Jackrabbits face road test at Northern Iowa

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No. 2/3 South Dakota State faces 25th-ranked Northern Iowa today at 4 p.m. in the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

The game will air on ESPN3.

The Jackrabbits (4-1) and Panthers (3-2) are both 2-1 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play and tied for second in the standings with No. 8/7 Illinois State (5-1), Missouri State (4-2) and South Dakota (3-3).

UNI

UNI went 1-2 in nonconference games, falling 26-23 at then-No. 24 Montana and 38-14 to FBS foe Iowa. It beat Hampton 44-0 at home.

The Panthers made it back-to-back shutouts with a 33-0 defeat of Indiana State on the road on Sept. 27

UNI led top-ranked North Dakota State 31-28 through three quarters at home, before the Bison scored 28 unanswered in the fourth to post a 56-31 victory. The Panthers won 42-28 at South Dakota last week, scoring 21 consecutive points in the second half to take control.

“They’re a really good football team; no weaknesses; they have a really good quarterback; they have a great offensive line; they have a really good tight end, good receivers; and they play very aggressive defense,” said SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier. “They’re a really good football team.”

Senior Eli Dunne (6-foot-5, 238 pounds) is 106-of-169 for 1,252 yards with 12 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Tight end Briley Moore (6-3, 242) has 23 catches for 317 yards and three TDs; true freshman Deion McShane (5-9, 155) has 22 receptions covering 290 yards with a pair of scores; Jaylin James (6-3, 202) has 15 catches for 156 yards with two touchdowns; and Nick Fossey (6-1, 199) has 14 catches for 144 yards with three TDs.

Trevor Allen (5-10, 203) leads the rushing attack with 397 yards and three TDs on 88 carries while adding 193 yards on 19 catches. Marcus Weymiller (5-10, 204) has added 301 yards on 83 rushes and three touchdowns.

“If you remember last year, they ran the ball down our throats with the Wildcat the first time around and then we beat them in the playoffs,” Stiegelmeier said. “Most (of their offense) is one back, shotgun-type stuff.”

The Panthers have scored on all 22 of their trips into the red zone, including 16 touchdowns.

Redshirt-freshman linebacker Chris Kolarevic (6-0, 223) leads the defense with 65 tackles and an INT. Senior linebacker Duncan Ferch (6-1, 234) has added 55 stops and is one of three UNI players with two interceptions. A.J. Allen has a pick-six, while Brawntae Wells has a pair of fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a score.

Senior defensive end Rickey Neal (6-1, 241) has five of the team’s 12 sacks.

SDSU

SDSU beat Youngstown State 36-7 on Hobo Day after dropping Indiana State 54-51 in overtime the week prior.

Taryn Christion is 80-of-119 for 1,160 yards with 16 TDs and one INT. He’s run for 129 yards and three TDs.

The senior quarterback was just 7-of-16 for 78 yards with a score against the Penguins, but ran for 89 yards and had TDs of 49 and 11 yards.

Will Christion, who has 1,299 career rushing yards and 23 touchdowns, running the ball be a common theme moving forward?

“We’re going to do what we need to do to win games, so at times that’s the answer, we think it’s the answer; at times it’s keeping him healthy and not having him do that and managing the game,” Stiegelmeier said. “So he’ll do some running. Those were designed runs for the most part in last week’s game.”

Cade Johnson has 434 yards on 22 catches and has scored eight TDs. Adam Anderson has added 22 receptions for 387 yards with three scores. Jacob Brown has two TD grabs.

The Jackrabbits’ depth at running back has been depleted due to injuries.

Senior Isaac Wallace, who was averaging 103.25 yards per game entering last week, saw his career end due to an injury versus YSU.

Freshman C.J. Wilson, who picked up 119 yards and a TD last week, and Pierre Strong Jr. are both questionable for today’s game.

If Wilson and Strong aren’t able to go, junior Mikey Daniel and sophomore Blair Mulholland will handle the running back duties.

Daniel has a team-high 47 carries, picking up 189 yards and scoring four times. He’s added six catches for 49 yards with one TD.

The Brookings native is closing in on 1,000 all-purpose yards for his career, currently sitting at 923 (752 rushing, 54 receiving and 117 on kick returns). He has 17 touchdowns, including 16 on the ground.

Mulholland had three carries for 12 yards and a touchdown during SDSU’s 90-6 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sept. 15.

On defense, Dalton Cox has 30 tackles and Christian Rozeboom 29 to go with a pick. Ryan Earith and Krockett Krolikowski have both recorded three of the team’s eight sacks, and Tolu Ogunrinde has added two.

Zy Mosley has three interceptions and Jordan Brown two.

SDSU UNI

Points 48.4 31.2

Points allowed 19.8 24.7

Yards 529.6 269.2

  Rushing yards 252.6 128.7

  Passing yards 277 240.5

Yards allowed 361 380

  Rushing yards allowed 168.8 160.8

  Passing yards allowed 192.2 219.2

Third-down conversions 46.4% 42.2%

Third-down defense 39.2% 38.6%

Fourth-down conversions 2-of-4 6-of-10

Fourth-down defense 3-of-3 4-of-10

Red zone chances-TD-FG 25-20-3 22-16-6

Red zone defense chances-TD-FG 12-6-4 22-18-4

Turnover margin plus-8 plus-6

  Takeaways (INT/F) 10 (7/3) 11 (8/3)

  Giveaways (INT/F) 2 (1/1) 5 (3/2)

Time of possession 30:50 30:04

SCORE BY QUARTER

1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total

SDSU 58-23 59-21 73-15 46-37 6-3 242-99

UNI 27-33 47-48 56-32 57-35 187-148

SCORING BREAKDOWN

SDSU – 33 TD (19 pass, 14 rush), 5-7 FG, 29-32 PAT. Opponents – 12 TD (6 rush, 5 pass), 5-8 FG, 10-11 PAT, 1-1 2-pt. (1-1 rush).

UNI – 23 TD (13 pass, 8 rush, 1 INT return, 1 fumble return), 8-10 FG, 21-21 PAT, 2-2 2-pt. (1-1 rush, 1-1 pass). Opponents – 19 TD (10 pass, 9 rush), 5-8 FG, 17-18 PAT, 1-1 2-pt. (1-1 pass).

MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL CONFERENCE GAMES

[League rank in brackets]

SDSU UNI

Points 35.7 [2] 35.3 [3]

Points allowed 26.3 [3] 28 [5]

Yards 403.3 [5] 435 [2]

  Rushing yards 233.7 [3] 156 [7]

  Passing yards 169.7 [8] 279 [2]

Yards allowed 434 [7] 394.3 [5]

  Rushing yards allowed 212 [8] 180 [5]

  Passing yards allowed 222 [7] 214.3 [5]

Third-down conversions 37.1% [6] 45.5% [2]

Third-down defense 44.2% [8] 42.2% [7]

Fourth-down conversions 1-of-2 [5] 2-of-5 [7]

Fourth-down defense 2-of-2 [t6] 1-of-4 [t1]

Red zone chances-TD-FG 14-10-3 [3] 11-7-4 [t1]

Red zone defense chances-TD-FG 8-4-3 [t7] 11-7-2 [4]

Turnover margin plus-2 [t3] plus-2 [t3]

  Takeaways (INT/F) 4 (3/1) 4 (2/2)

  Giveaways (INT/F) 2 (1/1) 2 (1/1)

Time of possession 29:09 [7] 31:03 [4]

SDSU vs. UNI – Division I era

The Panthers lead 8-5, including 6-4 in MVFC games. The teams split last year.

The Jackrabbits have won back-to-back games in Cedar Falls.

Sept. 16, 2006 – UNI 27, SDSU 17 (Cedar Falls)

Sept. 15, 2007 – UNI 31, SDSU 17 (Brookings)

*Sept. 20, 2008 – UNI 34, SDSU 20 (Cedar Falls)

*Oct. 24, 2009 – SDSU 24, UNI 14 (Brookings)

*Oct. 2, 2010 – UNI 24, SDSU 14 (Cedar Falls)

*Oct. 15, 2011 – UNI 31, SDSU 14 (Brookings)

*Oct. 20, 2012 – UNI 27, UNI 6 (Cedar Falls)

*Oct. 26, 2013 – SDSU 37, UNI 24, 2 OT (Brookings)

*Oct. 18, 2014 – SDSU 31, UNI 28 (Cedar Falls)

*Oct. 24, 2015 – UNI 10, SDSU 7 (Brookings)

*Nov. 19, 2016 – SDSU 45, UNI 24 (Cedar Falls)

*Oct. 14, 2017 – UNI 38, SDSU 18 (Brookings)

^Dec. 2, 2017 – SDSU 37, UNI 22 (Brookings)

*Oct. 20, 2018 – SDSU vs. UNI (Cedar Falls)

*MVFC game   ^FCS Playoffs game

Taryn Christion update

The 6-foot-2, 225-pound senior quarterback from Sioux Falls is the school and MVFC record-holder in career touchdown passes (88) and total yards of offense (10,974). He is also the SDSU leader and ranks second in the conference in passing yards (9,675).

Passing Rushing Total O

C-A Yds. TD Yds. TD Yds. TD

2015 89-161 1,286 7 347 5 1,633 12

2016 ^279-^434 ^3,714 30 335 6 ^4,049 36

2017 249-428 3,515 *35 500 9 4,015 44

2018 80-119 1,160 16 117 3 1,277 19

TOTAL 697-1,142 ^9,675 *88 1,299 23 *10,974 111

*School and MVFC record   ^School record

   Note: Christion is 27-9 as a starter. He appeared in eight games with four starts in 2015, his true freshman campaign.

SDSU

Completions

1. Austin Sumner, 2011-14 – 737

n/a. Taryn Christion, 2015-present – 697

Pass attempts

1. Austin Sumner, 2011-14 – 1,267

n/a. Taryn Christion, 2015-present – 1,142

MVFC

Passing yards

1. Matt Brown, Illinois State, 2009-12 – 10,591

2. Taryn Christion, SDSU, 2015-present – 9,675

Completions

1. Matt Brown, Illinois State, 2009-12 – 927

2. Austin Sumner, SDSU, 2011-14 – 737

3. Eric Sanders, Northern Iowa, 2004-07 – 714

4. Kurt Hess, Youngstown State, 2010-13 – 706

5. Brock Jensen, North Dakota State, 2010-13 – 703

6. Taryn Christion, SDSU, 2015-present – 697

Pass attempts

1. Matt Brown, Illinois State, 2009-12 – 1,455

2. Austin Sumner, SDSU, 2011-14 – 1,267

3. Cody Kirby, Missouri State, 2007-10 – 1,172

4. Paul Singer, Western Illinois, 1985-88 – 1,171

5. Taryn Christion, SDSU, 2015-present – 1,142

Injury report

Senior Isaac Wallace saw his career end due to an injury last week. Fellow running backs C.J. Wilson and Pierre Strong Jr. are questionable today.

Center Wes Genant and right tackle Tyler Weir are still out after being injured against Indiana State on Oct. 6.

Wide receiver Marquise Lewis is out, as he has yet to play this season.

Missouri Valley Football Conference

MVFC Overall

STATS/Coaches W-L PF/PA W-L PF/PA Strk

1/1 North Dakota State 3-0 111/55 6-0 236/75 W12

8/7 Illinois State 2-1 105/43 5-1 234/72 W2

2/3 South Dakota State 2-1 107/79 4-1 242/99 W2

Missouri State 2-1 81/82 4-2 190/172 W1

25/— Northern Iowa 2-1 106/84 3-3 187/148 W1

South Dakota 2-1 94/94 3-3 171/176 L1

Western Illinois 1-2 68/105 2-4 136/192 L2

Youngstown State 1-2 62/95 2-4 142/177 L1

Indiana State 0-3 77/116 2-4 188/188 L3

Southern Illinois 0-3 41/99 1-5 175/233 L5

   Notes: The following matchups will not take place in 2018: SDSU-WIU, NDSU-InSU, UNI-SIU, YSU-MSU and IlSU-USD. … In addition to being ranked in the STATS poll, UNI (27th) is receiving votes in the Coaches poll. … MSU (29/T31st) and USD (34th/36th) are receiving votes in both polls. … The MVFC went 17-12 in nonconference games, including a 13-5 mark versus FCS schools and a 1-7 record against FBS teams. … The Valley won the Big Sky-MVFC Challenge Series 5-3 for the second year in a row.

   *MVFC game

WEEK 8 – Saturday, Oct. 20

*Western Illinois at Missouri State, Springfield, Mo., 2 p.m.

*Indiana State at Southern Illinois, Carbondale, Ill., 2 p.m.

*Illinois State at North Dakota State, Fargo, N.D., 2:30 p.m.

*South Dakota State at Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa, 4 p.m.

*South Dakota at Youngstown State, Youngstown, Ohio, 5 p.m.

Notable games

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-5, 0-2 SWAC West) at Mississippi Valley State (0-5, 0-2 SWAC East), Itta Bena, Miss., 2 p.m.

Montana State (4-2, 2-1 Big Sky; RV) at No. 7/9 Weber State (4-2, 2-1 Big Sky), Ogden, Utah, 5 p.m.

North Dakota (4-2, FCS Independent; RV) at Sacramento State (2-4, 0-3 Big Sky), Sacramento, Calif., 8 p.m.

   Open: Iowa State (3-3, 2-2 Big 12; FBS).