The Youngstown State football team plays its final road game of the season on Saturday at Indiana State. Kickoff at Memorial Stadium is set for 1 p.m. The game is available on WBCB TV, ESPN+, WKBN 570 AM and iHeartRadio.
YSU (5-5, 1-5 in the MVFC) dropped a 56-21 decision at South Dakota last Saturday at the DakotaDome. For the second straight week the Penguins fell behind early and were forced to play catch up the entire game.
South Dakota roared out of the gate scoring on back-to-back possessions as Austin Simmons threw 13 and 15-yard touchdown passes. The Penguins trimmed the deficit to 14-7 when Joe Craycraft connected with Jermiah Braswell on a 53-yard scoring strike. South Dakota answered with a Simmons 10-yard scoring run and then a six-yard touchdown pass from Simmons to Brett Samson.
YSU crept within 28-14 at the 10:34 mark of the second quarter when Craycraft found Braswell on a nine-yard scoring toss. However, just before halftime, the Guins fumbled a punt at their two-yard line and that set up a score by Kai Henry to push the Coyotes lead to 35-14. In the third quarter, USD added a pair of scoring runs and the fourth both teams traded touchdown passes for the final margin.
Indiana State (3-7 and 1-5) dropped its fourth straight contest with a 17-9 defeat to UNI at the UNI-Dome last Saturday. For the Sycamores, kicker Jerry Nunez made field goals from 24, 28 and 41 yards in the contest. ISU led 3-0 before Will McElvain threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Suni Lane. After the Sycamores pulled within 7-6, UNI's Matthew Cook made a 22-yard field goal and Trevor Allen score on a 13-yard run to give the Panthers a 17-6 advantage. Nunez's third field goal made it 17-9 in the third quarter. ISU had three drives advance to UNI territory in the fourth, but two ended on turnovers. UNI ran just 20 offensive plays in the second half.
YSU leads the all-time series with the Sycamores by a 22-6 margin and is 11-2 in contests played in Terre Haute. The Penguins dominated the series through 2009, however, Indiana State has won five of the last nine meetings, including a 43-17 at YSU last season.
