BROOKINGS, S.D. -- Down 42-24 with 3:55 left in the third quarter to No. 3 South Dakota State, Indiana State football climbed back and eventually tied the game at 48 as time expired before the Jackrabbits answered an ISU field goal in overtime with a touchdown to claim the victory, 54-51 at Dykhouse Stadium Saturday night.
 
The Sycamores fell to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in Missouri Valley Conference action while the Jackrabbits moved to 3-1 and 1-1 in MVFC play.
 
Ja'Quan Keys led all players with 159 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, including a season long 62-yard touchdown before going for 57 yards with under three minutes remaining in the game. Sophomore Rontrez Morgan put together a phenomenal game receiving with nine catches for 155 yards and two touchdowns -- the first receiving touchdowns of the season for Indiana State.
 
Ryan Boyle threw a pair of touchdowns through the air as well as scoring two rushing touchdowns for the Sycamores. The junior finished with 276 yards passing on 19-of-29 attempts.
 
Boyle put together two masterful throws in the final offensive drive of regulation. After the Sycamore defense forced a Jackrabbit three-and-out, SDSU pinned ISU at their own one-yard line. Boyle connected first on a 30-yard pass to Dante Jones II before a 47-yard completion to Morgan to put the Sycamores well into SDSU territory. After a short gain on the ground, Boyle scrambled for 14 yards to the SDSU seven yard-line.
 
Indiana State took one shot to the end zone on a fade route before Jerry Nunez kicked the 20-yard game-tying field goal.
 
SDSU won the toss and elected to play defense top open the period and from the 25-yard line, the Sycamores promptly drove near the Jackrabbit goal line after Dante Hendrix caught a pass for eight yards and Keys rushed for an eight-yard gain. The Sycamores were later stuffed on third down and forced to kick the field goal to go ahead 51-48.
 
Indiana State forced South Dakota State into a pair of third-and-longs but each time the Jacks converted with quick passes to the outside before reaching the ISU three-yard line. Following a pass interference call in the end zone, the ball was placed at the two and the Jacks rushed the ball into the end zone to secure the win.
 
In total, Indiana State put up 569 total yards of offense with 293 yards coming on the ground. The Jacks went for 522 yards of total and threw for 324 yards.
 
The ISU secondary struggled to contain All-American quarterback Taryn Christion and the potent SDSU passing attack. Christion finished with five touchdowns through the air on 20 completions for 229 yards.
 
The Jackrabbits used a nine play - 71-yard opening game drive to jump out to a 7-0 lead after Christion found Adam Anderson in the end zone on a 22-yard pitch and catch.
 
Indiana State answered back with their first offensive possession as a methodical 13-play drive was capped with a one-yard rushing touchdown from Boyle on fourth down from the SDSU one-yard line to even the contest.
 
The Sycamores came back to take the lead when Stephon Mayes recovered a fumble and setup the Sycamores in great field position. Junior Jerry Nunez nailed a 33-yard field goal to make it 10-7 in favor of the Sycamores with five seconds left in the first quarter.
 
After South Dakota State scored a nine-yard touchdown to regain the lead, Indiana State quickly answered with its first passing touchdown of the season when Boyle found Morgan on a 22-yard pitch and catch to go back in front 17-14. True freshman Christian Covington broke a 26-yard run on third down to extend the drive and setup the touchdown.
 
The Jackrabbits used a 4:44 drive to close out the second quarter to take the lead when Christion's 5-yard pass to Mikey Daniel made it 21-17 at heading to the break.
 
South Dakota State outgained Indiana State 211 to 163 in the first half. The Jacks had 128 yards in the air while the Sycamores finished with 73. ISU outgained the Jacks on the ground 90-83.
 
Following a three-and-out from the Sycamores to open the second half, the Jackrabbits scored 14-straight points -- first on a 4-yard pass from Christion to Isaac Wallace before SDSU used a bit of trickery with a 15-yard rushing touchdown from place-kicker Chase Vinatieri on a fake field goal to extend their lead to 35-17.
 
Keys helped ISU break into the scoring column in the third with a season long 62-yard rushing touchdown to make it 35-24 in favor of the Jackrabbits.
 
Adam Anderson caught his second touchdown of the evening on the very next drive as the Jackrabbits drove 91 yards on five plays to make it a 42-24 game.
 
After a touchdown catch to Dante Hendrix was overturned, Boyle scampered in on a four-yard rush -- his second rushing touchdown of the night as the Sycamores closed the gap to 42-31.
 
Vinatieri and the Jackrabbits then drove down the field and scored with a 30-yard field goal the next drive as SDSU pushed it to a two-score game at 45-31.
 
The Sycamores used a fake punt on fourth down when linebacker Jonas Griffith rushed for 27 yards before ISU put an exclamation on the drive with a 34-yard pass from Boyle to Morgan for a touchdown to cut it to a one-score game at 42-35.
 
Nunez connected on all three of his field goal attempts, including two in the fourth and overtime with a season long of 33 yards coming in the first quarter.
 
The Sycamore defense was led by Griffith who finished with 18 total tackles (11 solo) while Jamal Jones had 17 (12 solo) and Denzel Bonner added 10 (seven solo) tackles. Rex Mosley had the lone sack of Christion on the night.
 
Indiana State picked up 23 total first downs in the contest and converted five third downs.
 
The Sycamores return to action next weekend for Homecoming as Missouri State comes to town. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Memorial Stadium. For more information on Homecoming event click HERE.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Football team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.