Youngstown State Goes up 28-0 and Holds Off a Northern Iowa Rally
Youngstown State led 28-0 in the second quarter, and Northern Iowa scored 22 of the next 29 points anyway. It was not enough. The Penguins won 35-22 and moved to 6-1.
The first score came 12 seconds in, when Donald Barksdale returned the opening kickoff 93 yards. Antuan Gardner ran in from two yards, Beau Brungard threw 42 yards to Lynn Wyche-El and ran in from a yard out, and that was 28-0 with 7:24 left in the half. Northern Iowa finally got on the board when Jaxon Dailey hit Kai Black from 24 yards with 56 seconds left in the second quarter.
The comeback was real, if late. Dailey threw 16 yards to Brady McCullough early in the third (the extra point was blocked), and Max Bartachek kicked a 45-yard field goal to make it 28-16 going into the fourth. Brungard answered with a 16-yard touchdown to Bryan Hunt at the start of the fourth. Dailey's 17-yarder to Ayden Price with 3:59 to go (the two-point pass failed) was the last score.
Northern Iowa threw for 318 yards and ran for just 53 on 23 carries, with no turnovers. Youngstown State threw for 240 and ran for 182, also without a turnover, and had three sacks. Brungard was 23 of 27, which is hard to argue with.
Youngstown State is 6-1. Northern Iowa is 3-2. Brungard (35.6) and Dailey (31, with three touchdown passes) were the top two fantasy scorers.