Brookings, S.D. - Indiana State opened Missouri Valley Football Conference play Saturday night, falling 41-0 to South Dakota State in front of 13,945 fans at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Travis Johnson, making his second career start, had an 11-for-25 passing night for 65 yards and no interceptions. On the ground, Antoine Brown had 12 rushes for 13 yards, while Darrius Gates rushed seven times for 20 yards. Michael Mardis hauled in four receptions for 21 yards.
Defensively, Donye McCleskey led the way with 15 total tackles, and CJ Cook added 12.
For South Dakota State, quarterback Ryan Crawford completed 21 of 27 passes for 239 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Kyle Minett rushed 18 times for 95 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Through the first half, the defense led the way for the Sycamores. CJ Cook totaled seven tackles, while Donye McClesky had six. Aaron Archie and Nate Brown added five apiece for a team tally of 23.
South Dakota State recorded its first score of the game with 37.4 seconds remaining in the first quarter, when Kyle Harris kicked a 26-yard field goal to put the Jackrabbits up 3-0. It was nearly a full quarter later when SDSU struck again. Following a blocked punt deep in Sycamore territory, Ryan Crawford fired a touchdown pass to Mike Steffan, who hauled in a leaping one-handed grab. With Harris' extra-point kick, SDSU went up 10-0 at the half.
The Jackrabbits opened the third quarter with a five-play, 39-yard drive, culminating in a two-yard touchdown run at 11:30 by Minett to make it 17-0. South Dakota State's next drive was limited by the ISU defense to a 22-yard field goal at 4:16 to go up 20-0.
In the final minute of the third quarter, SDSU picked up additional steam on a 10-yard touchdown run by Tyler Duffy (Harris kick).
The Jackrabbits tacked on another touchdown for a score of 34-0 on a three-yard pass from Crawford to Minett (kick Peter Reifenrath) with 7:59 remaining in the game. Their final points of the contest came with a touchdown with 34 seconds to go, as Jordan Paula rushed six yards to bring the tally to 41-0.
Indiana State was shutout for the second consecutive week, following a 31-0 defeat at the hands of Eastern Illinois in the Sycamores' previous contest. It marks the first time that ISU has not scored in consecutive games since falling 33-0 to Iowa State & 49-0 to Oklahoma to kickoff the 1999 campaign. Additionally, ISU's 90 yards of total offense are its fewest since gaining just 48 against Missouri State in 2003. The Sycamores were able to muster just 95 yards of offense last week against the Panthers.
Indiana State returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 26 when it plays host to Youngstown State at 12:05 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
