By Cecelia Chase / The Jambar
Consecutive wins over No. 16 Southern Illinois University and Indiana State University kept the Youngstown State University football team in Football Championship Subdivision playoff contention.
YSU opened the two-game stretch with a 48-38 win over Southern Illinois on Nov. 8 at Stambaugh Stadium.
The Penguins fell behind 24-7 early in the second quarter before scoring 28 straight points to take the lead. Redshirt junior Beau Brungard accounted for six touchdowns in the game, completing 26-of-35 passes for a career-high 345 yards and rushing for 104 yards on 15 carries.
Offensively, the Penguins recorded 563 total yards. Sophomore Jaden Gilbert rushed for 149 yards on nine carries, while junior Kylon Wilson finished with seven receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns.
The senior duo of Mike Solomon and Max Tomczak each contributed to the passing attack. Senior Ethan Wright also added 48 rushing yards and a touchdown reception.
Defensively, Youngstown State produced key stops in the second half. Graduate student Nick Bowser pressured Southern Illinois senior DJ Williams into an incompletion on fourth-and-4 late in the fourth quarter, ending a Salukis drive.
The Penguins then maintained possession for more than six minutes before Brungard connected with Gilbert for the final touchdown. Southern Illinois added a late score and two-point conversion with 35 seconds remaining, but YSU recovered the onside kick to secure the win.
Youngstown State defeated Indiana State on Nov. 16 in its Senior Day and home finale, 48-29. Brungard produced six total touchdowns for the second consecutive week, throwing for three and rushing for three. He completed 23-of-30 passes for 264 yards and rushed for 90 yards on 17 attempts. His performance brought his season total to 42 touchdowns, split evenly between 21 passing and 21 rushing.
Tomczak led all receivers with seven catches for 109 yards, and Wilson added six receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown. Gilbert rushed for 91 yards on nine carries. Senior Austin Bray returned to the lineup after missing time due to injury and caught two touchdown passes, one in the third quarter and one in the fourth.
Defensively, junior Mike Wells recorded 10 total tackles, four tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks, marking one of the strongest statistical performances by a Youngstown State defender this season.
After the game, Head Coach Doug Phillips said Wells has continued to grow from a defensive standpoint on the team and has helped to bolster the interior line.
“Good teams find a way to win, great teams find ways to get better, to grow [and Wells] has done that all year,” Phillips said. “He does a lot of things for us. We move him in different places on the defense, and to see him apply pressure on the quarterback.”
The Penguins allowed three points in the second half after entering halftime with a 31-39 lead. Youngstown State forced an Indian State fumble late in the second quarter, leading to a 39-yard field goal by junior Andrew Lastovka with six seconds remaining in the half.
As playoff hopes loom, Youngstown State will conclude its regular season on the road at the University of Northern Iowa at 2 p.m. Nov. 23 inside the UNI-Dome.
With YSU in search of its first win in the UNI-Dome since Oct. 23, 1999, Phillips said the team has to execute in all facets of the game in order to break the streak.
“For us, it’s about execution. It’s about us having the right mindset battling for 60 plus minutes, playing for four quarters, playing with great fundamentals to practice execution becomes game reality,” Phillips said. “Whether you’re playing on carpet, in a dome, in a gymnasium [or] in the backyard, you got to come ready to play.”
