Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU junior QB Beau Brungard runs 28 yards for a second-half touchdown on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium that broke the MVFC's single-game rushing record for a quarterback. He concluded his afternoon with 264 yards on the ground and five total touchdowns.

YOUNGSTOWN — After struggling most of last season and an up-and-down performance in Week 1, Youngstown State has been waiting for what it showed on Saturday.

The Penguins put together as complete of a performance on all three sides of the ball as they’ve seen in quite some time, as they demolished Robert Morris 56-17 at Stambaugh Stadium to improve to 2-0 on the season.

“You’re going to coach them hard, and the expectation is the expectation. The standard is the standard,” YSU head coach Doug Phillips said. “To see them come and put it together, that’s what you work for. That’s what you work for on Tuesday, that’s what you work for on Wednesday, that’s what you work for coming in on Friday in spiders. The speed we were able to practice with on Friday, I kind of had a good inkling — how you’re going to do depends on how well you prepare, and I thought our preparation this week was a step up.”

YSU sought significant improvement on the offensive side of the ball after last week’s lackluster showing against Mercyhurst, and junior quarterback Beau Brungard delivered.

Brungard ran for 264 yards and four touchdowns on 10 carries, setting the school and Missouri Valley Football Conference single-game records for rushing yards by a quarterback.

He averaged 26.4 yards per carry overall and had runs of 72 and 78 yards during the first half. His performance set the Stambaugh Stadium rushing record and ranked tied for third on YSU’s all-time single-game rushing list. He also became the fourth Penguins quarterback to run for four touchdowns in a game.

“It’s a great feeling when you can play like that and get a lead like that,” Brungard said. “I have the best O-line in front of me, the best receivers blocking and the best running backs blocking, as well. They just make my job easy, so all credit to them.”

YSU’s offense fired on all cylinders, as it finished with 593 total yards, including 424 rushing yards. Through the air, Brungard was 12-for-16 for 122 yards and a touchdown to Max Tomczak in the first quarter.

Redshirt freshman and Niles alum Antuan Garder had a 2-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter, and Flash Wilson had a 4-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Both of those scores were their first career touchdowns for the Penguins.

“We had guys that we knew we needed to get touches because you play with one football,” Phillips said. “You try to involve as many as you can, and I think we did that today.”

RMU drove down the field on the game’s opening possession, completing a series of passes for first downs before settling for a 46-yard field goal by Jayson Jenkins.

Those were the last points the Colonials would score against the Penguins’ first-team defense, however, as the unit settled in from that point.

Up until RMU’s two garbage-time touchdowns in the fourth quarter against the reserves, the Colonials managed just 114 total yards through three quarters.

“For us, it’s a turnover when the defense can get off the field in three-and-outs,” Phillips said. “We call them knockouts, and those knockouts are just as good as a fumble recovery or an interception. To see our guys answer on those three-and-outs, that’s what we’ve been working on.”

After Brungard’s 28-yard touchdown run on the opening drive of the second half, his fourth and final one of the afternoon, YSU had grown its lead to 49-3.

“Coming out of half, we challenged ourselves that we can’t just roll over,” Brungard said. “We have to prove to ourselves that we can come out of half with this lead and go down and score. And I was really happy with our offense for how we did that.”

That allowed the Penguins to empty the bench and get reps for second- and third-stringers, including a number of freshmen and redshirt-freshmen, which is something YSU hasn’t been able to do much of since early last season.

YSU played 44 total players, as backup quarterback and Austintown Fitch product Devin Sherwood came in for Brungard and immediately guided the Penguins down the field on a touchdown drive that ended with Tahir Mills running it in from 18 yards out for what would also be his first career score at YSU. Sherwood went 3-for-3 for 36 yards on the drive and finished 8-for-8 for 47 yards on the day.

“I don’t remember in a long time being able to play a lot of freshmen there in that fourth quarter,” Phillips said. “It was great to see we were able to get Devin Sherwood game reps, which he probably hasn’t had for a long time.

“You always go into those games planning for it to be a battle, and all of a sudden, it’s advantageous to you, and now in the second half, we can play some of that depth. We saw some freshmen defensive linemen playing, some freshmen linebackers, redshirt freshmen, and we haven’t been able to do that probably in the past two years.”

YSU now heads out on the road for the first time this season, as the Penguins are set to head up north to East Lansing to face Michigan State on Sept. 13 at 3:30 p.m.

Youngstown State 56, Robert Morris 17

AT Stambaugh Stadium

BY QUARTERS

RMU 3 0 0 14–17

YSU 14 28 14 0–56

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs: RMU: 14, YSU: 27; Rushes/Yards Rushing: RMU: 27-41, YSU: 36-424; Yards Passing: RMU: 192, YSU: 169; Comp-Att-Int: RMU: 16-29-0, YSU: 20-24-0; Penalties: RMU: 6-50, YSU: 4-44; Fumbles-Lost: RMU: 1-1, YSU: 0-0; Total Yards: RMU: 233, YSU: 593; Offensive Plays: RMU: 56, YSU: 60.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Passing: RMU: Zach Tanner 16-for-29 192 yds 2 TDs; YSU: Beau Brungard 12-for-16 122 yds TD

Rushing: RMU: Donta Whack 10 carries 37 yds; YSU: Beau Brungard 10 carries 264 yds 4 TDs

Receiving: RMU: Thomas Lee 5 rec. 75 yds TD; YSU: Max Tomczak 5 rec. 69 yds TD

Scoring summary

First quarter

RMU: Jenkins 46-yd FG (8:19) (0-3)

YSU: Tomczak 1-yd TD pass from Brungard (4:41) (7-3)

YSU: Brungard 72-yd TD run (3:03) (14-3)

Second quarter

YSU: Brungard 20-yd TD run (13:45) (21-3)

YSU: Gardner 2-yd TD run (9:37) (28-3)

YSU: Brungard 4-yd TD run (1:54) (35-3)

YSU: Wilson 4-yd TD run (0:12) (42-3)

Third quarter

YSU: Brungard 28-yd TD run (12:51) (49-3)

YSU: Mills 18-yd TD run (7:05) (56-3)

Fourth quarter

RMU: Lee 34-yd TD pass from Tanner (13:16) (56-10)

RMU: Holloway 16-yd TD pass from Tanner (1:29) (56-17)