Heide leads South Dakota St past N Iowa 38-7

Nov 17, 2019, 12:11 am

BROOKINGS, S.D. -- Keaton Heide was 15-of-16 passing with two touchdowns, the defense forced two turnovers and South Dakota State overwhelmed Northern Iowa 38-7 on Saturday in a battle of top 10 FCS teams.

The Jackrabbits, ranked eighth in the STATS FCS Top 25, clung to a 17-7 lead entering the fourth quarter before breaking the game open. Don Gardner had a 24-yard fumble return after Tolu Ogunrinde's defensive stop, Cade Johnson had a 20-yard touchdown reception set up by an interception and backup quarterback Kanin Nelson had a 12-yard TD run.

For the Jackrabbits (8-3, 5-2 Missouri Valley Conference), it was their third straight home game against a ranked opponent but the first they won. They piled up 337 yards of offense; 196 on Heide's arm. Johnson had six catches for 134 yards.

Fourth-ranked Northern Iowa (7-4, 5-2) had its four-game winning streak snapped. Will McElvain was 12 of 24 for 85 yards with three interceptions.