Penguins keeping steady through highs and lows
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YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown State football team has experienced both highs and lows this season.
They've been through the disappointment of losses to Kentucky and South Dakota State, and also the thrills of ranked wins over both South Dakota and Southern Illinois. But through it all, the Penguins have managed to remain steady and even-keeled.
"Every week, we have a 1-0 mentality," YSU right guard Van Keen said. "Coach Doug [Phillips] does a really good job of getting back into that mindset, not getting too high after a win, and not getting too low after a loss. So just being able to stay neutral and have the mindset to go 1-0 is really big."
Not only has YSU learned from its losses, but it has learned from its wins, as well.
In each of its losses, the Penguins struggled to both stop the run and run the ball. Since then, they've succeeded in both categories, rushing for an average of 263.5 yards per game, while allowing 142 rushing yards per game.
Then, in this past week's win over the Salukis, YSU's offense had issues consistently moving the ball for probably the first time this year.
In the first half, the Penguins scored just seven points, but they capitalized on a pair of takeaways in the second half to pull away and hold off SIU. Phillips said they learned a lot about themselves in the wake of that game.
"You're on this journey, and each week, the journey starts over," Phillips said. "The teaching doesn't stop whether you win or lose. You gotta use those on Monday mornings and get better. We're not going to sit here and show highlights, we're going to show where we need to get better as a football team, and improve upon it, so we can reach our full potential as a team."
The Penguins are coming off a stretch of playing three straight games over ranked opponents, and after picking up its first road victory of the season, YSU is getting ready to head back on the road again this weekend.
They'll look to continue their momentum at 1 p.m. (ESPN+/570 WKBN) on Saturday at Indiana State, as the Penguins try to win back-to-back road games for the first time in three years and start 3-1 in Missouri Valley Football Conference play for the first time since 2016.
"I have the utmost respect for [Indiana State head coach] Curt Mallory, as a player in his day and as a football coach," Phillips said. "I don't look for culture, culture's on film. When you watch those guys on film, they got a great culture, they got a brotherhood. You have guys that stay there that they're able to retain, and they play hard every play. ... My job is to focus our guys and make sure we have the mindset to be ready to play a tough road game on Saturday."
Across the FCS, four unranked teams have knocked off ranked teams in each of the past two weeks, including Northern Iowa defeating No. 3 Illinois State and No. 1 Montana State falling to winless Idaho.
So, YSU isn't overlooking the unranked Sycamores, especially since the Penguins have dropped two of their last three games in Terre Haute, Ind.
"We always say, never get too high, never get too low," YSU defensive end Ebony Curry Jr. said. "Somewhere in the middle is wise, and I really take that to heart because we can go in and beat Southern Illinois, a ranked team, and then go in and lose to Indiana State, and none of that really matters."
In their most recent trip in 2023, YSU led by a slim 12-7 margin in the fourth quarter, before sophomore Beau Brungard put the game away with a 37-yard touchdown run.
Then last year, the Penguins were locked in a shootout with Indiana State for a half, leading just 31-26 at halftime, before pulling away in the second half.
"This has always been a very heavily contested football game. The challenge is, we gotta go on the road again two weeks in a row," Phillips said. "We gotta have that focus. We gotta play with great detail, and we're working on that consistency. At times we see the team that we can become. The challenge is, can we get that team everyday?
"They're doing the same thing. They played a tough home game two weeks ago against UND. Then they go to the dome at South Dakota, so they're back home and they're gonna be ready, they're going to be prepared. They're smart football players, physical football players. So the mindset is you gotta go in and expect a 60-minute, physical football game."