Oct. 29, 2005

BROOKINGS, SD - In a game with 97 points and 1,138 yards total offense, 19th ranked Georgia Southern outscored South Dakota State 55-42 in non-conference football action Saturday afternoon at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

After a 21-14 halftime, and with Georgia Southern leading 35-21 after three periods, the teams combined for 41 points in the fourth quarter.

Georgia Southern improved to 6-3 for the season while SDSU fell to 4-4. GSU will return to Southern Conference action next week with a showdown game against Furman while SDSU resumes Great West Football Conference action hosting Southern Utah.

It was a game pitting GSU's running game against and SDSU offense directed by a new quarterback.

GSU did its thing, rushing for 484 yards, the most ever by an SDSU opponent. Quarterback Jayson Foster gained 178 yards on 27 carries, scoring on runs of 21, 2 and 4, while fullback Jermaine Austin had 146 yards on 29 carries with four TDS: 33, 10, 5, and 5.

Foster also passed for 131 yards on just four completions, giving him 309 yards total offense. Austin and Foster are both over 1,000 yards rushing for the season.

But SDSU had offensive stars of its own.

Redshirt freshman Ryan Berry, from Watertown in his first collegiate start, completed 17-of-27 passes for 289 yards and tied the Jackrabbit single-game record with five TD passes. He also had four net yards rushing. Berry played the entire game in place of injured Andy Kardoes. The record ws set by Todd McDonald vs. Nebraska-Omaha in 1993.

Three of the TD passes went to Josh Davis, who finished with nine catches for 177 yards including TDs of 27, 6 and 13 yards. Dusty Snyders scored SDSU's first TD on a 12-yard pass from Berry, making it 14-7 in the second quarter, while Chris Moliter scored on a 42 yard pass play in the fourth quarter.

Then there was junior running back Anthony Watson, a non-starter since the Valparaiso game. He posted a career high 204 yards rushing on just 16 carries (12.8 ypc) including a 52-yard TD run in the third period, a score which tied the game at 21.

The combined yardage was not a record. SDSU and Wyoming combined for 1,248 in 1984, a game Wyoming won 45-29, but a game in which SDSU ran 103 plays for 571 yards.

Star of the game defensively was GSU linebacker John Mohring, who had 11 tackles, including two for losses; a pass interception returned 23 yards, two passes broken up and one quarterback hurry.

SDSU sophomore linebacker Andy Hoogeveen was in on 15 tackles while redshirt freshman defensive end Jason Nobiling was in on 14 stops, with defensive tackle Gabe Koenigsfeld credited with 12.

The Jacks turned the ball over four times (three interceptions, one fumble) while Jeff Hegge came up with SDSU's only turnover, a fumble recovery.