YOUNGSTOWN — South Dakota State came together to show why Youngstown State is the No. 1 team in the FCS, the defending national champions and currently on a 24-game winning streak.
On Saturday afternoon, the Jackrabbits, led by a solid defense, shut out the Penguins 34-0, holding YSU to just 207 total yards.
This is the first time the Penguins have been held scoreless since last season at Kentucky, and the first time they have been held scoreless at home since Illinois State in October 2017.
“They kicked our butt every step of the way, and that starts with the coaching.” said head coach Doug Phillips. “If you want to point fingers, you can point fingers at me. But they beat us in every aspect, coaching, special teams, defense, offense — and that’s why they won 24 straight games. That’s why we’re here. That’s what it is. We haven’t had that kind of devastation in the last few years, so it’s really humbling. We know what that looks like and we’re going to get to work tomorrow and we’re going to have to do something like that. We will continue to work and build to look like this.”
Even when YSU started attacking and stringing together chunk plays and first downs, it couldn’t finish or sustain those drives against the Jackrabbits’ vaunted defense.
The Penguins moved the ball into the red zone three times, but nothing came of it each time. SDSU, on the other hand, went 4-for-4 in the red zone. The Jackrabbits led the nation in red zone efficiency at 97.1%.
In its first red zone outing, YSU drove 63 yards in 13 plays before stalling and settling for a 29-yard field goal. However, the Jackrabbits blocked the field goal and turned around near midfield. SDSU then turned the possession into a field goal of its own just before halftime.
YSU’s second venture into the red zone came shortly after the Jackrabbits started the second half with a 56-yard touchdown pass from Mark Gronowski to Jadon Janke. The Penguins drove 70 yards in 11 plays, but stalled at the SDSU 11-yard line and turned the ball over on downs.
When YSU entered the red zone for the third time, the Penguins drove 82 yards before turning the ball over again on downs.
“Defensively, the front line is big (and) difficult to move.” Phillips said. “They really close the gap and have fluid linebackers. As for their secondary, they have 15 interceptions in 10 games now. So they’re doing a great job — well-coached. And it’s fundamentally sound. Again, I applaud them and respect them. They’ve taken the time to build this. It’s the defending national champions, but… There’s a reason why. It shows us there are certain areas we have to improve.”
Normally, YSU focuses on the run game and tries to establish a ground attack for the offense to get into rhythm, but the Jackrabbits took that away completely, holding the Penguins’ total rushing yards to just 47 yards on 25 carries. I kept it to.
YSU’s passing offense didn’t fare much better, with QB Mitch Davidson hitting 18-of-30 for 160 yards and one interception.
“We didn’t come out to play as an offense.” Davidson said. “When they give us the ball, we have to be able to complete the ball downfield. To run the football, we have to establish a run game. We have to be able to make mistakes. You have to make sure you don’t commit and that wasn’t the case today. We knew all week that if we didn’t take care of our football they were going to take advantage of it, but they He did that.”
On a drive that ended in a blocked field goal before halftime, the Penguins thought they had a 40-yard touchdown connected early in the series, but the play was called off by the referees to confirm a previous targeting call just before the snap. Play disabled.
“I was throwing the ball in the middle of a play and I heard the whistle. But that’s out of my control as a player.” Davidson said. “For me, the next play is the most important, and for us we didn’t go down and we didn’t finish the drive. If we score there, it’s a ball game. But at the end of the day, it’s already over, so it’s It doesn’t matter. … It’s the (officials’) call, they made the call, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Currently, the Penguins are in a similar situation to last season regarding the FCS playoff bubble. YSU is currently 6-4 with one regular season game remaining next week against Murray State.
If they win, the Penguins will match last season’s record with 7 wins and 4 losses. But the difference this year is that YSU will get a ranked win in the restart, his 31-3 victory over Southern Illinois on Oct. 7.
“That (Murray State) game is going to be a very important game.” Phillips said. “I always say it depends on how it ends, but we’re going to find a way to get this team back up and finish strong. We’ve got to finish the practice field, we’ve got to finish the meetings. Missouri. It’s not easy going down the Valley path, but we’ll be worried about that (Sunday). We’re humbled today. Like us, you’ll have a hard time, and we’re definitely We’ll learn from it and get better.”
nmadhavan@tribtoday.com