Box Score
The Youngstown State Penguins football team fought hard to attempt an upset against No. 5 North Dakota State but was unsuccessful in a 49-17 decision on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.
YSU played three different quarterbacks in the game as starter Demeatric Crenshaw reaggravated his lower body injury and was replaced by Mitch Davidson. Davidson was injured late in the game and was replaced by third-string quarterback Joe Craycraft, who finished out the game.
The Penguins had 288 total yards of offense compared to the Bison's 623. The Bison had four scoring plays of at least 49 yards, rushed for 454 yards and passed for 169. YSU had 229 yards in the air and 59 yards on the ground.
Davidson passed for 166 yards and two touchdowns in just under two quarters of play. Tight end Andrew Ogletree completed five catches for 70 yards. Wide receiver Bryce Oliver scored the two Penguin touchdowns of the game.
Defensive back Tyjon Jones had eight tackles, and linebacker Griffin Hoak had six tackles and a sack.
For North Dakota State, running back TK Marshall rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown, and running back TaMerik Williams ran for 138 yards plus two touchdowns.
Late in the third quarter, the Penguins offense came alive with Davidson at quarterback. Right after a dreary start to the second half with two NDSU touchdowns and the Penguins down 35-3, YSU came up with a 77-yard drive for a touchdown.
Ogletree caught a 32-yard Davidson pass to get the Penguins in NDSU territory. Then Davidson found wide receiver C.J. Charleston for 41 yards to get YSU into the redzone. The Penguins finished off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Davidson to Oliver in the endzone with 1:04 left in the third quarter to make the score 35-10.
On the following drive, Hoak sacked NDSU's quarterback Quincy Patterson to force the Bison to punt. On the next possession, Davidson and Oliver connected on a 25-yard pass on third-and-26, and an NDSU penalty on fourth down kept the Penguins' drive alive. Oliver finished off the drive with a two-yard touchdown reception to make the score 35-17 with 10:19 left to go in the game.
NDSU finished off the game with two more touchdowns making the final score 49-17.
In the first half, NDSU scored on the first possession of the game as running back Hunter Luepke sprinted for a 49-yard touchdown to take the lead 7-0 with 11:45 left in the first quarter.
The Bison rushed for another touchdown with 10:52 left in the half as Williams ran it in from the one-yard line. YSU answered with a 44-yard field goal by kicker Colt McFadden, making the score 14-3 with 6:48 to play in the second quarter.
On the following drive, North Dakota State scored on its first play with a 71-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cam Miller to wide receiver Christian Watson with 6:29 to go in the half.
On YSU's next drive, Crenshaw left the game with an injury and was replaced by Davidson, who was sacked to force a YSU punt.
NDSU tried for a 48-yard field goal on its next possession but missed, giving YSU 1:03 left in the half to try to chip away at the Bison lead. YSU moved the ball into NDSU territory but wasn't able to come up with a score finishing the half down 21-3.
The Penguins will play their final game of the season on Saturday, November 20 as they travel to play Southern Illinois at Saluki Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Eastern.
