The South Dakota State University defense recorded nine sacks and kept Georgia Southern out of the end zone, while the Jackrabbit offense put up 31 second-half points to roll to a 44-6 victory Saturday at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.
The 21st-ranked Jackrabbits played their season opener in front of a Cereal Bowl-record crowd of 12,354. Georgia Southern dropped to 1-1.
The Jackrabbit defense was relentless, holding GSU to 11 net yards rushing and 243 yards of total offense and forcing four turnovers. Ten different players notched at least a half-sack in the game.
Senior quarterback Ryan Crawford completed his first eight passing attempts and finished the game 15-of-21 for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Both of his scoring strikes were to Mike Steffen, covering four and 62 yards in a span of 2 minutes, 35 seconds in the third quarter. SDSU scored its third consecutive touchdown of the third quarter on a 5-yard Kyle Minett run.
Minett tallied 128 yards on 22 carries. Glen Fox led the SDSU receiving corps with eight catches for 57 yards, with Steffen adding four catches for 98 yards.
SDSU opens Missouri Valley Football Conference play on Saturday, hosting Indiana State in the Beef Bowl.
