Stiegelmeier sets wins record as Jacks rout D-III foe

Neither Wisconsin-Oshkosh nor Ralph Ginn stood a chance Saturday night at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

It was clear from the early going that South Dakota State – ranked No. 10 in the lower level of Division I – was going to top the NCAA Division IIII Titan. And when they did, Coach John Stiegelmeier would pass the late Ginn to become the Jackrabbits career wins leader.

SDSU put up 21 points in the first quarter, scoring on three of 11 offensive plays to start the roll toward a 41-3 victory before a Beef Bowl crowd of 13,731.

It was the third win in a row for the Jacks (3-1). Senior running back Zach Zenner rushed for 209 yards to top 5,000 for his career and Stiegelmeier got his 114th win in 18 years to take the top spot on a SDSU career list Ginn had held since 1954.

Stiegelmeier brought his wife, Laurie, to the postgame press conference.

"Just feel blessed to be a part of the deal," he said. "Somebody will break the record soon and they should because so many good things are coming here, have been created. But right now, I feel very good to be a part of it."

The biggest decisions the SDSU grad had to make this night pertained to substitutions – such as when to pull All-American Zenner. The answer: One series into the third quarter.

The Jacks were afforded that luxury because they took care of business early. They scored touchdowns on their first four possessions. Two of those came on one-play drives. Jason Schneider caught a 38-yard pass from Zach Lujan on the first – they hooked up again later – and Zenner racing 36 yards on the second.

Meanwhile, SDSU blocked two kicks – a punt by true freshman J.T. Hassell and a field goal by senior Auston LaBlance. The Jacks limited the Titans (0-3) to 99 yards of offense in the first half. It was the second game in a row in which the Jacks held an opponent to less than 100 yards in the first half, produced multiple takeaways and flirted with a shutout until the final minutes.

They did so without two regulars – safety Nick Mears and linebacker Drew Kreutzfeldt – because of injury. The offense was without three starters: tight end Cam Jones and linemen Trevor Greger and Bryce Siverling. But it wasn't apparent in the workmanlike effort. SDSU didn't face a third-down situation in the first quarter and didn't punt until its ninth possession. It wound up with a 497-236 edge in offense.

"We came out and did what we needed to do – executed pretty well," said Zenner, who finished with 23 carries and tied a career high with three rushing scores. "They were throwing a lot of different looks at us. Definitely still room to improve offensively."

It was the same story for the defense. Cornerback Je Ryan Butler – who had an interception and 67 yards in punt returns – felt like the Jacks left a couple of turnovers on the field. The special teams unit could have been better. One field goal was missed into a swirling wind and another never got off the ground, the result of a bad snap.

Still, the Jacks were plenty good enough to control the contest and send Oshkosh home relatively happy. At least, that's the impression that Coach Pat Cerroni gave afterward. He playfully compared Zenner to former Olympic speed skater Eric Heiden because of his powerful thighs and thanked SDSU for inviting his team to Brookings in a season that both programs were going to be short on games. The Titans hadn't faced a Division I program since 1975.

"You have one of the classiest coaches in college football," Cerroni said. "It was a pleasure for him to give us this opportunity."

Stiegelmeier, 57 can relate. He grew up on a farm near
Selby and went to school at SDSU, where he was a student coach rather than a player. He worked his way up the ranks and has long called this his dream job. Now he's had more success in the gig than anybody else in program history.

The Jacks are idle next week before stepping into Missouri Valley Football Conference play Oct. 4 at Illinois State.

"We're going to build on the good things and we're going to correct the things we can do better," Stiegelmeier said, "and go from there."

First Quarter

SDSt—Zenner 2 run (Syrovatka kick), 6:26.

SDSt—Schneider 38 pass from Lujan (Syrovatka kick), 4:39.

SDSt—Zenner 36 run (Syrovatka kick), 2:00.

Second Quarter

SDSt—Zenner 10 run (Syrovatka kick), 9:46.

Third Quarter

SDSt—Schneider 5 pass from Lujan (Syrovatka kick), 11:18.

Fourth Quarter

SDSt—FG Syrovatka 31, 9:31.

WIOS—FG Ray 24, 6:39.

SDSt—FG Syrovatka 26, :13.

A—13,731.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Wis.-Oshkosh, Rauch 4-23, C.Blackburn 1-18, Hecker 9-16, Steinhoff 5-12, Schommer 1-11, Ash 2-4, Kasper 1-(minus 4), Team 2-(minus 8). S. Dakota State, Zenner 23-209, Mengarelli 15-63, Gandy 6-27, Lujan 4-2, Team 1-(minus 9).

PASSING—Wis.-Oshkosh, Rauch 15-22-1-85, Kasper 6-6-0-79, Hecker 0-2-0-0. S. Dakota State, Lujan 13-19-0-170, Finnes 2-3-0-35.

RECEIVING—Wis.-Oshkosh, Sommers 5-89, Schommer 5-12, Mentkowski 3-21, Hecker 2-11, Thammahong 2-8, C.Blackburn 2-6, Newhouse 1-13, Grant 1-4. S. Dakota State, Schneider 3-59, Wesley 3-42, Raymond 2-29, Vejvoda 2-9, Andrews 1-20, Wright 1-18, Wieneke 1-10, Jones III 1-9, Mengarelli 1-9.