Jackrabbits, Wildcats square off for spot in semifinals

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More school history is on the line today as fifth-seeded South Dakota State takes on New Hampshire in the FCS Playoffs quarterfinals at 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

The game will air on ESPN3.

The Jackrabbits (10-2), who have won six consecutive games, are looking to advance to the semifinals for the first time.

The Wildcats (9-4) beat Central Connecticut State 14-0 at home in the first round and then dropped No. 4 Central Arkansas 21-15 on the road in the second.

“They’ll come in here with a lot of confidence; they had a great win last weekend,” said SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier. “They can build on that and we can build on (the fact) we’re at home, we’re a seed, we need to try to play our best football one more week.”

New Hampshire, which lost its starting quarterback due to an injury midway through the second quarter versus the Bears, managed just 216 yards of offense but forced four turnovers, including Evan Horn’s third-quarter pick-six that put his team ahead 14-7.

Backup QB Christian Lupoli was 8-of-10 for 63 yards with a touchdown. Trevor Knight, the starter, ended up 8-of-14 for 47 yards with a touchdown. Evan Gray ran for 85 yards on 24 attempts. Rick Holt had nine tackles, including 2.5 sacks.

The Jackrabbits handled Northern Iowa 37-22 in the second round after receiving a bye to open the postseason.

SDSU is outscoring its opponents an average of 37.4-22.5.

UNH has a 22.7-18.8 scoring margin.

“They have an even front; not a lot of variety – one of those teams, a little bit like us probably, that relies on technique and execution and knowing your weakness and being able to shore that up rather than run through a bunch of different scheme stuff,” Stiegelmeier said. “(On offense), they have a lot of unique formations – they’re spread, they’re going to run their quarterback, they’re going to throw the ball around. They’re a good football team.”

The SDSU/UNH winner takes on either top-seeded and defending-champion James Madison or No. 8 Weber State in the semifinals.

SDSU UNH

Points 37.4 22.7

Points allowed 22.5 18.8

Yards 443.3 361.9

  Rushing yards 174.0 101.9

  Passing yards 269.3 260.0

Yards allowed 375.9 353.2

  Rushing yards allowed 169.8 118.1

  Passing yards allowed 206.1 235.2

Third-down conversions 47.9% 37.6%

Third-down defense 39.0% 35.4%

Fourth-down conversions 11-of-17 17-of-34

Fourth-down defense 11-of-17 8-of-22

Red zone chances-TD-FG 56-45-5 47-28-5

Red zone defense chances-TD-FG 38-23-7 45-17-9

Turnover margin plus-4 plus-9

  Takeaways (F/INT) 20 (13/7) 27 (18/9)

  Giveaways (F/INT) 16 (9/7) 18 (9/9)

Time of possession 30:33 31:41

SCORE BY QUARTER

1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total

SDSU 110-58 165-86 86-50 85-76 3-0 412-248

UNH 88-29 103-67 42-62 62-87 0-0 295-245

SCORING BREAKDOWN

SDSU – 60 TD (31 pass, 28 rush, 1 kick return), 12-13 FG, 49-53 PAT, 2-7 2-pt. (1-3 rush, 1-4 pass). Opponents – 35 TD (17 pass, 16 rush, 1 kick return, 1 punt return), 8-12 FG, 32-34 PAT, 1-1 2-pt. (1-1 pass), safety.

UNH – 40 TD (27 pass, 11 rush, 2 INT return), 6-13 FG, 31-33 PAT, 3-7 2-pt. (2-3 rush, 1-4 pass). Opponents – 30 TD (19 pass, 9 rush, 1 INT return, 1 fumble return), 12-25 FG, 23-27 PAT, 0-3 2-pt. (0-3 pass), 3 safety.

Junior Taryn Christion is the Jackrabbit record-holder for touchdown passes in a career (68) and season (31 this year). He is 218-of-360 for 3,091 yards with eight interceptions and has run for 467 yards and eight TDs, as he needs just 45 yards of total offense to break Austin Sumner’s career mark of 9,284 yards from 2011-14.

Christion threw for three scores and ran for another in last week’s win.

Dallas Goedert has 66 receptions covering 1,049 yards with six scores. Jake Wieneke has 13 TDs as he’s picked up 720 yards on 49 catches.

Brady Mengarelli leads the team with 734 rushing yards, finding the end zone six times. Mikey Daniel has 436 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Christian Rozeboom paces the defense with 113 tackles and three takeaways. Jordan Brown has 62 stops as he and Larenzo Williams both have three interceptions. Ryan Earith (four) and Kellen Soulek (3.5) have combined for 7.5 of the squad’s 21 tackles.

For the Wildcats, Knight is 273-of-437 for 3,197 yards with 25 TDs and eight INTs. Lupoli is 11-of-24 for 79 yards with a TD and an INT in seven appearances.

Neil O’Connor has 93 catches for 1,358 yards and 10 touchdowns. Malik Love has added 66 receptions for 687 yards with three TDs in 11 games. Nick Lorden has six touchdown catches and Rory Donovan three.

Gray has rushed for 590 yards and seven scores.

Quinlen Dean leads the defense with 118 tackles, including two sacks, and has added a pair of interceptions. Holt has 70 tackles, including 8.5 sacks, and Rick Ellison’s notched 69 stops to go with two INTs. Jae’Wuan Horton has nine of his team’s 34 sacks.

UNH has 27 takeaways, including five INTs from Isiah Perkins. Horn has three interceptions as he and Ellison both have a pick-six.

SDSU – FCS PLAYOFFS

The Jackrabbits have a 5-6 record, including a 3-0 mark at home, in seven appearances.

2009 (0-1)

First round, Nov. 28 – Lost 61-48 at No. 1 Montana

2012 (1-1)

First round, Nov. 24 – Beat Eastern Illinois 58-10

Second round, Dec. 1 – Lost 28-3 at No. 1 North Dakota State

2013 (1-1)

First round, Nov. 30 – Won 26-7 at Northern Arizona

Second round, Dec. 7 – Lost 41-17 at No. 3 Eastern Washington

2014 (1-1)

First round, Nov. 29 – Won 47-40 at Montana State

Second round, Dec. 6 – Lost 27-24 at No. 2 North Dakota State

2015 (0-1)

First round, Nov. 28 – Lost 24-17 at Montana

2016 (1-1)

First round, Nov. 26 – BYE

Second round, Dec. 3 – Beat Villanova 10-7

Quarterfinals, Dec. 10 – Lost 36-10 at No. 1 North Dakota State

2017 (0-0)

First round, Nov. 25 – BYE

Second round, Dec. 2 – vs. Northern Iowa

Quarterfinals, Dec. 9 – vs. New Hampshire

(19) Jake Wieneke update

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound senior wide receiver from Maple Grove, Minn., is the South Dakota State and Missouri Valley Football Conference record-holder in career receiving yards and touchdown receptions. He ranks third in both categories in the FCS annals.

Wieneke is the SDSU leader in career receptions, as he is second in MVFC and tied for 20th in FCS history. He needs two catches to break the Valley record of 273 held by Western Illinois’ Lance Lenoir (2013-16).

In all divisions of NCAA football – FBS, FCS, II and III – the three-time All-America and four-time MVFC first-team honoree is eighth in receiving yards and tied for 12th in TD catches.

Year G Rec. Yards TD Y/R R/G Y/G TD/G

2014 14 73 1,404 *16 19.23 5.21 100.29 1.14

2015 12 72 +1,472 11 20.44 6.00 122.67 0.92

2016 13 78 1,316 *16 16.87 6.00 101.23 1.23

2017 12 49 720 13 14.69 4.08 60.00 1.08

TOT. 51 ^272 *4,912 *56 18.06 5.33 96.31 1.10

*School and MVFC record +MVFC record ^School record

Passing: 1-1-0-16, TD. Rushing: 2-87.

MVFC CAREER

Receptions

1. Lance Lenoir, Western Illinois, 2013-16 – 273

2. Jake Wieneke, South Dakota State, 2014-present – 272

FCS CAREER

Receiving yards

1. Cooper Kupp, Eastern Washington, 2013-16 – 6,464

2. Terrell Hudgins, Elon, 2006-09 – 5,250

3. Jake Wieneke, South Dakota State, 2014-present – 4,912

Touchdown receptions

1. Cooper Kupp, Eastern Washington, 2013-16 – 73

2. David Ball, New Hampshire, 2003-06 – 58

3. Jake Wieneke, South Dakota State, 2014-present – 56

Receptions

1. Cooper Kupp, Eastern Washington, 2013-16 – 428

9. Jerry Rice, Mississippi Valley State, 1981-84 – 301

10. Javarus Dudley, Fordham, 2000-03 – 295

16. Tysson Poots, Southern Utah, 2007-10 – 282

17. Karel Hamilton, Samford, 2013-16 – 279

18. Yedidah Louis, Sam Houston State, 2014-present – 275

19. Lance Lenoir, Western Illinois, 2013-16 – 273

T20. Jake Raymond, Morehead State, 2013-16 – 272

T20. Jake Wieneke, South Dakota State, 2014-present – 272

FCS PLAYOFFS

Quarterfinals

Friday, Dec. 8

Weber State (11-2) at No. 1 James Madison (12-0)

Saturday, Dec. 9

New Hampshire (9-4) at No. 5 South Dakota State (10-2), Brookings, 2 p.m. [ESPN3]

Kennesaw State (12-1) at No. 6 Sam Houston State (11-1), Huntsville, Texas, 7:30 p.m. [ESPN3]

No. 7 Wofford (10-2) at No. 2 North Dakota State (11-1), Fargo, N.D., 11 a.m. [ESPN2]

Semifinals – Friday, Dec. 15-Saturday, Dec. 16

JMU/WSU winner vs. South Dakota State/New Hampshire winner

North Dakota State/Wofford winner vs. Sam Houston State/Kennesaw State winner

Championship – Saturday, Jan. 6, noon, Toyota Stadium, Frisco, Texas