SDSU suffered its first loss of the season in a 38-7 defeat to the North Dakota State Bison. The game marked the end of the Jacks 33 home game victory streak. For the No. 1 Bison, it is their fourth win against a ranked opponent.
North Dakota State was able to carve out a huge lead in the first quarter, taking advantage of four consecutive punts by SDSU’s offense. They scored three touchdowns in a row to create a 21-0 lead. The Jacks backup quarterback Luke Marble, who was playing in place of the injured Chase Mason, cut the lead to 14 points early in the second quarter with a 17 yard touchdown pass to Lofton O’Groske.
NDSU quickly responded with a 57 yard rushing touchdown for quarterback Cole Payton. It was a controversial one though, as the replay showed what Jacks fans thought was a missed holding penalty on a potential tackler. The crowd proceeded to serenade the officals with boo’s. Marble and the offense weren’t able to string together a response that quarter, and entered the second half down 31-7.
SDSU’s defense, which struggled to contain the Bison offense in the first half, breathed some life into the team with an interception of Payton. The Jacks weren’t able to capitalize on it though, and after a ten play, 25 yard drive, they would punt for the sixth time. After two more drives that both ended on turnovers on downs, the routwould end.
But what went wrong? What was it that caused SDSU to have their worst offensive and defensive performance of the year by points total? One issue that plagued the defense throughout the entirety of the game was the clutch third down conversions the Bison achieved.
“The thing that stands out is their guys make plays, you know, in critical situations,” said head coach Dan Jackson. “Our guys have made those plays in the past. I think it really got down to third down on defense. We got them into more third and longs than anybody in the country, you know, to this point which says something. And then now its execution on those third downs, and I would say majority of those they made the play, and there was a handful we need to execute better.”
NDSU wide receiver Bryce Lance, who was a thorn in SDSU’s side last season as well, had numerous third down conversions to extend drives that eventually resulted in touchdowns. On the Bisons second drive of the game, the Jacks defense was able to force 3rd and 16 after a Kobe Claybourne sack. Lance was able to come up with a 26 yard catch to get his team the first down, and later drew a pass interference call that brought them to the SDSU two-yard-line. Overall, they were able to convert nine of 16 third downs they faced.
For SDSU’s offense, they endured the opposite. They were able to convert three third downs out of 11. Both teams were able sack the quarterback, but the Jacks offense lost 45 yards on four sacks taken as opposed to NDSU losing 11 on three. Marble, in his first start as a Jackrabbit, had difficulty playing against the best defense in the Missouri Valley Football Conference by points allowed. He went 7-16 and threw for 89 yards and a touchdown.
The running game didn’t fare much better, the rushing attack recording 43 yards on 28 carries. Julius Loughridge led the team in rushing yards with 38 on ten carries.
By the game’s conclusion, Payton had thrown for 243 yards on 18/23 passing attempts. He did not record a single passing touchdown.
NDSU’s run game would be responsible for all five touchdowns they scored. Payton would run for four while also tallying 137 rushing yards on 17 carries. Barika Kpeenu, NDSU’s starting running back, would run for 39 on 13 attempts. Bison rushers would put together 257 running yards on 49 carries by the end of the day.
SDSU will look to turn the page as they host Indiana State at 2 p.m. this upcoming Saturday. The Sycamores are 2-6 on the season and are in the midst of a six game losing streak. Jackson says that the team is looking to rise to the occasion next week.
“I know we are going to respond the right way…we’re excited to get back to work.”
