By Andrew Holtan
The Brookings Beacon
BROOKINGS – A week after losing its first conference game of the season, South Dakota State blew out Murray State 42-9 on Hobo Day.
SDSU head coach Dan Jackson said it was a good response from the No. 5 ranked Jackrabbits after they fell 21-10 to North Dakota a week ago.
“The team came back ready to go,” Jackson said. “A lot of my guys were here on Sunday [after the loss] in my office, and that’s their day [to have off]. … We had a really intense meeting on Monday, and we were a really connected program, and we love each other. So we’re going to tell each other the truth and hold the highest level of accountability.”
Neither team scored on its first drive and then the Jacks (6-2) took the lead with just under five minutes to play in the opening quarter. Josiah Johnson took a pitch and then ran over a Murray State defender on his way to the end zone from nine yards out.
SDSU then doubled its lead with one second left in the first quarter. Chase Mason threw a fade route to the left corner of the end zone and Grahm Goering made a jumping catch in which he landed on his back. The throw was from 18 yards out and the Jacks led 14-0 going into the second.
That was Mason’s only touchdown pass of the day but he finished 18-of-26 for 197 yards. The 69% completion percentage was much higher than last week and Mason said he feels better about the passing game.
“I feel like we were in a good spot a week ago, it was just about translating practice to the game and things like that,” Mason said. “Making sure our guys are running the correct depth routes, things like that, and when we need to convert things, convert them. It’s not far off from when you’re struggling to when you’re rolling. That’s the hard part about football.”
Murray State would then get on the board with just over 12 minutes left in the first half as Tyler Dorn made a 33-yard field goal. The Jackrabbits then worked their way into the red zone but Mason was sacked on third down and that led to a 45-yard field goal from Tristan Alvano. It was Alvano’s longest kick of the season and SDSU led 17-3 with nine minutes left in the first half.
The Jacks got the ball back immediately as Logan Green came up with a strip sack and Jes Krcil recovered it on the Murray State 23. However, SDSU was only able to get three points off the turnover as Alvano made a 23-yard kick to make it 20-3 with 5:31 left in the opening half.
The Racers moved the ball inside the SDSU 10 yard line on their next drive but they were only able to get three points. Jace Sifore had a sack on third and goal and that set up a 30-yard field goal from Dorn to make it 20-6 with just under two minutes left.
The SDSU defense had three sacks on Saturday and coming into the game the Jacks had sacked the quarterback 10 times. Jackson said he really liked how SDSU got after the quarterback on Saturday.
“What I loved the most was just the hits on the quarterback, because those were taking a toll. [The linebackers] blitzing were getting in there cleanly, which was good. And then the defensive line is really starting to crank it up. … I was proud of how they played,” Jackson said.
The Jacks moved the ball right down the field after Murray State cut it two scores and they scored in just over a minute. James Basinger capped off a seven-play drive with a four-yard touchdown run and that made it 27-6 with 42 seconds left.
A personal foul for a late hit out of bounds on Krcil set the Racers up with a 51-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the first half. Dorn nailed it with room to spare and that made it 27-9 at halftime.
Neither team scored in the third quarter until Josiah Johnson worked his way into the end zone from three yards out. SDSU then faked the extra point as Jack Henry, who was the holder, ran it in. That made it 35-9 with 1:02 to go in the third.
SDSU pulled its starters in the fourth quarter and backup quarterback Josh Holst was able to throw a touchdown pass. He found Andrew Gustad near the end zone and he worked his way over the goal line for a 12-yard score to make it 42-9 with six and a half minutes to play. Neither team scored the rest of the way.
SDSU finished with 446 yards of offense. 235 of those yards came through the air. Smith led the way with six catches for 66 yards. Goering had five catches for 59 yards and Lofton O’Groske had six catches for 46 yards.
SDSU struggled with drops last week and Goering, who is in his sixth year, said he took it upon himself to get the guys back on track.
“I think my message to myself and everyone was just to move onto the next play,” Goering said. “You can’t dwell on what happened, and it felt like there were moments maybe last week where that was the case. I said, we just got to stop that. We got to move on to the next play. Your name’s going to get called and you’re going to have to make another play. I felt today there were opportunities and we were just making plays.”
SDSU had 199 yards rushing. Johnson led SDSU with 92 yards on 16 attempts. Basinger had 56 yards on six carries.
The Jacks will take on USD in the Interstate Series next weekend in Brookings. The No. 8 ranked ‘Yotes took down No. 6 ranked UND in overtime on Saturday to set up a top-10 matchup next weekend. Mason, who did not play against USD last season, said he’s been waiting to play the Coyotes for a year.
“I’ve had this game circled on my calendar for a year. Just being from South Dakota and not being able to play last year. Them coming up on Halloween, that’s special. That’s what’s so special about college football, the rivalries, and that’s what makes fans keep coming back. Now that we don’t have NDSU, it’s almost like this is the one,” Mason said.
