Youngstown State concludes regular season at Murray State

YOUNGSTOWN -- Last year at this time, Youngstown State was coming off its longest winning streak of the season before dropping its penultimate game.

YSU then ended the regular season with a victory to finish 7-4 overall and 5-3 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, thus leaving its postseason fate in the hands of the FCS playoff committee.

Sound familiar?

With one game remaining this Saturday at MVFC-newcomer Murray State (ESPN+ / 570 WKBN), the Penguins find themselves in an almost identical position to last year.

Should YSU handle its business this weekend, which is never a guarantee on the road in the MVFC, they would end the regular season with the same overall and conference records.

"I'll use another Winston Churchill quote because I love Winston Churchill, 'Success is not final and failure is not fatal. It's the courage to go on,'" head coach Doug Phillips said. "We've seen some failure this year, but we've lost to two No. 1 teams in the country, FBS and FCS. Lost two games by three points (each). We've had our highs and lows, and we gotta bounce back.

"We have the opportunity to (bounce back) after the way we played (against South Dakota State) because we didn't play well enough -- we know that. So to get back on the field, and get back to who we are, that's what you want to do after a loss. ... We just want to get back on the field and play football."

This year, YSU argues that it's both a better team and boasts a better resume for the committee -- one that it thinks is worthy of being included in the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2016.

"For us, I think the resume speaks for itself," Phillips said.

The Penguins have a ranked win this season, their 31-3 trouncing of Southern Illinois back on Oct. 7, something they didn't have last year. YSU also has a victory against another bubble team, Illinois State.

It also doesn't hurt that YSU plays in the MVFC, regarded as the best and toughest conference in the FCS. The Penguins' strength of schedule ranks eighth in the country, according to the Massey Ratings.

"I think, first off, we're a better team than we were last year -- more experienced," center Aidan Parker said. "Then, in terms of resume, we have a big win over Southern Illinois. I know the conference, ranking-wise, has a lot more teams in the top-25 this year than last year, so I think that goes into it. But I don't know how the committee makes those decisions. All I know is we can go out and do our jobs on Saturday and make them consider us and put ourselves in the picture, and then whatever happens, happens."

But, remove YSU's FBS game against Ohio State, and its nonconference schedule is weak. Valparaiso and Robert Morris are only a combined 7-13. In the pair of three-point road losses to ranked foes Northern Iowa and South Dakota, the Penguins had chances to come out on top in each of those games, but they couldn't take advantage.

"Obviously, South Dakota and UNI, we didn't pull out those wins, but those are two really good teams," Parker said. "Throughout the season, they showed that. We came up just short, just three points in each of those games. Obviously South Dakota State was a tough pill to swallow, but we took care of business against Southern Illinois. We've shown what we can do. ... We know at the end of the day who we are and how good of a team we are. We get in those playoffs and anything can happen. We start to put it all together, we're going to be a really scary team."

Still, to give itself a better chance of getting in, YSU might need some help elsewhere this weekend.

Two key conference games this weekend that could play a role in deciding YSU's fate are Illinois State at North Dakota and North Dakota State at Northern Iowa.

The Redbirds beating the Fighting Hawks and the Panthers downing the Bison would be favorable results for YSU because it would lift the Penguins ahead of both Dakota teams in the final MVFC standings. Currently, YSU, Illinois State, North Dakota and North Dakota State are all tied for fourth in the conference at 4-3.

"All I know is there's a lot of teams fighting to be 5-3 in this league and finish third or fourth in this league," Phillips said. "That's the goal. Get five league wins, get seven (total) wins, and let the chips fall wherever they do."

Other bubble teams in other conferences picking up another loss this weekend would help YSU, as well.

It's all moot though, unless the Penguins take care of a feisty Racers team on Saturday.

"The people that haven't watched film on Murray State don't realize it's a 10-3 game against Southern Illinois on the one-yard line with two minutes to go in the half. Southern Illinois stops them and gets a turnover. Instead of a 10-10 game, Southern Illinois opens it up a little bit in the third and fourth quarter," Phillips said. "Or the North Dakota game where it's 38-31 and (Murray State) is onside kicking. When you watch film in our league, you can't look at the final scores. You gotta look at the battle from start to finish, and Murray State was in all those games."

nmadhavan@tribtoday.com