BROOKINGS, S.D. - Freshman Parker Douglass set a South Dakota State University record with six field goals as the Jackrabbits defeated Western Oregon 38-3 in non-conference football Saturday night at Coughlin-Alumni Field. Linebacker Mike James led the Jackrabbit defense with eight tackles, six of them solos. Chris Coauette and John Perry recovered fumbles. SDSU will play at Southern University in Baton Rouge next Saturday. Western Oregon is now 0-3.
Douglass connected from 34, 39, 27, 23, 43 and 39 yards and he added a pair of extra points giving him 20 points on the night. The previous SDSU record for field goals in a game was four by Russ Meier against St. Cloud State in 1981.
A freshman from Columbus, Nebraska, Douglass attempted eight field goals on the night, also an SDSU record.
Ironically, it was a field goal by Western Oregon - 20 yards by Bruce Voges - which accounted for the first points of the game. Douglass kicked his first three field goals into the wind in the first quarter, giving SDSU a 9-3 lead.
When Dougass wasn't kicking, the passing combination of Brad Nelson to Josh Davis was clicking, accounting for a pair of 15-yard touchdown passes. The second of those gave SDSU a 25-3 lead at halftime. And sophomore running back Anthony Watson had the most spectacular play of the night when he broke several tackles on a 64-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter.
Nelson finished the night 17-for-33 for 254 yards passing while Watson had 148 yards rushing on just 11 carries. Davis caught five passes for 51 yards while the big pass plays went to Brian Janecek, whose three catches for 103 yards included gains of 51 and 44 yards.
SDSU, now 2-1 fo the season, out-gained Western Oregon 472-90 in total offense. The Wolves had a 41-yard loss on a bad snap on a punt, and SDSU recorded five sacks - three by redshirt freshman Ryan Schlieman - leaving WOU with minus 42 net yards rushing. That's also an SDSU record, topping the old mark of minus 20 yards net rushing by Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1979.
