davis finished with 192 yards on 27 carries. It was the 23rd time in his career that he eclipsed the century mark in a game and the 11th time in the playoffs. 134 of his yards came in the fourth quarter and he said going into the final quarter he felt like he was going to break a long run.
Coming out of the second half, the runs we were getting, I didnt think [Villanova] wanted to bang with us. The first drive [of the second half] we had five or six [yards per carry], which we werent getting in the first half. They didnt want to bang with us and the next drive thats exactly what we did. It was a collective effort. I did have 192 [yards], but its a collective effort from the O line. I go with them, and when they bring the juice, thats when I bring it, Davis said.
SDSU then created its only turnover of the day as Connor Watkins lofted one up into the air deep down the field and it landed into the hands of Dalys Beanum and that sealed the quarterfinal win for SDSU.
The Jacks finished with 343 yards of total offense. Gronowski was 11-of-19 for 101 yards. Jadon Janke had five catches for 21 yards. Davis had 24 yards on two catches and Jaxon Janke had two catches for 22 yards.
The Jackrabbit defense held Villanova to 212 yards of offense, 145 of those yards came on the ground. Jackson led the Wildcats with 67 yards on nine carries and Watkins had 56 yards on 13 carries.
Hicks led the Jackrabbit defense with seven tackles, a sack and 1.5 tackles for a loss. Adam Bock had 11 tackles and Jason Freeman had nine tackles.
It was only the third time this season that SDSU trailed in the second quarter of a game and it was the second time this season where the Jacks didnt feel in control going into the second half. The other time being in the second game of the season against Montana State.
The Jackrabbits have many seniors on the team who have been through battles in the playoffs and Hicks said the team wasnt worried as the game went into the second half.
It was a little stressful, but we knew the offense was going to get going, so the defense wasnt worried at all. No one was really stressed and no one panicked. Thats credit to [mental strength] coach [Kristofer] Kracht for keeping us calm and never getting too high or too low, Hicks said.
SDSU will play UAlbany on Friday at 6 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN2. The No. 5 seeded Great Danes (11-3) beat Idaho 30-22 on Saturday night.
Leave a Reply