South Dakota State Holds on After Building a 28-0 Lead
Twenty-eight to nothing, and then it got interesting. South Dakota State beat South Dakota 31-21, but only after the Coyotes scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns to make the Jackrabbits sweat.
The home team was in control early. James Basinger scored from 2 yards out late in the first quarter, Chase Mason threw touchdown passes of 3 yards to Jack Smith and 11 yards to Brayden Delahoyde in the second, and Josiah Johnson's 5-yard run with 5:52 left in the third made it 28-0. South Dakota State never trailed and was never tied.
Then Austyn Modrzewski went to work. He found Brayden White from 4 yards, Bryce Cohoon from 59 and Chris Herrin from 22, the last with 2:08 left, and it was 28-21. Tristan Alvano's 34-yard field goal with 19 seconds to go closed it out. Modrzewski finished 21 of 27 for 233 yards and three touchdowns, all of them in the fourth quarter. Flip a few of those fourth-quarter minutes and this is a very different afternoon.
The ground game explains the rest of it. South Dakota State ran 48 times for 228 yards and sacked Modrzewski's team five times, while South Dakota managed 19 rushing yards on 27 carries. South Dakota State is 7-1, South Dakota is 7-2.
For fantasy, Modrzewski's 25.1 points led everyone, with Mason right behind at 23.1. Smith had a season high, 19.4, on a touchdown and 84 yards.