South Dakota football takes down SDSU with a game-winning Hail Mary

VERMILLION – Coyote fans will remember this one forever.

So will Jackrabbit fans.

No. 17 South Dakota defeated No. 7 South Dakota State on a miracle finish to end all miracle finishes.

With one second on the clock and the Coyotes on their own 43-yard line trailing by three, Carson Camp heaved a Hail Mary toward the end zone that was tipped, batted and bobbled before landing in the hands of USD’s Jeremiah Webb, who fell into the end zone for a game-winning score.

That propelled the Coyotes to a 23-20 win that likely ensures them of a playoff spot, while ripping the heart out of the Jackrabbits, who were one second away from moving a step closer to a potential playoff seed and first round bye.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said USD linebacker Jack Cochrane. “I didn’t have a really good view, so I was watching the video board and I did a double-take, like, we caught it? It was hard to describe.”

Across the field, Jackrabbit players stood in stunned disbelief.

“It’s tough,” said linebacker Adam Bock. “It was a crazy play. Props to them for making that crazy play. We knew they were going for the end zone. We just couldn’t make a play on the ball.”

The Coyotes (7-3, 5-2) got that opportunity thanks to a failure to put them away by SDSU. The Jacks had 4th and 2 at the USD 43 yard line with eight seconds left, and rather than punt, tried to run a play that would use up the final seconds. Quarterback Chris Oladokun took the snap, scrambled around but pressure from the defense forced him to throw the ball. Oladokun threw it as high as he could and the clock ticked down to zero as it sailed out of bounds. But after a review the officials put one second back on the clock, and USD pulled off the miracle.

More: South Dakota's last-second win over South Dakota State plants Coyotes among MVFC's best

USD coach Bob Nielson admitted that if the Coyotes were just a few yards further away they would’ve had to try a trick play of some kind. But they were just close enough for the bomb. Camp got himself space to wind up and throw it long, and SDSU’s defense failed to knock it down. Instead, the ball got tipped into the air, bounced around and the pile fell into the end zone as Webb corralled it.

“It was slow motion,” Webb said. “The ball went up, bounced off a couple defenders’ hands – I saw it the whole way and I just happened to grab it out of the air.”

Jacks coach John Stiegelmeier defended the decision to run out the clock rather than punt.

“We practice that play, we’ve timed it ourselves,” Stiegelmeier said. “It’s eight or nine seconds. That’s how fickle the game of football is. One second and a whole different outcome. You make decisions and you see what happens. I think it was the right decision. I’ve been coaching way too long to wonder once a call is made if it’s the right decision.”

The Coyotes were the better team for much of the day, but it appeared the Jacks were going to escape with the win. Trailing 17-13 midway through the fourth quarter, the Jacks put together a 13-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard Pierre Strong touchdown run to take a 20-17 lead with 6:10 to go.

USD embarked on a drive to answer, and moved into SDSU territory. On 4th and inches they passed over a field goal to go for it, and SDSU stopped them. The Jacks took over with 1:59 to play and when they got a first down, were in position to run out the clock. Eight seconds turned out to be enough for the Coyotes.

Camp finished the game with 288 yards passing and two touchdowns, while Nate Thomas had 90 hard-earned yards of rushing and a touchdown. Webb, who had three catches all year entering the game, caught six balls for 153 yards. It was a breakout performance for Webb, but it’s hard to imagine him ever catching a bigger one than he did in this game.

More: 'Hang this in the Louvre': South Dakota football's Hail Mary vs. SDSU leaves fans speechless

“I’m really proud of our kids and really happy for them,” said Nielson, whose team can earn a share of the Valley title with a win over North Dakota State next week. “Obviously a unique way to end the game, but as crazy as that play was I really thought our kids deserved to win that football game.”

Strong rushed for 103 yards for SDSU, while Oladokun went 22-of-30 for 220 yards and a touchdown. Jaxon Janke had seven catches for 105 yards. Logan Backhaus and Cale Reeder of SDSU were both ejected for targeting. The Jacks were outgained 422-348 and had nine penalties for 84 yards.

At 7-3 (4-3) SDSU may already have a playoff berth locked up and can certainly make certain of that with a win next week when they host North Dakota in the regular season finale. But after suffering what’s likely to be the most painful loss any of them will ever endure in their careers, turning the page is their immediate challenge.

“We have 24 hours to really feel the sting from this one,” Janke said. “But after that we’ve got to flush it and focus on UND.”

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota football upsets SDSU with a game-winning Hail Mary