Oklahoma State walks onto the field before the college football game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and South Dakota State Jackrabbits at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Aug., 31, 2024.

No. 17 Oklahoma State ends South Dakota State winning streak with ease

Ollie Gordon II ran for two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass as No. 17 Oklahoma State beat South Dakota State 44-20 on Saturday in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

The loss snapped the Jackrabbits’ 29-game winning streak. South Dakota State has won back-to-back FCS championships.

Gordon, last season’s Doak Walker Award winner, got off to a bit of a slow start.

But he helped break the game open in the third quarter, with 58 of his 104 rushing yards and 36 of his 42 receiving yards coming in the quarter.

Alan Bowman hit Gordon for a 14-yard completion on fourth-and-3 from the Jackrabbits’ 36 on the first drive of the second half and then found Gordon again on the next play for a 22-yard touchdown.

South Dakota State quickly answered with three consecutive long completions by Mark Gronowski, capped by a 21-yard touchdown to Grahm Goering.

The Cowboys stretched their lead once again on a 58-yard touchdown catch from Rashod Owens.

After forcing a punt, Oklahoma State went ahead 38-13 with a seven-play touchdown drive.

Gordon carried the ball on each of the last six plays, finishing the drive with a 1-yard touchdown.

Gordon topped the 100-yard mark for the 10th time in his last 12 games. He led FBS 1,732 yards rushing as a sophomore last season.

The Cowboys got on the board early on Logan Ward’s 42-yard field goal less than four minutes into the game.

After Korie Black’s interception on the next drive, Oklahoma State found the end zone on Brennan Presley’s 6-yard touchdown catch from Bowman.

Five of Presley’s seven receptions came in the first quarter.

Ward later added a 52-yard field goal early in the fourth and a 25-yarder late in his first game as the Cowboys’ kicker after taking over for Alex Hale.

Gronowski, last season’s Walter Payton Award winner as the top player in FCS, threw for 264 yards and two touchdowns.

Griffin Wilde had seven catches for 150 yards and a touchdown.

Bowman threw for 267 yards and three touchdowns. He completed 25 of 34 passes, including 13 consecutive at one point.

–Field Level Media

Iowa junior linebacker Jack Campbell reacts after tackling Kent State quarterback Dustin Crum in the third quarter at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021.

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Iowa’s stout defense gets first test vs. South Dakota State

Iowa will look to pick up where it left off defensively when it faces South Dakota State on Saturday at Iowa City, Iowa, in the season opener for both teams.

Led by linebacker Jack Campbell, Iowa finished 10-4 last season (7-2 in Big Ten play) as the defense forged the team’s hard-nosed identity.

The Hawkeyes held opponents to an average of 19.2 points per game en route to the Big Ten West title. Over the past five years, the Hawkeyes have one of just two defenses in college football to allow 30 or more points in less than 10 percent of its games.

Campbell, named the preseason Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, will again be headlining the defense after leading the nation with 143 tackles, the fifth-most in a season in program history.

“For me personally, you can’t take a day for granted. Just worked my butt off in the film room,” Campbell said in June. “Just doing all the things off the field I could to make an impact, but ultimately I’m here now, I feel great, so I’m ready to go.”

He will have to be ready if he wants to make things easy for the offense led by quarterback Spencer Petras, who threw for 1,880 yards with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions last season.

While Petras will look to build off last season, South Dakota State quarterback Mark Gronowski will strive to make a successful comeback after missing all of last season with a torn ACL.

Gronowski was efficient in his true freshman season of 2020-21, passing for 1,565 yards with 15 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He also ran for 577 yards and seven scores.

“Coming into this year, we have so many weapons,” Gronowski said. “I’m so excited to throw to them this year, ready to hand it off to (Isaiah Davis). No matter what we do, I feel like we’re going to be great.”

Saturday’s contest will mark the first ever between the programs.

–Field Level Media