Jackrabbits fall to Illinois State, 38-21

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NORMAL, Ill. – South Dakota State didn’t own sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference for long.

Illinois State scored on its first two drives to take a 14-0 lead and the Jacks were left scrambling to try to catch up for the rest of the afternoon on Saturday in a 38-21 Redbirds victory.

The loss dropped the Jackrabbits to 5-3 overall. They’re 4-1 in league play and tied for first place with North Dakota State and Youngstown State — teams SDSU already has defeated this season. Illinois State, meanwhile, improved to 4-5 overall, 2-4 in the Valley.

“We didn’t play our best football to start out with, but I’m proud of my team to keep battling,” SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier said in a radio interview after the game. “There was a number of opportunities for our players to drop their heads and give in. Bottom line is we didn’t make some plays we needed to make and it cost us a football game.”

SDSU had seven different drives — three inside the red zone — where the Jackrabbits had a chance to score but ended up coming away with no points.

Penalties and turnovers in the red zone were a big factor. The Jacks offense was able to move the ball down the field but wasn’t able to capitalize on the opportunities. For the game, the Jacks amassed 513 yards of total offense, compared to Illinois State’s 347 yards.

“It’s more than just no points,” Stiegelmeier said. “There’s something that settles potentially in young men’s heads of, ‘can we get it done?’ And that’s not the way you want to take the field. But unfortunately those things happen.”

The Jacks committed a season-high eight penalties for 90 yards. Several of the infractions gave the Redbirds a first-down-and-10 after a stop on third down. One penalty negated a 45-yard touchdown pass from Taryn Christion to tight end Dallas Goedert in the second quarter.

SDSU finally got on the scoreboard with a 6-yard pass from Christion to Jake Wieneke with 8 minutes, 28 seconds left in the second quarter to make the score 14-7 Redbirds.

Wieneke finished with 10 receptions for 173 yards and the junior wideout became the Jackrabbits’ career receiving yardage leader. The TD was his 41st career scoring reception, tying him with former Northern Iowa standout Dedric Ward for the MVFC all-time lead.

Illinois State coach Brock Spack said he thought that a fast start was a key to the game.

“If we start out fast and get on the board, then we’ll have a chance to keep up with SDSU’s dynamic offense,” Spack said. “There are a lot of red flags with the (SDSU) offense. They can run the ball just as good as they can pass it now.”

After the teams traded scores, the Redbirds drove the ball down and scored on a 21-yard pass from Jake Kolbe to Anthony Warrum with 35 seconds left to make it 28-14 at halftime.

The Jacks gained a touch of momentum in the second half by scoring on the opening drive and recovering an Illinois State fumble on the next drive. Cole Langer forced the turnover and the Jacks’ Kellen Soulek recovered on the Illinois State 21-yard line.

But that’s where the Jackrabbits ran out luck as the offense sputtered and turned the ball over on downs. They wouldn’t score the rest of the game.

“We lost to a good football team tonight,” Stiegelmeier said. “This loss can’t affect us next week. It’s got to motivate us to be better. We are not a bad team. We can’t hang our heads.”

Christion completed 33 of 63 passes for 430 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. The 63 passing attempts were a school record. Entering the game, he had three interceptions in six games and three quarters. He threw three interceptions in the fourth quarter alone on Saturday.

All three of SDSU’s fourth-quarter drives ended in interceptions in Redbirds territory. That included one that La’Darius Newbold returned 92 yards for a score.

Goedert, a Britton native, tallied 11 receptions for 118 yards — the sixth straight time he topped the 100-yard mark for receiving. The SDSU running game, meanwhile, managed only 83 yards.

The defense started slowly but then held the Redbirds to 73 yards of offense in the second half. Freshman linebacker Christian Rozenboom led the team with nine tackles.

“We came out (in the second half) and played a lot better,” Stiegelmeier said. “I wish we would have played that well just in the last drive of the second half, when we gave up that easy touchdown.”

For the Redbirds, Kolbe was 15 of 25 passing for 138 yards and two TDs. Jamal Towns had 17 carries for 136 yards and one TD.

The Jacks at home Saturday against Missouri State in a game that begins at 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

“I believe in our players,” Stiegelmeier. “They hurt right now, but we’ll be back. I promise you that.”

• OTHER AREA SDSU PLAYERS — Safety Nick Mears of Milbank was involved in five tackles (3 solos, 2 assists). Thayer Trenhaile of Volga also played in the game.