Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU QB Beau Brungard breaks off downfield for his first touchdown during the Penguins' 59-25 victory over Valpo on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State quarterback Beau Brungard felt like he had a lot to learn and fix after his first career start last week.

Brungard turned the ball over three times in the Penguins’ season-opening loss, but he bounced back and redeemed himself on Saturday, leading YSU to a 59-25 blowout win against Valparaiso in the team’s home opener at Stambaugh Stadium.

Doing it with his arm and his legs, Brungard completed 11-of-13 of his passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns, while also running for 194 yards and three touchdowns.

“Definitely took some things from last week and learned from them,” Brungard said after the game. “The main thing was taking care of the football. It’s hard to win a football game when you turn the ball over that many times. Also, just take what the defense gives you and not try to force throws or try to make a play when you got other athletes around you who are good and can do things. So I think that was a big emphasis, and we did a good job of that today, just playing within ourselves and taking care of the football.”

Brungard came up a yard short of tying the program’s single-game record for rushing yards by a quarterback (195), which was set by Demeatric Crenshaw against Missouri State in 2021.

He also became the first Penguin to throw for more than 100 yards and rush for more than 100 yards in the same game since Joe Craycraft did it at Indiana State in 2019.

“I’m not too much into personal statistics, I’m just happy we got a team win,” Brungard said. “But that’s something that’s cool, that would have been cool to get. But I’m all for a team win and just giving thanks to God for this opportunity.”

Brungard’s performance showcased what the coaching staff thought he was capable of when he earned the starting quarterback job in fall camp.

Starting off, he did it with his arm in the first quarter, connecting with a wide-open Max Tomczak deep down the left sideline for a 73-yard touchdown on busted coverage by the Beacons.

Then in the second quarter, Brungard had a 65-yard touchdown run untouched up the middle of the field, followed by a 66-yard touchdown scamper down the right sideline on the opening drive of the second half.

“We always knew and I think our kids knew what he can do,” head coach Doug Phillips said about Brungard. “He’s fast, if you give him a seam. He’s strong, (too). We had some designed runs, where last week we didn’t really have a lot because he was making things happen in the pocket and scrambling a little bit. So when your quarterback can do those things, how much QB run do you really need to do?”

With Brungard leading the way, YSU ran for 429 yards as a team. Ethan Wright and Jaden Gilbert each also picked up long rushing touchdowns for the Penguins. Wright’s came from 64 yards out, while Gilbert’s was a 36-yard run in the final few minutes of the fourth quarter.

Missed opportunities and a slow start plagued YSU a week ago. But all week long, Phillips keyed on the team making the jump to improve significantly from Week 1 to Week 2.

The Penguins flipped the script Saturday against the Beacons, scoring early and often, as YSU scored its first touchdown 16 seconds into the game when the defense forced a fumble by Ryan Mann, which bounced backwards and was recovered by Stephon Hall as he stumbled into the end zone.

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU defensive back Stephon Hall scoops a fumble while stumbling into the end zone for a score during the first play from scrimmage against Valpo on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.

“It was great getting that first touchdown in Youngstown,” Hall said. “There’s more to come, definitely, looking forward to the future.”

The slow-starting offensive woes that hampered YSU against Villanova were also gone, as the Penguins raced out to a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

“Coming from Week 1 to Week 2, the biggest thing was just coming out in the first half and getting a hotter start,” Brungard said. “Last week, I think we only had three points in the first half, so we wanted to come out and make a statement and prove that we can be a first-half team and get a hot start.”

Rowan Keefe started the game at quarterback for Valparaiso. But his timing and ball placement was off, which resulted in several incomplete passes on plays that could have turned into big gains for the Beacons.

So, after a couple of offensive series with Keefe, Valpo turned to Caron Tyler, who, like Brungard, opened the game up for the Beacons’ offense with his dual-threat playmaking ability.

“You don’t like chasing ghosts around, so you prepare for what you’re going to see,” Phillips said. “You have a plan in case those changes come in. In the second quarter, they were gashing us pretty good with quarterback run or scramble — even pulling it and keeping it. We had to provide our interior a little bit more support on that quarterback because he can run the football.”

Tyler led Valpo on three touchdown drives in the second quarter, as he completed 8-of-16 of his passes for 160 yards and a touchdown, while also running for 120 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.

“Every week after a game starts, you gotta be a problem solver,” Phillips said. “They probably gave us personnel groupings offensively, maybe more than what we’d seen on film to attack us. So you put a plan together, but guess what? Sometimes you gotta throw them out and problem solve and figure out what you gotta do for the rest of the game.”

For back-to-back weeks, the Penguins’ defensive adjustments in the second half have been a recurring theme.

“We were just playing more physical and being more disciplined,” Hall said. “(We were) reading our keys better and that was really the main adjustments we made.”

After Tyler helped the Beacons gain 247 total yards and score 22 points in the first half, YSU’s defense locked down in the second half, giving up just 84 total yards and three points after halftime.

“All of sudden they fought their way back. Now you gotta fight that adversity of a team that comes back,” Phillips said. “How are we going to respond when we come out after halftime? One thing I always say is this, we talked about how you measure toughness. You measure toughness by wide receiver blocking, you measure toughness by how you tackle, short yardage, goal line — you also measure toughness by what team comes out after half and how do they play coming out of that halftime? I saw a lot tougher team today than maybe we were a week ago.”

Have an interesting story? Contact Neel Madhavan by email at nmadhavan@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @NeelMadhavan.