Wieneke, Jackrabbits handle Duquesne in opener

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BROOKINGS – Jake Wieneke had another record-setting night and No. 4/6 South Dakota State built a 34-0 first-half lead en route to a 51-13 defeat of Duquesne in the season-opening Dairy Drive game Thursday night at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.

In addition to breaking the school record for career receptions, the senior wide receiver tied the Jackrabbit and Missouri Valley Football Conference mark for touchdown catches in a game with four.

He finished with six catches for 75 yards in just 2 1/2 quarters of action to push his career reception total to 229 – four ahead of previous record-holder Josh Davis (225 from 2002-05).

“It’s definitely an honor,” said Wieneke, who is the SDSU and MVFC record-holder in career receiving yards (4,267) and TD receptions (47). “There have been a lot of great receivers to go through here, so it’s definitely an honor. Coach Davis was my coach and I love him as a person and really respect who he is. So it’s an honor to be up there.”

SDSU used big plays to take control early.

Taryn Christion, who finished 17-of-26 for 254 yards with five touchdowns and an interception, had completions of 57 yards on third-and-15 and 19 yards to Adam Anderson on the Jackrabbits’ first series.

Wieneke scored a 10-yard touchdown on a fade route soon thereafter to open the scoring.

Facing third-and-8 on his own 3-yard-line, Christion broke free for a 90-yard rush on SDSU’s next drive. Isaac Wallace’s 3-yard TD plunge made it 13-0.

The Jackrabbits took over in Duke territory later in the first quarter.

After hitting Dallas Goedert for a 37-yard pickup, Christion found fullback Kane Louscher for a 9-yard score.

Wieneke called the play one of the highlights of the game, as it was the first career touchdown for the senior.

“Super excited,” added Christion. “When we kind of drew that play up in practice, I just had a feeling we were going to get it to him in the game. It was exciting; I was definitely geeked up going and celebrating with him in the end zone. It was just a fun time; it’s been a long time coming for him, so it was great.”

Louscher caught a short pass on the right flat and beat a Duquesne defender to the pylon for the TD, which put the home team ahead 20-0 at the 2:16 mark of the opening stanza.

Christion threw an interception on SDSU’s next series, and the Jackrabbits were forced to punt on their fifth possession.

Logan Backhaus picked off a Tommy Stuart pass to set SDSU up at the DU 22. Wieneke and Christion quickly took advantage, hooking up for a score on the next play to push the margin to 27-0 at the 11:27 mark of the second.

Wieneke’s third catch of the game – a 9-yard pickup with 7:34 remaining in the half – was his record-breaking 226th career grab.

SDSU continued to march down the field and Wieneke capped the drive with a 2-yard TD to give the Jackrabbits a 34-0 cushion with 4:05 to go.

Stuart connected with Nehari Crawford for a 2-yard touchdown to get the Dukes on the scoreboard with 1:43 showing on the clock.

The Jackrabbits took to the ground to open the second half as Brady Mengarelli ran five times for 44 yards, including a 3-yard TD, on SDSU’s first possession.

Wieneke’s fourth TD – a 15-yarder – made it 48-7 midway through the third.

SDSU pulled a majority of its starters after building the 41-point lead.

Stuart had a 31-yard scoring pass to Kareem Coles on Duquesne’s next series.

Chase Vinatieri kicked a 23-yard field goal with 12:52 remaining in the game.

“I’m excited about the win,” said SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier. “I thought we made some big plays in the football game. I thought we settled in on defense and played some better defense. We need to be more consistent on offense throughout the game; but, again, the big plays early propelled us and we’ll take them any way we can get them.

“On a side note, I really appreciate the students showing up. That was impressive. We told them early in a pep rally-type thing – you affect the game. And I do believe they affected the game, so I appreciate SDSU students showing up and impacting.

“I think we beat a pretty good football team today, so hopefully that says something about us.”

Christion finished with 96 yards on the ground.

Former Bobcat Mikey Daniel picked up 83 yards on 17 attempts. Mengarelli (61) and Wallace (46) combined for 107 yards.

SDSU piled up 609 yards of offense.

Nick Farina paced a balanced Jackrabbit defensive effort with five tackles. Kellen Soulek recorded a third-down sack in the first half.

Reigning Jerry Rice Award winner A.J. Hines was limited to 34 yards on 13 rushes for the Dukes.

South Dakota State heads to Bozeman, Mont., to face Montana State on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. Duquesne travels to the state of Indiana to take on Valparaiso.

Notes: True freshman and former Brookings standout Eddie Miller made his debut on the offensive line for SDSU. … In the all-time FCS ranks, Wieneke moved from tied for 11th to seventh in TD receptions and from 11th to eighth in receiving yards. He’s 16 receptions shy of cracking the top 30. … Wieneke previously had four career three-TD games, before reaching the four-score milestone Thursday. … Vinatieri, a sophomore, went 6-of-7 on PAT kicks, as his streak of consecutive makes was snapped at 57 – tied for the third longest in MVFC history – following the game’s second touchdown. … SDSU center Jacob Ohnesorge made his 40th consecutive start. … The contest marked the first time SDSU opened the season with a Thursday home game. … SDSU moved to 13-8 in season openers under Stiegelmeier, including a 6-8 mark in the Division I era. The Jackrabbits are 10-1 when opening the season at home during that stretch, including a 5-1 record in the Division I era. .. Duquesne is receiving votes (tie-46th) in the STATS poll. … Goedert, who suffered a minor injury earlier in the week, was limited to two catches for 43 yards. … The all-time series between SDSU and DU is now tied 1-1.

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 51, DUQUESNE 13

DU (0-1)                     0   7   6 0 – 13

SDSU (1-0)                 20 14 14 3 – 51

First Quarter

SDSU – Jake Wieneke 10 pass from Taryn Christion (Chase Vinatieri kick), 10:43

SDSU – Isaac Wallace 3 run (kick failed), 4:03

SDSU – Kane Louscher 9 pass from Christion (Vinatieri kick), 2:16

Second Quarter

SDSU – Wieneke 22 pass from Christion (Vinatieri kick), 11:27

SDSU – Wieneke 2 pass from Christion (Vinatieri kick), 4:05

DU – Nehari Crawford 2 pass from Tommy Stuart (John Domit kick), 1:43

Third Quarter

SDSU – Brady Mengarelli 3 run (Vinatieri kick), 11:56

SDSU – Wieneke 15 pass from Christion (Vinatieri kick), 7:26

DU – Kareen Coles 31 pass from Stuart (kick blocked), 4:37

Fourth Quarter

SDSU – Vinatieri 23 FG, 12:52

                     DU          SDSU

First Downs    12           26

Plays-Yards    53-259     71-609

Rushes-Yards  27-72      38-301

C-A-Int.-Yards  16-26-1-187    21-33-1-308

Fumbles-Lost   0-0          0-0

Penalties-Yards           7-50     6-48

Punts-Avg.-I20-TB    9-34.9-3-0       3-36.7-2-0

Kickoffs-Avg.-TB      3-60-0 9-62-5

Punt Returns-Yards-TD         0-0-0   2-1-0

Kickoff Returns-Yards-TD    3-40-0 3-76-0

Interception Returns-Yards-TD         1-0-0   1-0-0

Fumble Returns-Yards-TD     0-0-0   0-0-0

Miscellaneous Yards   0          0

Possession Time         24:09   33:31

Third-down Conversions        2-of-11            9-of-13

Fourth-down Conversions      0-of-0  0-of-0

Red Zone Chances-TD-FG    1-1-0   7-6-1

Sacks By-Yards          0-0       2-18

Field Goals      0-for-0 1-for-1

RUSHING: DU – A.J. Hines 13-34, P.J. Fulmore 4-29, Ricky Mellick 4-7, Nehari Crawford 1-1, Tommy Stuart 5-1. SDSU – Taryn Christion 3-96, Mikey Daniel 17-83, Brady Mengarelli 9-61, Isaac Wallace 7-46, Blair Mulholland 2-15.

PASSING: DU – Tommy Stuart 14-22-1-175, Brett Brumbaugh 2-4-0-12. SDSU – Taryn Christion 17-26-1-254, Dalton Douglas 4-7-0-54.

RECEIVING: DU – Chavas Rawlins 6-83, Nehari Crawford 4-22, Kareem Coles 2-39, Thomas Lucas 1-30, Jaison Young 1-7, Kellon Taylor 1-5, P.J. Fulmore 1-1. SDSU – Jake Wieneke 6-75, Adam Anderson 3-81, Alex Wilde 3-49, Dallas Goedert 2-43, Marquise Lewis 2-13, Isaac Wallace 1-17, Skyler Cavanaugh 1-16, Kane Louscher 1-9, Jacob Brown 1-7, Cade Johnson 1-(-2).

DEFENSE: DU – Brett Zanotto 6 tackles; Carter Henderson 6 tackles; Abner Roberts 5 tackles; Adam Clopton 5 tackles; Malik Shegog INT. SDSU – Nick Farina 5 tackles; Jordan Brown 4 tackles; Chris Balster 4 tackles, Christian Rozeboom 4 tackles; Noah Urbanek 4 tackles; Marshon Harris INT; Kellen Soulek sack, blocked PAT; Austin Barrett sack.

   A – 12,218.

Missouri Valley

Football Conference

WEEK 1

Thursday, Aug. 31

No. 25/— Western Illinois 41, Tennessee Tech 14

Eastern Illinois 22, Indiana State 20

No. 4/6 South Dakota State 51, Duquesne 13

Saturday, Sept. 2

Missouri State at Mizzou (FBS; 0-0, 0-0 SEC East), Columbia, Mo., 11 a.m.

No. 9/8 Youngstown State at Pittsburgh (FBS; 0-0, 0-0 ACC Coastal; RV), Pittsburgh, Pa., noon

Mississippi Valley State (0-0, 0-0 SWAC East) at No. 2/2 North Dakota State, Fargo, N.D., 2:30 p.m.

South Dakota at Drake (0-0, 0-0 Pioneer), Des Moines, Iowa, 6 p.m.

Butler (0-0, 0-0 Pioneer) at No. 20/18 Illinois State, Normal, Ill., 6:30 p.m.

No. 18/20 Northern Iowa at Iowa State (FBS; 0-0, 0-0 Big 12), Ames, Iowa, 7 p.m.

   Open: Southern Illinois

Notable games

Thursday, Aug. 31

Utah 37, No. 8/10 North Dakota 16

Saturday, Sept. 2

Montana State (0-0, 0-0 Big Sky; RV) at No. 24 Washington State (FBS; 0-0, 0-0 Pac-12 North), Pullman, Wash., 9:30 p.m.