Jackrabbits close home schedule with Illinois St.

By Journal staff | Thursday, November 06, 2008

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The South Dakota State University football team closes out the home portion of its schedule Saturday afternoon, hosting Illinois State in Missouri Valley Football Conference action.

Kickoff is slated for 1:07 p.m. at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium in Brookings.

The game, which will be played before a national television audience, features two teams on pace to finish ahead of where they were picked in the league preseason poll. SDSU, which was picked to finish sixth, is 5-4 overall and 4-1 in the MVFC. Illinois State, selected as the eighth-place team in the nine-team league, currently is in a tie for sixth place with a 2-3 league record, and is 3-5 overall.

A win by the Jackrabbits on Saturday would not only ensure a winning record at home, but it would keep SDSU in the league title hunt with road games at Southern Illinois and North Dakota State on the horizon.

By defeating Illinois State, the Jackrabbits would also assure themselves of a winning mark in league play during their inaugural season in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

The Jacks have to contend with Illinois State RB Walter Mendenhall, who had a career day in his first-career start at running back to lead Illinois State to its first home victory this season over Youngstown State, 54-44, last weekend.

Mendenhall had a career-high 225 rushing yards and three touchdowns and was the first Redbird to rush for over 200 yards in a game this season and surpassed his previous career-high with 119 rushing yards in the first half, becoming just the second Redbird this season to ellipse 100 yards in the first half.

The Redbird passing attack compiled 283 yards, led by Eyad Salem’s eight catches for a career-high 186 yards and two touchdowns. Kevin Brockway was 17-for-24 for 283 passing yards and the two touchdowns to Salem. The duo connected on two pass plays over 40 yards, including a season-long 50-yard score.

The Jackrabbits have employed an opportunistic defense over the past few years and again rank among the leaders in the Football Championship Subdivision for interceptions.

Heading into Saturday’s game, SDSU has tallied 13 interceptions to rank in a tie for 12th place among FCS squads. Ten different players have recorded an interception, with Conrad Kjerstad, Brock Campbell and General Parnell sharing the team lead with two apiece.

The game will also mark the final home game for 12 Jackrabbit seniors. SDSU has posted a winning record in each of their previous seasons in the Jackrabbit football program, including winning the Great West Football Conference championship in 2007.