South Dakota State football earns resounding win in conference opener against North Dakota

At the 7:56 mark in the third quarter, South Dakota State running back Isaiah Davis stiff-armed the defender in front of him onto the ground and sprinted into the endzone.

The Jackrabbits resounding 42-21 win over North Dakota to open their conference schedule, much like Davis's stiff arm, was a tour de force in front of 19,231 fans, the fourth most in stadium history.

Davis had a career night, rushing for 132 yards and tied a career-high with three rushing touchdowns. With his performance against UND, Davis climbed to fifth all-time in rushing touchdowns.

"They bought out all day," Davis said of his offensive line postgame. "It starts with practice, the preparation, but it's not just them though. It's the collective unit."

Davis was humble in his response, but offensive lineman Mason McCormick was quick to heap praise on his teammate.

"As much as we'd like to take credit for the run blocking and whatever else, Isaiah makes all these great plays, and the big ones don't pop without the receivers and the tight ends doing their job as well," McCormick said in the postgame press conference.

North Dakota certainly had their hands full trying to contain the Jackrabbits offense. The SDSU offense was dominant, scoring on six of their seven drives. They outgained UND by 199 yards and outrushed them by 198. Fighting Hawks football coach Bubba Schweigert said they struggled to contain the run because of how well-balanced SDSU's attack is.

"If you're going to commit too many to the run, and they've got good receivers, or the tight end, you know, some checked downs hurt us today where they threw it underneath and ran for first downs," Schweigert said.

Here are three takeaways from the Jackrabbits win over the Fighting Hawks.

Gronowski shines under pressure

SDSU quarterback Mark Gronowski played the clock perfectly on the Jackrabbits' final drive of the first half and had a couple of clutch, drive-saving plays.

On third and five he found Davis for a first down and later, on third-and-18 he found Jaxon Janke to extend the drive. Janke and Gronowski connected again to put the Jacks up 21-7 heading into the half.

Schweigert pointed out that third-down conversion as a key play in the game.

"We needed stops like that to give us a better opportunity," Schweigert said.

Gronowski finished the game with 167 yards and one touchdown, but he made the biggest play of the game when it was still in the balance.

"Mark is just a poised person," Rogers said. "I know what he would want a couple of throws back that we missed, but overall, just a great leader and a great team teammate and a blessing."

Stopping UND's run game

The Jackrabbits defense put on a clinic against the Fighting Hawks offense, which is typically balanced in their attack.

Coming into this game North Dakota's offensive system relied on the ability of their quarterback, Tommy Schuster, to have time in the pocket to either pass or run. Well, SDSU completely neutralized the run threat, holding them nearly 100 yards below their rushing yards average and they only allowed UND to run for 2.6 yards per carry.

The players credited defensive coordinator Jesse Bobbit's scheme for their ability to shut down the run.

"We take pride in stopping the run, it makes them one-dimensional," Rogers said of his defense's performance. "We were able to do that today."

The penalties didn’t come back to bite them this game, but it’s something they’ll want to clean up

A penalty on the SDSU defense in the second quarter when they already had North Dakota on 4th and 9 gave the Fighting Hawks an automatic first down and put them in prime position for their first touchdown of the game.

The Jackrabbits put up a valiant effort, holding the Fighting Hawks at the one-yard line all the way until fourth-and-1, but Quincy Vaughn took a direct snap and leaped over the defensive line to get into the end zone.

Overall, the Jackrabbits had 4 penalties that cost them 38 yards in the first half when the game was still in the balance, and by the end of the game, they had six penalties against them that cost them 68 yards.

"The retaliation penalties have to stop," Rogers said of a penalty called later in the game. "That's a maturity thing and some of our guys on special teams just want to talk and grab attention that way, or they won't play. So they've been addressed, it will get better."

Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JFERN31

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: SDSU football earns resounding win in conference opener