BROOKINGS, S.D. – The Long Island University football team opened its first season of Division I Football Championship Subdivision competition at No. 3 South Dakota State University, suffering a 38-3 setback to the Jackrabbits at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7.
 
"I thought our kids competed pretty hard in the ball game," said head coach Bryan Collins. "I thought we hung in there pretty tough defensively. It's good for a young program to see what the top of the mountain is and I think South Dakota State certainly is the top of the mountain so it was a good experience for our program."
 
LIU held SDSU to 324 yards of total offense, and the 38 points scored was the fewest in the six-year history of the Jackrabbits' Dairy Drive game. Freshman Liam McIntyre led the defensive efforts, totaling eight tackles and recording the lone LIU sack in his collegiate debut. Senior Ricco Aaron, Jr. and redshirt-senior Abel Joseph recorded two tackles for a loss each and junior Abdoulaye Konate notched a forced fumble and fumble recovery.
 
The Sharks tallied 123 yards of offense, including 71 passing yards, led by 71 passing yards in junior Clay Beathard's LIU-debut. Beathard completed 9-of-20 attempts and added nine rushing yards. Redshirt-junior Tim Marinan was the Sharks' leading receiver, hauling in three catches for 22 yards, while senior Jake Bofshever realed in two catches for 17 yards.
 
The Jackrabbits got on the board first with 4:32 remaining in the first quarter when Kanin Nelson took a quarterback-keeper around the left edge for a two-yard rushing touchdown to give SDSU a 7-0 advantage. The Sharks cut into the deficit when redshirt-freshman Briant DeFelice knocked home a 27-yard field goal for his first career points. The same scoreline remained late into the half when LIU was called for a false start on a 4th-and-1 situation. After the five-yard penalty, the Sharks elected to punt on fourth down and Jaxon Janke returned the kick 77 yards for a touchdown to give SDSU a 14-3 lead. The Jackrabbits added one more touchdown just before the end of the half and took a 21-3 lead into the locker room.
 
LIU was unable to break through during the second half and SDSU tacked on two touchdowns and a field goal to earn the 38-3 win.
 
The Sharks will have a bye during week three before returning to action in their home opener on Saturday, Sept. 21 against Sacred Heart University with kickoff slated for 1:00 p.m.