South Dakota State Buries Stetson 70-7 to Open the Season
Ten touchdowns. South Dakota State needed only 45 carries and 11 pass attempts to get there, and Stetson never saw the scoreboard move its way until the score was 63-0.
The Jackrabbits scored first and fast, a 73-yard pass from Chase Mason to Jack Smith with 13:32 left in the first quarter. Corey Blair Jr. ran in from 10 yards out about a minute and a half later, Josiah Johnson added a 20-yard score, and it was 21-0 after one. A 65-yard punt return by Alex Uchtman made it 28-0 in the first 90 seconds of the second quarter, a 6-yard Johnson run made it 35-0 about a minute later, and Ramon McKinney Jr. made it 42-0 at the half. Blair broke a 52-yarder to open the third, Josh Holst threw a 78-yard touchdown to Landon Dulaney on his only pass of the game, and James Basinger's 6-yard run made it 63-0. Chris Stephenson finally got Stetson on the board with a 3-yard run (7-63), and Josh Myers answered with a 27-yarder to close it at 70-7.
The stat sheet is just as lopsided. South Dakota State ran for 393 yards, nearly nine a carry, and finished with 628 total yards to Stetson's 258. Stetson lost two fumbles and threw no interceptions. Stetson did get 101 rushing yards, 69 of them from Stephenson at quarterback.
That is a 1-0 start for South Dakota State and an 0-1 one for Stetson. Fantasy-wise, this was a running back buffet. Blair, Johnson and Basinger all reached 17 points, and the lead back needed just 8 carries to do it. Nobody had a bad day on the winning side. That is what a 63-point margin does.