Correspondent photo / Robert HayesYoungstown State tailback Dra Rushton scores the second of his two touchdowns against Robert Morris on Sept. 16. The Penguins visit Northern Iowa on Saturday to begin their Missouri Valley slate.
YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State’s off week served as a transitional bridge from nonconference play to the start of the Missouri Valley Football Conference slate, and now the Penguins kick off seven straight games in the toughest conference in the FCS.
It all starts Saturday at 2 p.m. (ESPN+/MyYTV/570 WKBN) at the UNI-Dome, as YSU (2-1) travels to Cedar Falls to face Northern Iowa (1-2).
“Every game is important, but this is what you work for. We don’t work for the nonleague, the nonleague games, we kind of figure out who you are,” head coach Doug Phillips said Tuesday. “Pressure is a privilege, and so I hope our kids feel pressure because there’s expectations from their teammates and their coaching staff. For me, every Saturday is going to be a pressure-packed game. We take that as a privilege, and you have to thrive in those situations.”
YSU’s struggles at Northern Iowa are well-chronicled, as the Penguins haven’t beaten the Panthers since 2018 and haven’t won at the UNI-Dome since 1999. UNI owns a 25-9 record all-time against the Penguins.
Phillips was candid about YSU’s struggles in Cedar Falls and said that it’s something the coaching staff has addressed with the team.
“That tells you it’s a difficult place to go play,” Phillips said. “I’m sure there’s been games where YSU had the opportunity to win and didn’t finish.”
With a blank slate, the start of MVFC play offers YSU the chance to rewrite the narrative on the team. The Penguins were a game shy of earning an FCS playoff bid last year, and it didn’t help that the team got off to an 0-2 start in conference play a year ago.
Getting off to a strong start in the conference will be pivotal for YSU’s postseason hopes, and it starts this weekend with the Panthers.
“I think we’re going to turn a lot of heads in conference play this year,” said junior cornerback Troy Jakubec. “We’re looking forward to rewriting what people think of us. …The main thing is, we just have to play to our ability and play up to our standard. If we play up to our standard, we can do big things in this conference.”
The Penguins used the off week as an opportunity to get healthy for conference play, but they also focused on eliminating mistakes and reducing self-inflicted errors, such as penalties, according to senior running back Dra Rushton.
Through three games, YSU has been one of the most heavily penalized teams in the FCS. The Penguins are averaging 8.67 penalties per game, which is tied for 113th out of 122 FCS teams in the country.
“We hurt ourselves a lot in those first three games,” Rushton said. “We want to go in there and be focused and not hurt ourselves.”
Phillips noted the growth and maturity that he’s seen from the Penguins already through three games, but realizes that they need to eliminate the penalties going forward.
“I want our kids to play as fast and aggressive as they possibly can, but penalties can come back to kill you,” Phillips said. “I think it was NC State and Virginia (this past weekend) — talk about an ugly game of penalties. Penalties take you away from winning, and in this league, discipline is what wins you games against those teams — Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, North Dakota.”
Like YSU, the Panthers are also coming off a bye week. But, Northern Iowa is 1-2 through its first three games. The Panthers opened their season with defeats to Iowa State and a top-15 Weber State team before getting their first win of the season Sept. 16 at Idaho State.
Panthers head coach Mark Farley is currently in his 23rd season leading UNI, and is coming off his 175th career victory.
“He’s a great coach with a great program,” Phillips said. “They win. They send guys to the NFL. They’re a developmental program, so they know how to get guys, get them big and get them strong.”
Northern Iowa is led under center by 2022 First Team All-MVFC and 2023 Preseason All-American quarterback Theo Day, who is coming off a career-best performance against Idaho State, in which he threw for 388 yards and two touchdowns. He’s also fifth in the country in passing yards per game (288), which is also the second-best mark in the MVFC.
“He can make every throw — he can flick the wrist from one hash and hit a guy over the shoulder,” Phillips said. “He reminds (you) of (former quarterback) Will Levis from Kentucky, where you’ve got great coverage on him and you’re running side-by-side and that ball just comes right to the open shoulder. He’s a pocket guy, but he can get out and he can run. But he wants to throw the ball downfield and they have great receivers.”
nmadhavan@tribtoday.com
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