FCS PLAYOFFS: South Dakota State Beats Duquesne, Kennesaw State Up Next

The 2018 FCS Playoffs are here, and we've got game-by-game wrap-ups.

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	No. 5 South Dakota State 51 Duquesne 6
	Next up: No. 4 Kennesaw State(11-1) Time/Date: Dec. 7 or Dec. 8 \| TV: ESPN family COMPARE: South Dakota State at Kennesaw State

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THE STANDOUTS

PLAYER OF THE GAME: Mikey Daniel, RB, SDSU – 100 yards rushing and 2 TDs, including one in which he hurdled a defender on his way to the end zone.

OTHER STAT STANDOUTS:

Pierre Strong, RB, SDSU – 92 yards rushing, 1 TD

Cade Johnson, WR, SDSU – 9 catches, 99 yards, 1 TD

Kellon Taylor, WR, Duquesne, 5 catches, 97 yards

Nohea Keahi, LB, Duquesne, 6 tackles, 1 for a loss

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THE TURNING POINT

With about two minutes until halftime and the Jackrabbits leading 14-0, the Dukes left star running back A.J. Hines on the bench during a critical fourth and one from midfield. Backup Daquan Worley ran to his left and was stuffed. On the next play, Pierre Strong ripped through the Duquesne defense for a 52-yard score to give SDSU a three-touchdown advantage. It was Strong's ninth rushing TD on the season with each coming from 20-plus yards out.

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THE SKINNY

On a brutally cold afternoon in Brookings where the wind chill dropped the temperature as low as 18 degrees, South Dakota State jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead when Taryn Christion found his favorite target, Cade Johnson, from 43 yards away.

As the snow began to fall in the second quarter, FAU transfer QB Daniel Parr struggled mightily to find his receivers downfield — often missing them high due to the swirling winds. Parr went into halftime with only 68 yards passing and finished with 160.

It was an especially brutal first half for Hines, which might account for his benching on the aforementioned critical fourth down. During an earlier fourth down and one attempt in the first half, Hines ran one way to receive the handoff while Parr went the other. The confusion gave the Jackrabbit's defense more than enough time to penetrate the backfield and snuff the play out.

On the next Dukes' possession, Hines fumbled while trying to gain extra yards and SDSU immediately turned the gaffe into a 14-0 lead when Isaiah Hill raced 23 yards for his first of two touchdowns.

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PREVIEW OF NEXT WEEK

The Jackrabbits will now pack their bags and head to Georgia to face a one-loss Kennesaw State squad that squeaked out a three-point win over Wofford. SDSU will need discipline against the Owls triple-option attack that finished second in the FCS in rushing this year at 373.9 yards per game.

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