South Dakota State scored touchdowns on its first four drives of the second half to pull away from Incarnate Word for a 45-24 victory Saturday night in a battle between ranked teams that was played before a crowd of 19,321 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
The top-ranked and two-time defending Football Championship Subdivision champion Jackrabbits rebounded from a season-opening loss at Oklahoma State to improve to 1-1 on the young season. UIW, ranked 11th this week by the FCS coaches and 12th in the Stats Perform media poll, dropped to 1-1.
After the Cardinals tied the game at 17-all on a 69-yard pass from Zach Calzada to Jalen Walthall less than two minutes into the second half, the SDSU offense began to take control. An 11-play, 69-yard drive included three third-down conversions, the last of which was an 11-yard pass from Mark Gronowski to Griffin Wilde that resulted in a touchdown.
The Jackrabbit defense responded on the ensuing UIW possession with a three-and-out that led to the only punt of the night by either squad. After taking over at the own 28, SDSU needed only three plays to extend its lead to 31-17. On the second play of the drive, sophomore tight end Brody Gormley caught a Gronowski pass in stride on the right numbers and rolled 61 yards to the UIW 6. Amar Johnson found the end zone on the next play for his first touchdown of the season.
UIW continued to make big plays in the passing game, closing the gap to 31-24 when Calzada dropped a pass deep in the right corner of the end zone into the arms of Roy Alexander for a 35-yard touchdown with 14 minutes and 22 seconds to play in the game.
SDSU used a mix of runs and short passes to march right back down the field. Wilde caught passes of 5 and 12 yards while Johnson picked up 27 yards between the ground and through the air, including the final three yards for his second rushing touchdown of the night.
The Jackrabbits put the game out of reach moments later by forcing their first turnover of the season and cashing in with their final touchdown of the game. Dalys Beanum punched the ball away from a Cardinal receiver and Matthew Durrance came up with the fumble recovery and return to the UIW 42. Four plays later, Gronowski tossed his fourth touchdown pass of the game — and his second to Wilde — deep over the middle from 25 yards out.
A sophomore from Sioux Falls, Wilde established a new career high for receptions for the second week in a row, hauling in a game-high 10 catches for 106 yards.
Wilde’s counterpart at wide receiver, Grahm Goering, gave the Jackrabbits a 17-10 lead heading into halftime with a 22-yard touchdown catch in the left corner of the end zone to close out an eight-play, 77-yard drive.
However, SDSU missed on a couple other scoring opportunities in the first half, missing a 37-yard field goal attempt on the opening drive of the game and having another drive approaching the red zone later in the half end on an interception.
Hunter Dustman tied the game at 3-all with a 30-yard field goal on the first snap of the second quarter and moments after the Jackrabbit defense turned over UIW on downs, Gronowski hooked up with tight end Greyton Gannon on a deep ball for a 41-yard score.
Gronowski ended the night 21-for-32 passing for 285 yards and four touchdowns while connecting with seven different receivers. Johnson, who tied a career high with two touchdowns, tallied a game-high 112 yards on 19 carries.
Overall, SDSU held a 515-419 advantage in total offense. The Jackrabbits were successful on 10-of-13 third-down attempts while racking up 35:17 in possession time.
Calzada completed 31-of-39 pass attempts for 351 yards and also led the Cardinals in rushing with 43 yards on seven carries. Alexander recorded nine catches for 128 yards, with Walthall, who also scored UIW’s first touchdown on a 5-yard pass play, posting seven catches for 137 yards.
Adam Bock paced the Jackrabbit defense with nine tackles, including three behind the line of scrimmage. Durrance, who was starting in place of an injured Cale Reeder, finished with a career-high eight tackles, including seven solo stops.
Darius Sanders led UIW with nine tackles.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits remain at home, hosting Augustana in the 57th Beef Bowl game on Sept. 14. Kickoff for the contest, which also is the annual Hall of Fame Game, is slated for 6 p.m.
NOTES
- Saturday’s game marked the first-ever meeting between SDSU and Incarnate Word in football
- The Jackrabbits improved to 11-0 in Dairy Drive games
- SDSU won its 14th consecutive home opener and extended its overall home winning streak to 22 games dating back to the 2021 campaign
- The Jackrabbits have won 29 straight games against FCS opponents, 18 of which have been against ranked squads
- Dustman made the 40th field goal of his career, ranking him fourth on SDSU’s all-time charts
- Gronowski went over the 8,000-yard mark in career passing, ending the night with 8,139 yards
- Wilde topped 100 yards receiving for the second week in a row
- SDSU picked up 31 first downs, six of which were by penalties committed by the Cardinals
- The Jackrabbits held the ball for 10:59 in the fourth quarter
- The attendance of 19,231 marked the sixth-largest crowd in the stadium’s nine-year history