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University of New Hampshire Athletics
Saturday, December 9
Brookings, S.D.
3 PM ET
University of New Hampshire
9-5
14
at
56
South Dakota State
11-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
New Hampshire
0
0
7
7
14
South Dakota State
21
7
14
14
56
Photo by: Dave Eggen
Playoff Run Ends With 56-14 Quarterfinal Loss to No. 6 South Dakota State
12/9/2017 2:12:00 PM | Football
BILLINGS, S.D. – Kieran Presley (Amherst, Mass.) caught seven passes for a career-high 133 yards and a touchdown, but the No. 21/20 University of New Hampshire football team was ousted from the 2017 NCAA FCS playoffs with Saturday afternoon's 56-14 loss to No. 6/6 South Dakota State University in a quarterfinal game at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
The Wildcats, who advanced to the quarters following wins by Central Connecticut State University (14-0) and No. 3 University of Central Arkansas (21-15), ends the year at 9-5. SDSU won its seventh consecutive game, including a sixth straight against a nationally-ranked team, and advances to the semifinals with an 11-2 record.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
The Wildcats, who advanced to the quarters following wins by Central Connecticut State University (14-0) and No. 3 University of Central Arkansas (21-15), ends the year at 9-5. SDSU won its seventh consecutive game, including a sixth straight against a nationally-ranked team, and advances to the semifinals with an 11-2 record.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Presley's seven catches mached his personal best and his 75-yard touchdown reception marked the longest catch of his career.
- Evan Gray (Centreville, Va.) carried the ball 16 times for 60 yards and a TD.
- Trevor Knight (Amherst, N.H.) completed 18 of 34 passes for 236 yards and the 75-yard touchdown pass to Presley.
- Jared Kuehl (Plymouth, N.H.) and Pop Lacey (Reading, Pa.) tied for the team lead with seven tackles.
- SDSU quarterback Taryn Christion completed 13 of 25 passes for 190 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jake Wieneke, who finished with nine catches for 140 yards and a 48-yard TD run. Christion also had 13 carries for 48 yards and a 13-yard rushing TD.
- The Jackrabbits amassed 455 yards of total offense and also had a 99-yard kickoff return. UNH finished with 348.
- SDSU won the turnover battle, 2-0, with a pair of interceptions. UNH's defense had recorded four takeaways each of the previous two games.
- New Hampshire had allowed an average of 17.4 points the past seven games.
GAME RECAP
1st QUARTER
- UNH, which had allowed 29 first-quarter points through 13 games, gave up 21 to South Dakota State.
- SDSU received the opening kickoff and quickly took a 7-0 lead on a 6-play, 70-yard drive. On the first play from scrimmage, Christion completed a 19-yard pass to Dallas Goedert. He followed that with consecutive 15-yard pass plays to Wieneke. Then on 3rd-and-2 from the UNH 13, Christion broke through the right side of the line and into the end zone to give SDSU a 7-0 lead at 11:41.
- After holding UNH to a 3-and-out, the Jackrabbits extended the advantage to 14-0 at 8:36 on a 48-yard touchdown run by Wieneke on an end-around down the right sideline.
- The Wildcats' next drive stalled at the SDSU 43 and the home team proceeded to march 85 yards in 12 plays, capped by a 13-yard run up the middle by Isaac Wallace, to build a 21-0 lead with 56 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
2nd QUARTER
- Wieneke scored his third TD of the game on a 32-yard catch from Christion at 5:29. That play capped an 8-play, 55-yard drive that included a 4th-and-1 conversion on a 1-yard run by Christion.
- UNH began the ensuing drive at its 25 and Knight's 18-yard run on 3rd-and-11 extended the drive with four minutes on the clock. Completions to O'Connor of 15 and 8 yards advanced the ball to the SDSU 35, and an 18-yard pass to Presley set up 1st-and-goal at the 4-yard line. Following an incompletion and false start, consecutive runs by Gray made it 4th-and-goal at the 1. On a run to the left side, Gray was stood up by Dalton Cox and Christian Rozeboom for no gain to keep the score 28-0 with 36 seconds on the clock.
3rd QUARTER
- The teams combined for three touchdowns in a 26-second span.
- South Dakota State extended the lead to 35-0 on Wallace's 48-yard run at 4:28.
- UNH answered immediately. On the next play from scrimmage, Knight found Presley alone down the right sideline for a 75-yard touchdown and the PAT by Morgan Ellman (Scotch Plains, N.J.) trimmed the deficit to 35-7 at 4:17.
- Cade Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a TD to push the margin to 42-7 at 4:02.
4th QUARTER
- SDSU extended the lead to 49-7 on a 10-yard TD pass from Christion to Wieneke at 9:20.
- After a UNH turnover, the Jackrabbits took a 56-7 lead on Mikey Daniel's 13-yard touchdown run at 8:38.
- Gray's one-yard TD run capped a 4-play, 52-yard drive that made the score 56-14 at 6:48.
UNH NOTEBOOK
- Knight broke the school single-season record for pass attempts with 471; the previous benchmark of 447 was set by Bob Jean in 1988. Knight finished third in single-season completions (291).
- Knight also finished No. 2 on the single-season passing yards list with 3,433.
- Neil O'Connor (Leominster, Mass.) caught four passes for 38 yards. On UNH's single-season leaderboard, he finished No. 4 in receiving yards (1,396) and second in receptions (97).
- O'Connor climbed into a tie at No. 8 on the list for career receptions with Stephan Lewis (1999-2002) at 164.
- This was UNH's third quarterfinal appearance the past five years. The Wildcats advanced to the semifinals in 2013 and 2014.
- This was the first meeting between the New Hampshire and South Dakota State football programs.
Team Stats
UNH
SDSU
Total Yards
348
455
Pass Yards
252
190
Rushing Yards
96
265
Penalty Yards
76
50
1st Downs
19
25
3rd Downs
6
8
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
30:25
29:35
1st Quarter
UNH 0, SDSU 7
SDSU - Taryn Christion 13 yd run (Chase Vinatieri kick), 6 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:19
UNH 0, SDSU 14
SDSU - Jake Wieneke 48 yd run (Chase Vinatieri kick), 5 plays, 68 yards, TOP 1:37
UNH 0, SDSU 21
SDSU - Isaac Wallace 13 yd run (Chase Vinatieri kick), 12 plays, 85 yards, TOP 4:21
2nd Quarter
UNH 0, SDSU 28
SDSU - Jake Wieneke 32 yd pass from Taryn Christion (Chase Vinatieri kick) 8 plays, 55 yards, TOP 3:44
3rd Quarter
UNH 0, SDSU 35
SDSU - Isaac Wallace 48 yd run (Chase Vinatieri kick), 4 plays, 55 yards, TOP 1:50
UNH 7, SDSU 35
UNH - Presley,Kieran 75 yd pass from Knight,Trevor (Ellman,Morgan kick) 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:11
UNH 7, SDSU 42
SDSU - Cade Johnson 99 yd kickoff return (Chase Vinatieri kick)
4th Quarter
UNH 7, SDSU 49
SDSU - Jake Wieneke 10 yd pass from Taryn Christion (Chase Vinatieri kick) 10 plays, 81 yards, TOP 4:10
UNH 7, SDSU 56
SDSU - Mikey Daniel 13 yd run (Chase Vinatieri kick), 1 plays, 13 yards, TOP 0:06
UNH 14, SDSU 56
UNH - Gray,Evan 1 yd run (Ellman,Morgan kick), 4 plays, 52 yards, TOP 1:44
Game Leaders
CMP
18
TD
1
YDS
236
INT
2
CMP
2
TD
0
YDS
16
INT
0
Players Mentioned
K/P
/ FootballQB
/ FootballLB
/ FootballWR
/ FootballWR
/ FootballWR
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