The South Dakota State Jackrabbits survived their first road test against No. 22 Illinois State on Saturday, taking home the 40-21 victory.
The Yellow and Blue now improve to 5-0 on the season and 2-0 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play. They also extend the longest active win streak in the FCS to 19 straight with the win over the Redbirds.
It was an action packed first half out of both teams, though costly mistakes combined with another efficient outing from the Jacks offense would lead to the 19-point victory for the No. 1 ranked team in the country.
Just like their win last week against North Dakota, the Jackrabbits came out hot scoring touchdowns on their first five offensive possessions, with the Janke brothers getting things going first.
“I was really proud of our offense, we got great running backs but those offensive linemen picking all of the stunts and movement that Illinois State does was really impressive,” coach Rogers said. “And Mark kept it going with his throws to the Janke’s’, that’s why I kept going for it on fourth cause we’re hard to stop for a yard.”
It started on the opening drive of the game when quarterback Mark Gronowski connected with wide receiver Jadon Janke on a 31-yard touchdown pass, taking an early 6-0 lead after kicker Hunter Dustman missed the PAT.
The Redbirds would go three-and-out, and SDSU would score once again on a long 60-yard touchdown pass from Gronowski to the other Janke twin, Jadon Janke.
This is now the seventh time in the Janke twins’ careers that they each caught a touchdown pass in the same game.
Now up 13-0, the Jacks would get the ball back on the ensuing kickoff after returner Jalen Carr would fumble for Illinois State.
SDSU would capitalize on the mistake, and punch in their third touchdown of the opening quarter on a 13-yard scramble from Gronowski. The junior from Naperville, IL has scored a rushing and passing touchdown in ten consecutive games now, dating back to last season.
Though, ISU would find a rhythm in the second quarter, as wide receiver Daniel Sobkowicz would throw a 9-yard touchdown pass to quarterback Zack Annexstad on a trick play, giving the Redbirds their first points of the ball game.
The Jacks followed up the ISU touchdown with a touchdown of their own, this time coming from Isaiah Davis from three yards out, extending their lead back to 20 with ten minutes to play in the first half.
The Redbirds would continue to slice through the Jackrabbit defense, with Annexstad returning a touchdown pass back to Sobkowicz from seven yards out.
With the lead cut to 13 with six minutes to go in the half, and Illinois State receiving the ball at halftime, momentum looked to be shifting in favor of the Redbirds.
However, the Jackrabbits remained resilient and reached the endzone once again, with Jadon Janke catching his second touchdown of the game from 22-yards out. That touchdown would give the Jackrabbits the 34-14 lead heading into halftime.
“We’re very resilient, it doesn’t matter where we play or who we’re playing against, we come out hot,” wide receiver Jadon Janke said. “That’s a big emphasis we’ve had this year is starting fast, and then keeping on that gas pedal the entire game.”
SDSU would go into halftime with 349 yards of total offense, with 202 of those yards coming on the ground.
Facing a defense that gave up just 58 rushing yards per game before Saturday, the 605 Hogs and Co. took that as challenge, and were nothing short of dominant throughout. As a team, the Jackrabbits averaged 9.2 yards per carry in the first half but would regress slightly to 8.5 for the game.
Coming out of halftime, Illinois State was not rattled by the big deficit, and would score on a 37-yard touchdown run from tailback Mason Blakemore just over a minute into the third quarter.
Just when it felt like SDSU had the game under control, they would be forced to punt for the first time and the Redbirds would drive their next possession into Jackrabbit territory.
With the offense starting to show signs of attrition, the SDSU defense would step up in a huge way.
On fourth down deep into Jackrabbit territory, Annexstad would run for a first down, but linebacker Savieon Williamson punched the ball free with fellow linebacker Jason Freeman recovering the loose football.
The Jackrabbits would then drain almost six minutes of clock but would not end the drive with points, as Hunter Dustman would miss a field goal on the first play of the final quarter.
The SDSU defense would continue to lock things down, forcing another three-and-out.
“Collectively I think we played good, but obviously there’s room for improvement,” Freeman said on the defense’s performance. “We shouldn’t give up 20 points to any team, just knowing that and that we won it just shows how great we can be.”
Up by 13 with 13 minutes left in the game, Isaiah Davis would give the final blow to the Redbirds, punching in his second touchdown from two yards out, and giving the Jackrabbits the 19-point victory.
The Jackrabbits played much better defensively in the fourth quarter, giving up just 59 yards on three-fourth quarter drives.
SDSU would finish with almost 550 yards of offense, which was led mostly on ground. 374 rushing yards against the No. 2 run-stopping team in the FCS proved to be the difference in the Jacks win.
“It was extremely impressive against that defense who is statistically the best in the valley which is the toughest conference in the country,” coach Jimmy Rogers said. “The push, the consistent blocking on the perimeter stayed consistent, and I don’t know if there’s a better running back in college football than Isaiah Davis right now.”
Offensively, Mark Gronowski finished 11-17, 171 yards, with three touchdown passes. Gronowski added another 38 yards and a touchdown on eight carries as well.
“He’s a winner, he’s got unbelievable poise, and I don’t know if anything is ever too big for him,” Rogers said. “Whether we’re up by a lot or down by a lot it doesn’t really matter to him, he’s a winner.”
Gronowski jumped from seventh to fifth in career passing yards in SDSU history with 5,401 yards through the air. He passed both Andy Rennerfeldt and Brad Nelson in Saturday’s game.
In the backfield, the Jackrabbits finished with two 100-yard rushers. Isaiah Davis nearly exceeded the 200-yard mark on just 20 carries, finishing 3 yards shy at 197 with two touchdowns. Amar Johnson had 106 yards on 11 carries, while Angel Johnson had 31 yards on five carries.
Davis has now reached the century mark 18 times as a Jackrabbit and has now passed Dan Sonnek for sixth in all-time rushing leaders in school history with 3,461 career yards.
In the receiving game, Jaxon Janke caught five passes for 88 yards and a touchdown, while his brother Jadon caught two passes for 31 yards with both receptions reaching the endzone. Tight end Zach Heins also caught three passes for 28 yards.
Jadon Janke had his most productive game this season but due to injuries, he hasn’t had enough time to make an impact until now.
“I’ve kind of been through a whirlwind with injuries since the national championship,” Janke said. “I’m just very blessed and grateful to be out here again.”
Defensively, with Adam Bock out once again, linebackers Savieon Williamson and Jason Freeman stepped up huge for the Jacks. Williamson finished with 10 tackles and a forced fumble, while Freeman finished with nine tackles and a fumble recovery.
Defensive end Cade Terveer recorded the only sack of the game for the Jackrabbit defense.
For Illinois State, quarterback Zack Annexstad completed 79% of his passes for 162 yards and a touchdown, while Daniel Sobkowicz would complete a pass for nine yards and another touchdown pass.
Mason Blakemore would lead the Redbirds in rushing with 57 yards and a touchdown, while Cole Mueller would add another 40 yards on nine carries.
Annexstad would target three receivers heavily in the game, with Eddie Kasper catching eight passes for 35 yards, Daniel Sobkowicz recording seven catches for 70 yards and a touchdown, and Cam Grandy catching seven more passes for 43 yards.
Junior defensive back Keondre Jackson was the leader in tackles for ISU with 13, while linebacker Lavoise-Deontae McCoy recorded another nine tackles including one tackle-for-loss.
Up Next
The Jackrabbits return home for the annual Hobo Day game on Oct. 14 where they will take on the Panthers from Northern Iowa at Dana J. Dykhouse stadium at 2 p.m.
