VILLANOVA, Pa. — South Dakota State turned in a strong second half Saturday afternoon to down Villanova, 35-21, and return to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons.
The Jackrabbits, who tied a single-season school record for victories, improved to 11-3 overall and will face the winner of Saturday night’s quarterfinal between top-seeded and defending national champion Sam Houston and No. 8 Montana State. Game date, time and location will be determined by the outcome of that matchup.
Trailing 21-14 at halftime, South Dakota State gained the momentum for good with a dominant third quarter on both sides of the ball. After forcing a three-and-out on the defensive end on Villanova’s first possession of the second half, the Jackrabbits drew even with a nine-play, 71-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Davis.
The Jackrabbits gained the lead for good on their next possession, taking advantage of a short Villanova punt. After Davis gained two yards on fourth-and-1 from the VU 40, quarterback Chris Oladokun hooked up down the middle of the field with Jaxon Janke for a 38-yard touchdown.
SDSU made it three scores in as many second-half drives with another 2-yard Davis touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter and the Jackrabbit defense came up with a pair of turnovers down the stretch to seal the victory. Michael Griffin intercepted a pass deep in Jackrabbit territory for the first takeaway, while Dalys Beanum forced a fumble and Caleb Sanders came up with the recovery for the other turnover.
Davis, who shouldered the bulk of the rushing load after Walter Payton Award finalist Pierre Strong, Jr. left the game in the first quarter due to injury, opened the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown run at the 6:40 mark of the first quarter. A sophomore from Joplin, Missouri, Davis ended the game with 174 yards on 25 carries and tied a career high with his three touchdowns.
Villanova answered later in the first quarter on a 36-yard touchdown pass from Daniel Smith to Rayjoun Pringle.
In the second quarter, Janke caught a 10-yard touchdown from Oladokun to give SDSU the lead back at 14-7, but the remainder of the opening half belonged to Villanova. The Wildcats tied the game on a 7-yard touchdown scramble by Smith, then took a 21-14 lead with 44 seconds remaining on a 55-yard pass from Smith to Jaaron Hayek.
The Jackrabbits finished with a 418-378 advantage in total offense, outgaining Villanova 266-107 on the ground. Besides Davis, Amar Johnson tallied 64 yards on 14 carries while Strong was limited to 17 yards on only three carries.
Oladokun completed 11-of-19 passes for 152 yards, with Jaxon Janke leading the receiving corps with 119 yards on six catches.
For Villanova, Smith completed 17-of-26 passes for 271 yards and was the Wildcats’ leading rusher with 44 yards on nine carries. Pringle collected five catches — four in the first half — for 119 yards.
Adam Bock led the Jackrabbit defense with seven tackles, followed by six from Logan Backhaus, Cale Reeder and Griffin.
Villanova linebacker Forrest Rhyne led all players with 21 tackles.
