NORMAL, Ill. - Chris Garrett scored Illinois State's first defensive touchdown since 2006 and put South Dakota State behind in a game for the first time this season, but it wasn't enough as the No. 17 Jackrabbits marched into Hancock Stadium and handed the Redbirds their first home and conference loss of the season, 38-17, Saturday night.
ISU senior running back Geno Blow led the Redbirds (1-3, 0-1 MVFC) rushing attack as he racked up 58 yards on 17 carries. Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Brown was 17-for-32 for 184 yards with two interceptions in his third consecutive start. Senior Eyad Salem led the ISU receivers with six catches for 66 yards.
On their first drive of the game, South Dakota State (3-0, 2-0 MVFC) quarterback Ryan Crawford completed a seven yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Saunders Montague at the 10:43 mark of the first quarter. The touchdown capped off a six-play, 43-yard scoring-drive and gave the Jackrabbits an early 7-0 lead.
The score remained 7-0 until the second quarter, when Illinois State senior kicker Zach Kutch connected on a 42-yard field-goal to cut the SDSU lead to 7-3 with 12:26 left in the first half. On the ensuing SDSU drive, Garrett intercepted a Crawford pass and returned it 30-yards to post the `Birds' first defensive touchdown in three years. That gave Illinois State a 10-7 lead with 10:47 left in the half and put the Jackrabbits behind for the first time in three games.
Just before halftime, an interception by Jackrabbits defensive lineman Jake Steffen set-up a 62-yard touchdown pass from Crawford to wide receiver Glen Fox to send South Dakota State into the locker room with a 21-10 lead.
A 23-yard field goal by SDSU kicker Peter Reifenrath pushed the Jackrabbits lead to 24-10 at the 10:37 mark of the third quarter. Later in the half, Crawford ran for a 7-yard touchdown to complete a four-play, 31-yard drive. The score ran the Jackrabbits lead up to 31-10.
In the fourth quarter, SDSU running back Kyle Minett ran a 64-yard touchdown to drive the Jackrabbits lead to 38-10. With 9.9 seconds left in the game, ISU freshman quarterback Matt Lancaster scored his first touchdown of the season on a seven-yard run. It was the first offensive touchdown scored against the Jackrabbit defense this season.
Illinois State will travel to North Dakota State (1-3) next week for their second Missouri Valley Conference game of the season. The Bison lost to Southern Illinois, 24-14, Saturday night (Sept. 26). The Redbirds and the Bison will kick-off at 1:07 p.m., for North Dakota State's homecoming at the Fargodome.
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