Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU's Jaden Gilbert scores on a 1-yard touchdown run during the second quarter of the Penguins' 41-24 loss Michigan State on Saturday at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich.

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Youngstown State got what it wanted out of its first road trip of the season on Saturday at Michigan State.

While the Penguins fell to the Big Ten foe 41-24, YSU put together a valiant performance, giving the Spartans a fight in East Lansing.

“I am proud of our kids because they kept fighting back, no matter what lead they built,” YSU head coach Doug Phillips said. “We fought back, and I think we’ve seen a lot of growth in this team in Week 3. We’re going to look at the film, we’re going to evaluate it and we’re going to see a lot of areas we can get a lot better at as we get closer to league play.”

There’s “no moral victories” for the Penguins, however, according to Phillips.

But the Penguins came away feeling like the opportunity to play in front of a hostile environment of more than 71,000 fans will help them when they start making their long road trips in Missouri Valley Football Conference play.

“We haven’t had tremendous success on the road, so I thought our kids were focused and they were locked in,” Phillips said. “I think they’re disappointed. They’re probably going to look back and say — we could have made this tackle or we had them here or we had them there. There’s no regrets because you don’t get those back. But the effort and attitude were there, and that’s what I’m most proud of.”

On YSU’s opening drive, the Penguins ran two “trick” plays that they hadn’t yet unveiled through the first two games.

The first was a double pass to Fresh Walters that was thrown away with no one open downfield. The second came three plays later on a double-reverse back to Brungard, who then hit tight end Alex McDonald for 23 yards down the right sideline.

However, the drive eventually stalled out in the red zone, and the Penguins settled for a 28-yard field goal from Andrew Lastovka for their first points of the afternoon.

After falling behind 14-3 on Michigan State’s second 80-plus yard touchdown drive, YSU struck back.

Jaden Gilbert found a hole in the right side of the offensive line and burst through it for 66 yards, breaking two tackles in the secondary all the way down to the 1-yard line. It was YSU’s longest run by a running back so far this season.

Gilbert punched it into the end zone two plays later for the Penguins’ first touchdown.

“It feels great knowing that I got the ability to make a big play and change the turn out of the game,” Gilbert said. “It feels amazing. It’s unexplained. I can’t even explain it. But I just try to be as unselfish as possible. It’s the whole team, we all can make plays.”

After forcing a turnover on downs with just over three minutes till halftime, the Penguins had a chance to either chip away at their deficit or retake the lead before the break.

YSU crossed midfield and drove into Spartans territory, but MSU’s Armorion Smith baited Brungard into a throw and jumped the route for an interception. It was Brungard’s first pick and the Penguins’ first turnover of the season.

With 1:14 till halftime, Michigan State went 70 yards all the way to the 1-yard line, but had to settle for a 24-yard field goal as time expired due to a false start on an attempted clock play. At the break, the Penguins trailed 17-10.

“We came into the game knowing it’s about execution and you can’t make mistakes,” Phillips said. “One really big one was right before half. We got the ball, we’re moving and we throw an interception right there. The defense answered and held them to three points. But those are the things that come back to hurt you in the long run.”

In the second half, the Spartans scored two quick touchdowns to extend their lead, as the secondary continues to be an Achilles’ heel for YSU’s defense.

For the second time in three games, the Penguins gave up more than 250 passing yards.

With the lack of pressure from the Penguins’ front-seven, Spartans quarterback Aidan Chiles had plenty of time in the pocket and picked apart YSU for 270 yards and a touchdown. He also added 76 yards rushing, which mostly came on scrambles.

“We knew he was going to make some plays,” said linebacker Preston Zandier, who led the Penguins with 11 tackles. “He’s a ball player. Offenses are going to score points, and it’s all about how you respond. Just getting to the next play when anything broke down, just sticking together and getting to our next play, next call, and not letting it affect our next play. … It’s going to happen in the game of football, so it’s all about our response.”

Brungard bounced back from his first half interception and marshalled an 80-yard drive to get the Penguins back in the end zone again.

He completed all five of his passes for 76 yards on the drive, including a 3-yard touchdown to RK Dandridge on fourth-and-goal.

YSU had a chance to again chip into MSU’s lead after Carston Marshall tipped a Chiles pass into the hands of Cameron Cunningham for an interception. But the Penguins went three-and-out and Lastovka missed a 37-yard field goal.

“That’s where you gotta strike. You want to get back in the football game, you gotta strike there and we didn’t,” Phillips said. “When we talk about complementary football, those are things that we learn from.”

The Penguins added one more score in the final minutes when Brungard hit Kylon Wilson on a screen and he broke a couple tackles en route to a 19-yard touchdown.

After the interception in the first half, Brungard maintained his composure in the pass game in the second half. He threw for 176 of his 242 yards after halftime, including both his touchdown passes, and he had completions to nine different players.

“He does so much,” Phillips said. “A lot of people probably get on him about (how) he runs a lot and he has a lot of rushing yards, but he can throw the football. For us to be a great offense — we got a lot of new receivers and we’re trying to get them all involved, and we’re making that adjustment each week. … We feel we have different guys, and we gotta get their hands on the football, and that starts with our quarterback being able to spread the ball around. I thought he did that today.”