Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU quarterback Beau Brungard (12) tries to elude Illinois State's Shadwel Nkuba II (1) on a run Saturday at Hancock Stadium in Normal, Illinois.

“Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum…”

That steady sound is the heartbeat of Youngstown State’s FCS playoff hopes, which are still very much alive after a thrilling road victory over a top-10 team on Saturday.

Coming off two straight losses, the Penguins raced out to a fast start and despite falling behind after that, exploded in the fourth quarter for a 40-35 victory over 10th-ranked Illinois State in Normal, Illinois.

“We talked about just thriving through adversity and sometimes that adversity brings you together,” head coach Doug Phillips said after the game by phone. “We knew we were going to have a connected football team. Those losses, you gotta trust the games you played in, trust your training, trust your preparation and trust your brothers. You’re playing for each other.

“I couldn’t be more proud. We knew we had to play four quarters against a good Illinois State team. Wind played a factor, and fortunately, we had that wind in the fourth quarter. Our guys made plays when we needed to make plays, and they didn’t stop. They didn’t flinch.”

Last week at North Dakota, the Penguins fell into a deep early hole and never recovered. That put starting fast at the forefront for YSU this week, and the team responded.

The Penguins jumped out to an early 12-0 lead thanks to two short field goals by Andrew Lastovka, an interception by Dayne Hodge and a 2-yard touchdown run by quarterback Beau Brungard that would serve to be a precursor for what would soon become a career afternoon.

However, the Redbirds — which have been hobbled by injuries that included losing their starting left tackle and their All-American leading receiver against the Penguins — answered with a pair of touchdown passes by quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse that gave Illinois State the 14-12 lead at halftime even after its slow start.

“We told our guys, you know how you felt at halftime. You were angry, you were mad. We felt regret. You can’t do that, so we gotta play from the get-go, especially when you’re on the road,” Phillips said. “We started the game, but guess what? They came back. Every good team in our league is going to respond and come back, and you gotta be ready for that.

“We said, don’t flinch. Don’t flinch if they come back. Don’t be surprised. Just keep fighting. Find a way. At halftime, one of our players stood up and said, ‘They may want this win, but we need this win.'”

Illinois State kept its momentum going in the second half, scoring in one play on a 37-yard touchdown pass after a long kickoff return that extended its lead.

With YSU teetering, the offense finally responded when Brungard hit receiver Mike Solomon in stride on a deep ball down the left sideline for a 36-yard touchdown to keep things tight.

By the end of the third quarter, the Penguins trailed 28-19 after Rittenhouse’s fourth touchdown pass of the afternoon.

From there, YSU flipped a switch, scoring 21 straight points to take control.

To start the fourth quarter, an 11-play drive ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from Brungard. Then on the ensuing drive, the defense came up with a much-needed takeaway, as DJ Harris picked off Rittenhouse on a long throw.

The big plays kept coming, as Brungard went deep again, this time to Fresh Walters for 53 yards and his first touchdown of the season. Finally, after a defensive stop, Brungard kept it himself, dashing untouched for a 48-yard touchdown that made it a two-score game.

“It’s just practice execution becomes game reality,” Phillips said. “Everything you saw in the fourth quarter we worked on all week. We knew the zone play that Beau was running could be a touchdown. We knew if they gave a certain blitz in our vertical route set, we were going to have a guy open and we can score a touchdown. Now it just comes down to executing that. That’s probably the greatest thing I saw today — our guys executed exactly what we prepared for all week.”

Illinois State scored once more on Rittenhouse’s fifth touchdown pass of the day, but YSU’s offense ran out the clock over the final three minutes to end the game.

Brungard accounted for a career-high 528 total yards, as the Penguins outgained the Redbirds 561-348. He completed 23-of-34 passes for two touchdowns, an interception and another career-high 328 passing yards. He also tacked on 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns on a career-high 30 carries.

“We don’t really look at (statistics). We just know he makes good decisions when he has the football,” Phillips said of Brungard’s performance. “For him, the most important stat is getting a win for the Penguins. All the other stuff, don’t really pay much attention to. But he’s hard to defend, certainly. (Illinois State) did a great job last year, but this is a whole new Beau and a whole new offense.”

Solomon also had his best performance of the season since joining YSU from Slippery Rock (Pa.) in the offseason, hauling in four catches for 77 yards and the touchdown.

The running backs, Jaden Gilbert and Ethan Wright, were also active in the pass game, combining for seven catches for 109 yards.

“Just to see our guys execute and make plays … I think we’ve still got a lot of work to do. But this is our guys realizing there’s more threats,” Phillips said. “It was just a team effort with everyone that touched the ball. It starts with the big guys up front picking up blitzes, because they’ve had great success with their blitz package, and we wanted to make sure we were prepared to face that.”

After four road games in the last six weeks, the Penguins finally return to Stambaugh Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m. for Homecoming against Murray State.

Youngstown State 40, No. 10 Illinois State 35

AT NORMAL, ILLINOIS

BY QUARTERS

YSU 6 6 7 21 — 40

ISU 0 14 14 7 — 35

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs: YSU: 27, ISU: 23; Rushes/Yards Rushing: YSU: 48-233, ISU: 28-142; Yards Passing: YSU: 328, ISU: 206; Comp-Att-Int: YSU: 23-34-1, ISU: 16-30-2; Penalties: YSU: 4-50, ISU: 4-30; Fumbles-Lost: YSU: 1-0, ISU: 0-0; Total Yards: YSU: 561, ISU: 348; Offensive Plays: YSU: 82, ISU: 58

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Passing: YSU: Beau Brungard 23-of-34 328 yds 2 TDs INT; ISU: Tommy Rittenhouse 16-of-29 206 yds 5 TDs 2 INTs

Rushing: YSU: Beau Brungard 30 carries 200 yds 3 TDs; ISU: Tommy Rittenhouse 10 carries 65 yds

Receiving: YSU: Ethan Wright 4 rec. 86 yds, Mike Solomon 4 rec. 77 yds TD; ISU: Luke Mailander 4 rec. 51 yds TD

Scoring summary

First quarter

YSU: Lastovka 32 field goal (3-0)

YSU: Lastovka 23 field goal (6-0)

Second quarter

YSU: Brungard 2 run (2-pt run failed) (12-0)

ISU: Charles 13 pass from Rittenhouse (Maldonado kick) (12-7)

ISU: Wright 12 pass from Rittenhouse (Maldonado kick) (12-14)

Third quarter

ISU: Kasper 37 pass from Rittenhouse (Maldonado kick) (12-21)

YSU: Solomon 36 pass from Brungard (Lastovka kick) (19-21)

ISU: Mailander 18 pass from Rittenhouse (Maldonado kick) (19-28)

Fourth quarter

YSU: Brungard 1 run (Lastovka kick) (26-28)

YSU: Walters 53 pass from Brungard (Lastovka kick) (33-28)

YSU: Brungard 48 run (Lastovka kick) (40-28)

ISU: Wright 3 pass from Rittenhouse (Maldonado kick) (40-35)