Josiah Johnson ran for two touchdowns and the South Dakota State defense held Murray State out of the end zone in a 42-9 Jackrabbit victory on Hobo Day Saturday afternoon at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium.
SDSU, ranked fifth in the Football Championship Subdivision, improved to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Murray State dropped to 1-7 overall and 0-4 in league play.
After being forced to punt on their opening drive of the game, the Jackrabbits scored on each of their next five possessions of the first half to build a comfortable lead. Johnson capped a nine-play, 84-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run for the opening salvo, then Grahm Goering hauled in an 18-yard touchdown pass from Chase Mason in the left corner of the north end zone with one second remaining in the first quarter to give SDSU a 14-0 lead.
Goering’s first touchdown catch of the season finished off a seven-play, 79-yard scoring drive.
Murray State tallied all nine of its points in the second quarter on three field goals by Tyler Dorn. Two of the Racers’ field goals were set up by Jackrabbit miscues as Dorn connected on a 33-yard kick after a fumbled punt and his 51-yarder on the final play of the first half followed a personal foul penalty.
In between, Dorn’s 30-yard field goal closed out the Racers’ best drive of the day, a 10-play, 63-yard march.
SDSU’s Tristan Alvano countered with two field goals of his own in the second stanza, making a season-long 45 yarder and adding a 23-yarder on back-to-back Jackrabbit possessions. His second field goal came on the heels of a strip-sack by Logan Green and fumble recovery by Jes Krcil at the Murray State 22.
James Basinger put the Jackrabbits back in the end zone late in the second quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run, marking the fourth game in a row the SDSU running back has scored.
For the second week in a row, the SDSU defense pitched a shutout in the second half while the Jackrabbit offense strung together two more scoring drives that consumed nearly six minutes each. First, Johnson found paydirt from 3 yards out to cap a 14-play, 80-yard third-quarter drive, which was followed by a two-point conversion from Jack Henry to make the score 35-9.
In the fourth quarter, backup quarterback Josh Holst directed SDSU on a 12-play, 71-yard scoring drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Andrew Gustad in the right flat.
SDSU ended the afternoon with a 434-249 advantage in total offense and a 28-17 edge in first downs. Johnson paced the rushing attack with 92 yards on 16 carries, with Basinger adding 56 yards on six attempts.
Mason completed 18-of-26 passes for 197 yards as Jack Smith (66 yards) and Lofton O’Groske (46 yards) each caught six passes. Goering added five receptions for 59 yards.
Murray State quarterback Baxter Wright finished 21-of-34 passing for 174 yards. Trey Firestone was the Racers’ primary receiver with six catches for a game-high 78 yards. Jawaun Northington led the ground game with 45 yards on 10 carries.
Defensively, Cullen McShane registered a game-high 10 tackles for the Jackrabbits. Carter Sitzman contributed to a strong performance by the SDSU defensive line with three tackles, including a sack, and a pair of pass breakups.
Ryan McCall and Tomorris Green shared team-high honors with nine tackles for Murray State.
UP NEXT
The Jackrabbits close out their brief homestand with a matchup against in-state rival South Dakota on Oct. 31. Kickoff for the Interstate Series game is slated for 3 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, with the contest televised on ESPNU.
NOTES
- SDSU has won all three games it has played against Murray State
- The Jackrabbits recorded their 199th victory in the program’s Division I era, improving to 199-89 (.691 winning percentage) since the start of the 2004 season
- SDSU improved to 67-40-5 in Hobo Day games and has won its last five homecoming games
- The Jackrabbits are 71-10 all-time at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, including a 5-0 mark thus far in 2026
- SDSU has scored 51 points off 12 opponent turnovers this season
- Alvano now is 12-for-16 on field goal attempts in 2026
- Smith’s six receptions tied his single-game career high previously set in 2025 at South Dakota and against Illinois State
- A total of 28 different players were credited with at least one tackle for the Jackrabbits
- Attendance was 19,302, marking the fourth sellout crowd of the season and 17th since the start of the 2023 campaign
Story Provided by GoJacks.com
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