Cade Johnson led the way for the new-look South Dakota State offense on Saturday at the Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, where the Jackrabbits dispatched Montana State 45-14.

The Jacks were dominant on both sides of the ball.

On offense, the Jacks exploded for 512 total yards.

Taryn Christion threw for 319 yards and four touchdowns on 21 completions. Christion found his way without Goedert and Wieneke quite nicely.

Christion and Johnson had a connection all game that ended with nine receptions and 138 yards. Johnson tied a school record with four touchdowns.

“We got the best quarterback in the nation in my opinion,” Johnson said.

Adam Anderson was also a viable target for Christion and had 86 receiving yards on four catches. And Mikey Daniel was involved and had 44 yards on four catches.

On the ground, freshman C.J. Wilson had a team-high 62 rushing yards on 12 attempts. Redshirt freshman Pierre Strong, Jr., also contributed with 40 yards on two carries.

“They are both really nice players for young guys,” head coach John Stiegelmeier said after the game.

Defensively, in the first quarter, the Jacks held the Bobcat offense to just one first down.

That was the story on Saturday night: SDSU limiting the Montana State offense.  

Statistic-wise, the Jacks defense never let the Bobcats offense into the game:

• SDSU had 17 more first downs than Montana State.
• Outgained Montana State by 319 yards.
• Montana State had five more punts than SDSU.
• South Dakota State held the ball for 15 more minutes.
• SDSU had 164 more rushing yards than Montana State

Out of the gate, the Jackrabbit defense forced four straight three and outs before allowing a first down in the second quarter. The Bobcats didn’t find themselves on the scoreboard until the third quarter.

But, the game was already a bit beyond reach for the Bobcats.

“When the offense finally got some things going, we were unable to capitalize on the other end,” Montana State head coach Jeff Choate said.

Montana State was without their starting quarterback, Troy Anderson, who instead of playing as the signal-caller, was featured in a linebacking and running back duty.

Instead, it was Tucker Rovig who got the start at quarterback. Rovig struggled to find a groove early on in the offense and ended the night with 164 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

Defensive backs Jordan Brown and Joshua Manchigiah were the two Jacks who intercepted Rovig.

The change in signal callers messed with the game plan for the Jacks going into the game, but the defense was able to respond.

“We were anticipating Wildcat, but I’m not sure what we got,” Stiegelmeier said.

For Montana State, they were never able to get their running game going. On 23 attempts, the Bobcats had 29 yards.

Montana State did get some of their receivers going in the second half with Kevin Kassis going for 74 receiving yards.

SDSU will face off against the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff at 6 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 15 in Brookings.