Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU redshirt freshman defensive lineman Nick Bowser (52) celebrates after recording a QB hurry that forced a turnover on downs for the Penguins' defense in the fourth quarter against Southern Illinois on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.

YOUNGSTOWN — For a half, it seemed like nothing would go Youngstown State’s way on Saturday.

The 21st-ranked Penguins had some untimely penalties, an uncharacteristic turnover, several replay reviews that went against them, as well as the ball literally not bouncing their way on multiple occasions.

Momentum was seemingly swinging in one direction, as Southern Illinois raced out to a big lead in the first half. But YSU has proven its resiliency on several occasions this season and Saturday was no different.

Faced with a 17-point deficit, the Penguins scored 28 straight points against the Salukis and kept their foot on the throttle in the second half to pull out a 48-38 victory against No. 15 Southern Illinois at Stambaugh Stadium.

“Never worried whether we can come back because I felt offensively, we can put some points on the board real quick,” head coach Doug Phillips said. “For our young men, we just said, ‘we got 30 minutes, we gotta look at each other and say, we’re not going to let each other down.’ We don’t want any regrets. I thought our young men came out in the second half and really executed.”

Southern Illinois jumped out to its 24-7 lead in the first half behind the play of quarterback DJ Williams.

The Penguins looked a step slow in the secondary at the start of the game, and Williams took advantage, delivering big play after big play to open receivers downfield. By halftime, he had already thrown for 246 yards and two touchdowns.

“Defensively, I felt our guys were a little slow there in the first half,” Phillips said. “I’m looking in their eyes, and we really had to go in and say, let’s play our type of football. We’re making mistakes that we normally haven’t made — simple mistakes of eye discipline.”

But YSU limited his effectiveness in the second half. Instead of being a step behind in pass coverage, the Penguins had a handful of pass breakups downfield that allowed the defense to pick up stops and get off the field. Williams finished 23-for-42 for 361 yards and three touchdowns.

“Came out after half and I thought our defense was quite lights out there,” Phillips said. “I think it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that they were able to score a couple. But one of those things is we’re going to keep growing.”

All season long, the Penguins have sought after a breakout performance from their running backs in order to complement quarterback Beau Brungard in the ground game.

Jaden Gilbert had a career day with 149 rushing yards on nine carries, a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown. He had runs of 53 and 40 yards, while averaging 16.6 yards per carry.

“I’m really just doing what I can whenever I get the chance to make a play,” Gilbert said. “It was a great day today, and I took advantage of the opportunities. … Shout out to the O-line. We worked all week, and shout out to them boys getting me to the second level.”

Brungard continued his breakout season with 345 passing yards and four passing touchdowns, to go along with 104 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He led YSU’s offense to a season-high 648 total yards of offense, which included 303 rushing yards.

With the defense battling injuries at several key positions, especially along the defensive line, the Penguins had to rely on some younger players throughout the day.

Redshirt freshmen Andrew Jackson-Dunaway, Nick Bowser and Devaughn Perkins, as well as true freshman Michael Wright Jr. all recorded snaps along the defensive front.

“It’s always the next-guy mentality. Every guy is going hard in practice. If you’re not with the starters, you’re going up against our offensive starters, so you’re getting live looks against the guys that are playing on Saturday,” Bowser said after finishing with three tackles. “That’s what I’ve been doing for the last nine weeks of the season, and it’s really helped me get ready for it when my number gets called. Thankfully that was today, and I just went out there and did what I could.”

Bowser, a Hubbard native, made the biggest contribution of the group, and it helped the Penguins close out the Salukis in the fourth quarter.

With SIU down 12 and facing fourth-and-4 in YSU territory with eight minutes left, Bowser rushed Williams into an incomplete pass that resulted in a turnover on downs. YSU’s offense scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive to put the Salukis away.

“I’ve been coming to YSU games since I was 5-years old, and to finally be able to play really is just a surreal moment for me,” Bowser said. “I’ve been dreaming about this moment since I was a little kid. Every kid wants to play Division I football, and getting to do it in pretty much my backyard with my whole family and my friends watching, it’s a surreal moment for real.”

YSU now sits at 6-4 overall and 3-3 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with two games left — Nov. 15 at home against Indiana State and Nov. 22 at the UNI Dome at Northern Iowa.

Win out and the Penguins are in a favorable position for an FCS playoff berth with eight wins.

“What’s everyone saying? ‘Oh coach, you’re so close. You’re almost, you’re almost there.’ We’re tired of that,” Phillips said. “We gotta get results. We gotta win football games. And I was happy today that we found a way with resilience, persistence and toughness that we were able to come back and get a hard-fought Missouri Valley Football Conference win against a team that’s ranked. We need ranked wins. But we got a lot of areas we gotta clean up and get better at as we move into next week.”

No. 21 Youngstown State 48, No. 15 Southern Illinois

AT STAMBAUGH STADIUM

BY QUARTERS

SIU 17 7 0 14 — 38

YSU 7 7 21 13 — 48

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs: SIU: 25, YSU 29; Rushes/Yards Rushing: SIU: 29-176, YSU: 35-303; Yards Passing: SIU: 361, YSU: 345; Comp-Att-Int: SIU: 23-42-0, YSU: 26-35-0; Penalties: SIU: 7-55, YSU: 7-70; Fumbles-Lost: SIU: 2-0, YSU: 2-1; Total Yards: SIU: 537, YSU: 648; Offensive Plays: SIU: 71, YSU: 70

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Passing: SIU: DJ Williams 23-for-42 361 yds 3 TDs; YSU: Beau Brungard 26-for-35 345 yds 4 TDs

Rushing: SIU: Eddie Robinson 11 carries 85 yds; YSU: Jaden Gilbert 9 carries 149 yds TD

Receiving: SIU: Ryan Schwenderman 5 rec. 96 yds; YSU: Kylon Wilson 7 rec. 63 yds 2 TDs, Luke Hensley 4 rec. 70 yds

Scoring summary

First quarter

SIU: Robinson 12 pass from Williams (Geelen kick) (14:08) (0-7)

YSU: Wilson 12 pass from Brungard (Lastovka kick) (11:09) (7-7)

SIU: Geelen 36 field goal (9:03) (7-10)

SIU: Williams 1 run (4:08) (7-17)

Second quarter

SIU: Davis III 23 pass from Williams (10:47) (7-24)

YSU: Brungard 5 run (Lastovka kick) (8:05) (14-24)

Third quarter

YSU: Wilson 17 pass from Brungard (11:41) (21-24)

YSU: Wright 19 pass from Brungard (7:56) (28-24)

YSU: Gilbert 40 run (3:02) (35-24)

Fourth quarter

SIU: Marshall 2 pass from Williams (2-pt pass failed) (12:36) (35-30)

YSU: Brungard 17 run (Lastovka kick) (10:25) (42-30)

YSU: Gilbert 13 pass from Brungard (Lastovka kick missed) (1:51) (48-30)

SIU: Wash 3 run (2-pt pass complete) (0:35) (48-38)