Youngstown State University fought until the very end, but came up short in a 37-35 loss at Indiana State.  The Penguins overcame an awful start trailing by as many as 21 in the first half but were able to attempt an onside kick down only two with just over a minute left in the game.  Unfortunately, the kick never traveled ten yards and the Penguins offense never got back on the field. Shakir Bell had a huge day for the Sycamores and the hole the Penguins fell into in the first half could not be fixed by the final gun.

Bell had 21 carries for 256 yards, a 12.2 average per carry, and scored four times on runs of 62, 39, 61, and 51 — all in the first half.  The 256 yards recorded by Bell are an Indiana State school record.  Bell wasn’t flawless, despite the record, as he coughed one up in the second quarter.  YSU’s Aronde Stanton scooped up the fumble and raced toward the Penguin end zone to score a defensive touchdown that would have cut the score to 27-21.  Stanton, however, fumbled the ball on the ISU one-yard line and it rolled out of the end zone resulting in a touchback and the Sycamores retaining possession on their own 20.

Youngstown State (2-2, 1-1) got a very solid performance from Jamaine Cook.  The junior tailback racked up 177 yards rushing and scored a pair of touchdowns for the Penguin offense. Kurt Hess and Jelani Berassa also hooked up for a pair of scores from four yards out.  Berassa finished the game with 44 yards receiving on six grabs.  Christian Bryan continued to play fantastic football for Youngstown State.  Bryan was the Penguins top yardage wideout, finishing with six catches for 72 yards.  Notably, the Penguins were five of five in the red zone, and Indiana State was two-of-two.

The passing game was also good, leading a nice two minute drive in the fourth quarter to bring the Penguins within two points.  Hess performed like a surgeon on the drive and had a couple of key runs, as well as passes, on the scoring march that would result in a touchdown.  Hess finished the game with 224 yards passing on 25 completions in 41 attempts.  He also gained 21 yards on the ground, but threw one interception.

Indiana State got decent production from others than Bell, mostly in the first half.  The efficient Ronnie Fouch completed 11-17 for 189 yards.  His top two targets were Michael Mardis and Alex Jones, who finished the game with 83 and 81 yards, respectively.  The Sycamores could only score three points in the second half as the YSU defense made some good adjustments at halftime to eliminate the big plays the Sycamore offense enjoyed in the opening sessions.

Nick DeCraker recorded a sack for the Penguins. Josh Garner and Davion Rogers each recorded three unassisted tackles, and Travis Williams had a hand in eight tackles, two solo from his Will linebacker position.  Give the penguins defensive players and coaches credit for really turning things around most of the second half.

Indiana State got a monster effort on defense from Aaron Archie.  All Archie did was sack Hess twice, record seven solo tackles and assist on eleven other stops.

Other Penguins who had some statistics worth mentioning were Jordan Thompson who finished the game with 43 yards on eight carries, scored a touchdown, and caught a couple of passes for seven more yards. Kevin Watts (above) had a couple of catches in the Penguins final scoring drive for 19 yards and also returned three kickoffs for 57 yards.  Nick Liste had six punts for 239 yards (39.8 yards averaged per punt), and kicker David Brown was 5/5 on PAT’s.

Unfortunately, Eric Wolford, who stresses the importance and difficulties of winning on the road, dipped to 0-9 away from Youngstown State.  The win marks the first time that the Sycamores have gotten by the Penguins in Terre Haute after losing their first eleven tries at home.  Be assured that Wolford and staff did not take this loss lightly, and I am sure that the upcoming two weeks of practice will be very hard for the team.

Youngstown State is headed into a bye week but will return home on October 8 to face South Dakota State.