Jackrabbits Looking for Good Things in Tune-Up Game Saturday Night

It's one last chance for the home folks to see South Dakota State in action before the Jackrabbits open Missouri Valley Conference play in two weeks, as #10 SDSU hosts Wisconsin-Oshkosh Saturday night.

The Jacks come in off the strength of a 26-6 win at Southern Utah last Saturday night.  The SDSU defense was the star in Cedar City, intercepting three passes, including a pick-six and PAT interception return for a score, all part of 20 points off turnovers for South Dakota State against the Thunderbirds.

Head coach John Stiegelmeier told me it was a dominating performance:

Offensively, SDSU racked up nearly 400 total yards, 140 of which came from All-American running back Zach Zenner, who carried 25 times.

At quarterback, Zach Lujan ran things for the second time in place of injured starter Austin Sumner.  Lujan did throw for 162 yards and a touchdown, but was picked off twice, ending long drives.

Coach Stiegelmeier did see some progress in Lujan's game:

The victory in Cedar City was career win number 113 for Stiegelmeier, tying him with Ralph Ginn (113-89-9 from 1947-68) for the most in program history.  Stiegelmeier says the milestone isn't something he's spent much time thinking about:

Stiegelmeier could break the record this weekend when the Jackrabbits host Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the annual Beef Bowl.

The Divison III Titans come in 0-2, but they're getting the same level of preparation as an FCS team from their Division I hosts:

The Jackrabbits continue to wait for Sumner to resume his duties at quarterback after the senior broke his foot in the season opener at Missouri.

Coach Stiegelmeier says the captain is doing everything he can to help his teammates while he's on the mend:

Kickoff against Oshkosh is 6:00pm in Brookings Saturday.

SDSU has a bye next week before opening Missouri Valley Conference play October 4th at Illinois State.