Despite outgaining Youngstown State 364-191 in total offense, six turnovers proved costly for Illinois State as the Redbirds fell to the Penguins 14-12 in Gateway Conference action from Hancock Stadium Saturday.
The Redbirds, 1-4 and 0-2, committed two fumbles and senior quarterback Kevin Glenn notched four interceptions on the day as YSU capitalized on Illinois States mistakes to remain undefeated this season, 4-0 and 2-0.
The Penguins got on the board first, with a nine-yard pass from Colby Street to John Schumacher for the touchdown at the 2:59 mark of the first period. Two minutes later, Walter James rushed for a six-yard run to give the Redbirds their only touchdown of the game. Youngstown State held the lead though after a missed extra-point attempt by Jake Strader kept the Birds behind, 7-6.
Scoring in the second period was slim for the Redbirds and none for Youngstown State as Jake Strader connected on two field goals in the last four minutes to give Illinois State a 12-7 halftime lead.
After the break, the Penguins came out in full force as quarterback Jeff Ryan passed to Eric Lockhart who danced into the endzone on a one-yard pass and gave Youngstown State its second TD. The extra point was good by Jake Stewart and that was all YSU needed en route to a 14-12 victory on the road in front of 11,938 fans in Normal.
Ryan was 3-for-13 with one interception while Street went 3-for-10. Together, the YSU offense passed for 61 yards and rushed 151 while Glenn was 15-for-40 with 185 passing yards for the Redbirds. Walter James rushed for 108 yards on 17 carries and Justin Frierson led the Illinois State receivers with six catches for 59 yards.
Illinois State plays at Indiana State next Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in Terre Haute, Ind., before coming home to finish the season with four out of five games at Hancock Stadium.
