The No. 14 Youngstown State football team found the going tough on the road for the second straight Saturday, dropping its Missouri Valley Football Conference opener 40-7 to 21st-ranked South Dakota State at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium on Saturday night.

    The Penguins (0-2 overall and 0-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference) trailed 27-0 at halftime before finding some offensive momentum behind junior quarterback Brandon Summers in the second half.

    YSU scored on its first possession of the second half to get within 27-7 when Jabari Scott scored on a two-yard run. However, SDSU answered back two plays later on a 53-yard touchdown run by Kyle Minett to make the game 33-7. Tyler Duffy added a scoring run with 6:42 left in the game.

      Minett finished the game with 123 yards rushing and 65 yards receiving.

    The Jacks (1-1 and 1-0) seized control of the game early in the opening quarter.

    SDSU opened the game by scoring 10 points in the first eight minutes. On their first drive of the contest, SDSU moved inside the YSU five-yard line before the Penguins' defense held.

    SDSU kicker Peter Reifenrath booted a 20-yard field goal at the 11:30 mark to put the Jacks in front 3-0.

    YSU's first possession ended when Rowan overthrew Derrick Bush on a third-down attempt and was intercepted by Brock Campbell.

    The Jackrabbits capitalized five plays later when quarterback Ryan Berry scored on a one-yard scamper at the 7:05 mark.

    On the second play of the second quarter Berry lofted a 34-yard touchdown pass to JaRon Harris increasing the Jackrabbits' lead to 17-0.

    Later YSU quarterback Brandon Summers was sacked in the end zone for safety with 5:01 left in the second quarter.

    Minett added an eight-yard rushing touchdown with 1:37 left in the opening half to make the score 25-0. The Jackrabbits tacked on a two-point conversion on a run by Minett off an option play to make the score 27-0.
    In the first half, South Dakota State had 297 total yards, 243 through the air. YSU had 57 yards of total offense.

    After playing their first two games on the road, the Penguins finally play their home opener next Saturday against Central State. Kickoff at Stambaugh Stadium is set for 4 p.m.