Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU tight end Brandan Serrano gets pushed into the end zone by a South Dakota defender after hauling in a touchdown pass from quarterback Beau Brungard last week against the Coyotes at Stambaugh Stadium.

YOUNGSTOWN — The first 20 minutes against South Dakota last week was a small sample size of how Youngstown State wants to play on a consistent basis.

The Penguins opened the game with a pair of long touchdown drives sandwiched around a defensive stand.

However, while the defense got some stops and made plays to limit the Coyotes during the rest of game, the offense could only muster three more points, and it ultimately cost the Penguins.

“I’ve certainly seen a lot of growth — I think a lot of guys have stepped up and are making plays,” quarterback Beau Brungard said. “You can see the growth last week. Great first half we played, but we just gotta finish. We gotta be able to carry that first half into the second half, and once we do that I think we’ll be able to put a lot more points on the board and the outcome will be in our favor.”

All season, YSU has been able to produce offensive success in stretches, but finding consistency offensively has eluded the Penguins.

“You take two games out of our schedule, Pitt and South Dakota State, and it comes down to the fourth quarter, comes down to possessions in the fourth quarter and one team is going to win,” head coach Doug Phillips said. “The consistency, can we do it consistently — going back to Duquesne to Missouri State to last week — when it comes down to those fourth quarters to be able to execute and win those close games.”

Finding and building that consistency on offense starts with Brungard under center.

Since throwing two interceptions in his first career start in the season opener against Villanova, Brungard has sought to reduce his number of turnovers and improve his decision making.

He’s slowly been able to do that and he’s steadily improved and shown growth over the course of the season. Also, he leads the team in rushing, as his ability to scramble and run to pick up yards with his legs gives him an added dimension that opposing defenses have to prepare for.

“I think it’s just slowing down as a whole,” Brungard said. “I’m going into each game just reading defenses and recognizing coverages and stuff like that — understanding when to take a shot, when to check it down. In the quarterback position, taking care of the football, that’s something that I’ve worked hard on. Had a lot of turnovers early in the season, and that’s something I’m trying to work on, just keeping the ball in our hands on offense, and good things happen when we do.”

With an inexperienced defense that has been inconsistent as well, YSU needs its offense to produce at a high level.

One thing YSU’s offense does well is control the ball and maintain time of possession.

The Penguins were the best in the FCS in average time of possession per game (36:06) last season and are once again leading the country this year at about 36 minutes per game.

“I don’t think it’s something we try to do,” Brungard said. “We run the ball well, and when you run the ball, a lot of time comes off the clock. So that’s just something that happens.”

Controlling the ball is one way to alleviate the pressure on the defense and decrease the amount of time it has to be on the field.

However, controlling the ball is one thing, finishing drives with points and touchdowns is another. YSU is only scoring on 80% of its trips into the red zone, which is tied for 66th in the FCS.

“I feel like we need improvement in all three phases — running the football, passing the football,” Phillips said last week. “Time of possession, when you have the ball for 40 minutes, we gotta score more points. We gotta put more points on the board and we gotta score when we’re in the red zone.”

YSU will need the offense to finish drives on a more consistent basis this week, as it hosts No. 7 North Dakota on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium.

The Fighting Hawks’ visit to Youngstown will be their first game outside the state of North Dakota since their season opener at Iowa State.

YSU’s offense will have its hands full dealing with North Dakota’s aggressive defense.

“Defensively, they’re unlike anything we’ve seen all year because they come from every direction — safeties, corners, linebackers and they’re constantly moving up front with their defensive line,” Phillips said. “So for us, it’s a great challenge because we don’t see that. We just played two teams that sit on you hard and create a wall. Now you go against a team that you’re going to get everything and the kitchen sink coming at you. So we’ve gotta make sure we’re ready to handle that.”

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