BROOKINGS It was another rout at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium on Saturday as South Dakota State beat Southern Illinois 41-10 in the Jackrabbits regular season home finale.
It was a similar script to last week’s win over North Dakota as the Jackrabbits led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, but then scored 28 points in the second. SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers said he didnt think it was a slow start for the Jacks and he was pleased with how the first half went as a whole.
I thought it was a big win, Rogers said. I felt like our guys came out and played fast and executed the game plan. We were executing, we just didnt come away with points in the first quarter. Those things happen. We stuck with it and it was the second straight week that we left with 28 points in the second quarter again and Im not going to complain about that.
SDSU (9-2) had 503 yards of offense and held SIU to 233 yards.It was the ninth-straight week that the Jackrabbits held their opponent to under 20 points, but the SDSU standard is to only give up 10 points on defense. Seven of those nine games they lived up to the standard and junior defensive lineman Kobe Clayborne said its a tough standard to live up to, but its what has made SDSUs defense the best in the FCS over the past two seasons.
Our main goal is to win, so thats first on our goal sheet, but [giving up only] 10 points [is next]. We know if we give up more than that, we’re capable of holding them to less, Clayborne said. We talk about, did we give them the points or did they get the points?
A lot of times thats what it comes down to and if we gave them the points then we need to get back down to our standard of 10 points. Its tough to get sometimes, but I think thats what makes us such a great defense. We like to challenge ourselves with these tough goals.
SDSUs only score in the first quarter was a 24-yard field goal from Hunter Dustman. Two plays into the second quarter Angel Johnson gave SDSU its first touchdown of the day as he worked his way into the end zone from five yards out.
The Jackrabbit defense then made a play as they got pressure on the quarterback and that led to Matthew Durrance getting an interception. SDSU cashed in on the turnover as Mark Gronowski scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak and the Jacks led 17-0 with 9:25 to play in the first half.
SDSU would have two more rushing touchdowns before the end of the half. Amar Johnson had the first on a nine-yard rush and then Kirby Vorhees scored on a four-yard run to make it 31-0 at halftime.
Dustman would hit another field goal on SDSUs first drive of the second half. This one was from 39 yards out.
Durrance then had his second interception of the day as he made a play on a deep ball from Jake Curry. Rogers has talked about Durrances potential in the past, but he hasnt had the full opportunity to play due to sitting behind safeties Cale Reeder and Colby Huerter. With both guys ahead of him out due to injury, Durrance has stepped in this year and has made the most of his playing time.
I think Ive talked about Durrance since hes arrived here, Rogers said. Hes the player in which we recruited and hes playing at that level right now and Im happy for him. It stinks what has happened for the other guys, but hes making the most of his moment. The only thing you can ask for is guys to be ready and he has been ready.
Amar Johnson scored his second touchdown of the day later in the third quarter. This time he broke a tackle in the backfield and jogged into the end zone from three yards out to make it 41-7.
The senior running back from Omaha finished with a career-high 157 yards on 14 carries. Amar Johnson also had three catches for 39 yards. He said it was nice to have a career day in his last regular season game in Brookings.
It feels good, I wouldnt say to get back on track, but just to have that type of game on senior day. It means a lot to me to rush for a career-high because I did that back in my sophomore year. I have to give it up to my O-line for helping me out and staying true to things, Johnson said.
The Salukis scored the final 10 points of the game. Michael Lindauer connected with Allen Middleton for a 48-yard touchdown in the third quarter and then Paul Geelen hit a 36-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to make the final 41-10.
Gronowski finished the day 11-of-17 with 185 yards in what was likely his last regular season game in Brookings. He moved into second place on the SDSU all-time passing list during the game, passing Austin Sumner. Gronowski has thrown for 9,882 yards during his four seasons at SDSU. He will likely remain in second place as Taryn Christion had 11,535 yards in his career.
Griffin Wilde led the Jackrabbit receiving core with three catches for 50 yards. Tight end David Alpers had two catches for 33 yards.
Angel Johnson had 50 yards on nine carries. He also had two catches for 47 yards. Vorhees had 39 yards rushing and Brenden Begeman had 37.
It was senior day for SDSU and the Jacks honored the seniors before the game. Senior offensive lineman Evan Beernsten said he was emotional walking out with his family before the game because of what the last four years have been like.
[My emotions today] were hard to describe, Beernsten said. I love this place so much and weve given everything to this place. It was great to see the fans show out and Im just grateful for everything here.
Rogers added that it was a special day for him because a lot of the seniors could have left after winning back-to-back national championships, but they decided to stay in Brookings and attempt to win a third-straight title.
I think [senior day] is special. Ive been a part of the recruiting, whether I was the head coach or not. When youve been in the program for as long as Ive been in the program, its pretty special to see a lot of those guys from start to finish stick it out, when many of them could have gone elsewhere to play. You know, a lot of our players get illegally recruited through the NIL situation and they stick it out because of the togetherness of this program and being bought into each other. Im going to miss these seniors, Rogers said.
The win keeps the Jacks in position for a top-four seed in the FCS Playoffs. SDSU will close out the regular season at Missouri State next weekend. The Jacks are ranked No. 3 in the Stats FCS Media Poll behind Montana State and North Dakota State. The Bobcats play No. 4 UC Davis tonight and will close out the regular season with a home game against No. 10 Montana. The Bison will take on No. 5 ranked South Dakota in Vermillion next weekend.
SDSU will have to take care of business against the Bears and then see how the other games go. Beernsten said he feels like the Jacks are playing their best football as they come closer to the playoff time.
[Rogers] talks about climbing up the mountain and staying consistent. Weve been putting in the work, Beernsten said.
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