Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes YSU quarterback Demeatric Crenshaw fires off a pass during the first half against Dayton on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.

YOUNGSTOWN — After Youngstown State’s season-opening win over Duquesne, head coach Doug Phillips said the passing game and offense as a whole needed to be more efficient moving forward.

The Penguin offense answered the call.

Demeatric Crenshaw tied an individual school record with five passing touchdowns, and YSU led wire to wire in a 49-16 dismantling of Dayton on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.

Mitch Davidson added a late passing touchdown of his own. The six scores through the air broke the team record for passing touchdowns in a game.

“I thought he made a huge jump,” Phillips assessed of Crenshaw. “We had six passing touchdowns, which is a record at Youngstown State. To be able to do that with, gosh, six different guys … We had a lot of different guys touching the football.”

Five different players had touchdown receptions in the victory. Bryce Oliver grabbed four receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns, while Max Tomczak snagged three passes for 92 yards and a score. Jaleel McLaughlin earned his first career touchdown reception with a 52-yard touchdown on a shovel pass, and Luke Hensley and Latrell Fordham also had touchdown receptions.

Crenshaw went 11-for-17 for a career-high 230 yards, and added 32 yards rushing.

“Just limited the little mistakes we had (a week ago),” Crenshaw said of the difference between Saturday and last week’s win over Duquesne, in which he went 14-of-29. “I connected with the receivers, and the o-line did its job and for me, just going out there delivering the ball and giving the receivers a chance.”

Crenshaw began the scoring for YSU (2-0) with a 3-yard fade to Fordham, and then hit Oliver for a 17-yard pass later in the quarter to put YSU up 14-0. Then, with 1:36 to go in the first, Crenshaw rolled to the right and flipped a shovel pass back to McLaughlin, who raced 52 yards to the end zone to put YSU up 21-0.

After Dayton (1-1) scored on a 34-yard field goal from Sam Webster, Crenshaw struck again. The sophomore evaded pressure and found Tomczak, who was uncovered by that point, and the receiver raced into the end zone to put YSU ahead 28-3.

“That’s what he can do — he can do it with his legs,” Phillips said of Crenshaw’s play. “And it doesn’t always have to be a completion. You see the parting of the Red Sea, guess what? You can take off and run and get the first down and positive yards.”

Of Tomczak, Crenshaw noted, “We knew Max was going to be a great player. We miss C.J. (Charleston, who is out with an injury), but Max is stepping in and just doing what he’s always done in practice. So just moving from practice to the game is big for him and for us.”

On the ground, McLaughlin racked up 129 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, while Dra Rushton had 70 yards on 10 carries.

And while the offense got off to its quick start, so did the YSU defense. After giving up a touchdown on the first drives of the first and second halves last week against Duquesne, the Penguins forced three punts and intercepted a pass on Dayton’s first four drives of the first half. In the second, YSU forced two punts and a turnover on downs on the first three.

Quincy Lenton had one of YSU’s two interceptions, while Troy Jakubec had the other.

As it was a week ago, the YSU run defense was stout. The Penguins allowed 55 yards on 35 carries, an average of 1.6 per rush.

The defensive front also got more pressure this week, as Dayton quarterback Dante Casciola was sacked five times. Dawan Martin had two, Dylan Wudke and James Jackson each had one and Jaelen Crider and Hunter Allen took Casciola down together.

“For us to be able to start fast, I thought we came out from the get-go,” Phillips said.

But, as the coach would later allude to, there was a lull.

Dayton drew to within 28-10 in the second quarter and then 35-16 during the fourth before Crenshaw hit Oliver for a 30-yard pass to push YSU back out to a 42-16 lead.

Casciola went 17-of-26 for 134 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for Dayton’s other touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The YSU offense had issues at times, as Oliver and Crenshaw each coughed up fumbles that Dayton recovered. The Penguins also fumbled two other times, once by Crenshaw and once on a muffed punt by Randy Smith.

Then, too, YSU was penalized eight times for 92 yards.

“I’m a firm believer that you either allow it or you’re coaching it,” Phillips said. “So for me, I always say it’s never the players’ fault. It’s the coach’s fault. … We had bad communication, the balls on the ground could have been devastating. … Those are things as a head football coach, I want to put our kids in the best situation to be successful, and when I see those, you always have to look back and reflect, assess, debrief and try to correct those things and move on.”

However, in the end, he was pleased with how YSU responded to the adversity.

“I love seeing the tough things in a football game, because that shows you what type of character you have in the locker room,” he added. “For me to see some struggles early on right now, guess what? There’s going to be more struggles. … The next play is the most important, and we have to move on. Those things are going to happen in a game, and how you handle those highs and lows, we use those as teaching points each and every day.”

YSU continues its campaign next week at Kentucky.