BROOKINGS — Amar Johnson’s three-yard touchdown run gave No. 3 ranked South Dakota State a 20-17 overtime victory over No. 4 ranked South Dakota on Saturday night at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in Brookings.

USD (6-2) got the ball first in overtime and went three and out and made a 40-yard field goal. SDSU (6-2) then faced a fourth and inches on the USD 16 and Mark Gronowski converted it on a quarterback sneak. 

Initially it looked like SDSU was going to send on Hunter Dustman to attempt a game-tying field goal, but the play went under review and Rogers decided to go for it and four plays later the Jacks won the game.

“Don’t be scared of the moment,” said SDSU head coach Jimmy Rogers. “… I was pretty confident after we got the first down [on fourth down]. At that point in my mind I committed that we weren’t kicking a field goal. … I would have been sick to my stomach if I had left it in the field goal kicker's [leg]. Not that I don’t believe in [Dustman], but it’s just the margin of error. I would have rather gone out swinging like we did. I’m glad that we made that decision because now I can sleep tonight.”

After the Jackrabbits held the Coyotes to a field goal in overtime, Gronowski knew that a touchdown would win it for his team. He credited the offensive line with getting them into the end zone on the final drive.

“We know that once we get into the red zone we have to finish. That’s one of our goals, to finish 100 percent in the red zone and we did a great job of playing physical football. That’s what we do. Downhill football. The offensive line made a great push on that fourth and one and I was happy that coach Rogers put us back out there. Then we finish it at the goal line and that just starts with the hogs up front,” Gronowski said.

USD had a chance to win the game in regulation. The Coyotes marched their way into field goal range and Will Leyland set up for a 46-yard field goal with 26 seconds left. The kick went wide left and the Jacks ran a couple plays before running out the clock to head to overtime.

The play before the field goal attempt backup quarterback Nevan Cremascoli came into the game to run the ball and he dropped the snap and the ‘Yotes lost five yards. USD head coach Bob Nielson said he would have done things differently had he known that was going to happen.

“There’s several plays you’d like back. You don’t want to lose any yardage there. Makes the field goal that much tougher. … Looking back on it now I obviously would have loved to have called a different play,” he said.

The game got off to a fast start as both teams scored on their opening drive. The Coyotes drove 65 yards in 10 plays and Travis Theis capped off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 five and a half minutes into the game.

The Jacks responded with a seven-play 80-yard drive and Gronowski finished it off with a score on a quarterback sneak. Gronowski accounted for 71 of the Jackrabbits yards on the drive.

The two teams then traded punts before SDSU was able to gain its first lead of the night. Johnson scored on a one-yard touchdown to make it 14-7 Jackrabbits with 4:53 left in the first half and that would be the score at halftime.

Both teams struggled to get the offense going in the third quarter as neither team scored. Midway through the fourth quarter the Coyotes were driving and it looked like Aidan Bouman connected with AJ Coons for a long touchdown pass, but the play was called back due to an illegal shift. 

Later in the drive USD decided to try a trick play near the red zone. Bouman handed it off to Theis and he attempted to pass the ball back to Bauman near the sideline. Problem was Graham Spalding was right there and came away with an interception at SDSU’s 10 yard line.

“I was just doing my job,” Spalding said. “I told everyone [in the locker room] to do their 1/11th and that was mine. Backside help. My first thought was, 'No way he’s going to throw this' [because] I’m standing right there and then my next thought was, 'Don’t drop this.'”

However, it didn’t take long for USD to get the momentum back. Coyote safety Dennis Shorter hit Angel Johnson near the line of scrimmage and the ball popped out. Defensive lineman Mi’Quise Grace picked it up at the 15 yard line and rumbled into the end zone to tie the game with 4:41 left.

“That’s always a frustrating thing to have happen,” Gronowski said. “It was awesome to see [Spalding] make the play, but first play out, we have to be better at ball security. But we also picked up Angel after that play and sometimes those things happen. Those things happen and mistakes are made, but I know he’ll be better after it. … Our defense ended up making a great stand after that and we ended up winning it. It didn’t end up mattering in the end.”

Johnson would then return the ensuing kickoff 22 yards to the SDSU 39, but the Jacks went three and out and punted to set up what could have been a game-winning drive for USD.

SDSU was coming off of a 13-9 loss to NDSU and that was the first time that the Jacks had lost to an FCS opponent in 32 games. Gronowski said Saturday night’s game felt similar to last week, but SDSU found a way to come out on top this time.

“I think this was huge for our team. We have a lot of guys that are playing their first full season with all the reps that they’re getting. I think it’s some great experience for them. Last week we weren't able to finish, but this week we were able to turn it around. Kudos to the guys that are learning from their mistakes and we're able to finish games, and that takes time. If you continue to learn from those mistakes you had in the past, you’re able to finish games better in the future,” Gronowski said.

SDSU had 329 total yards of offense. Gronowski finished the night 20-for-27 with 163 yards. The Jackrabbits had 166 rushing yards and Angel Johnson led the way with 81 yards on 14 carries. 

It’s the second week in a row that the Jacks have struggled to put points on the board and Gronowski said a lot of it has to do with how they execute in the middle of the field and on first downs.

“We just have to continue to finish and continue to execute, especially when we get in that midfield range. I feel like we moved the ball well and sometimes we would just stall out on penalties and stuff like that. … There’s not a sense of frustration at all. It’s just all about the execution factor. There’s a couple holding calls that put us behind the sticks and I think one of our biggest things is we have to work on our first down efficiency. Everyone always talks about third down efficiency and staying on the field that way, but the way you can increase your third down efficiency is by being able to get those four yards [on first down] and put your offense in a better situation,” Gronowski said.

The Jackrabbit defense held USD to 275 total yards. The ‘Yotes came into the game averaging 232.6 yards per game on the ground and SDSU held them to just 82 yards rushing. SDSU linebacker Caleb Francl said the SDSU defense had a goal coming into Saturday night and they accomplished it.

“Our mindset was to stop them [in overtime] and that was the mindset the whole game. This week we really hit on that we have to meet our goals and that’s [giving up only] 10 points and that’s what we did today,” Francl said.

The win on Saturday night keeps SDSU in the hunt for a top-two seed in the FCS Playoffs. The Jackrabbits have four games left and USD and No. 1 ranked NDSU (8-1) still have to play each other. No. 2 ranked Montana State (8-0) also has games left against No. 5 UC Davis and No. 9 Montana.

Rogers said after the game his team is going to take it one week at a time and control what they can control, just like they always do.

“We take it one game at a time. I don’t look at the schedule and I don’t put wins before they happen. I really don’t. … We have positioned ourselves to be competitive and make a playoff run if we execute the rest of the season. There’s still a ton of tough games. … The wins are hard to come by and we’re going to take it one game at a time,” Rogers said.