Gameday: South Dakota State heads to Youngstown State for Top 20 clash

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (4-1) AT YOUNGSTOWN STATE (4-1)

WHEN/WHERE: 5 p.m. Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown, Ohio

TV: MyUTV

RADIO: WNAX-AM 570; KELO-FM 107.9

COACHES: SDSU – John Stiegelmeier (23rd year, 162-101); YSU – Bo Pelini (5th year, 31-23)

SERIES: SDSU leads 13-7

LAST TIME: SDSU won 36-7 last year in Brookings

LAST WEEK: SDSU beat Southern Illinois 28-10; YSU lost 21-14 to Northern Iowa

RANKINGS: SDSU is ranked No. 3; YSU is No. 17

BROOKINGS – For the Jacksrabbits that were on the last trip, the memories of Stambaugh Stadium are not fond ones.

South Dakota State last traveled to Ohio to take on Youngstown State in 2017. It was the conference opener, the Jacks were ranked fourth in the country and had hopes as high as they ever had, coming off their first Missouri Valley Football Conference title and with a loaded group that included seniors Dallas Goedert and Jake Wieneke and junior quarterback Taryn Christion.

The Penguins shut them down, holding over 45 minutes of possession and pushing the Jacks around in a 19-7 win. YSU outgained SDSU 448-222 and ran 83 offensive snaps to just 37 for the Jacks. It was ugly, and SDSU’s seniors remember as the third-ranked Jacks get set to challenge the 17th-ranked Penguins.

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“Our first priority is ball security, that takes care of a lot of those problems,” said fullback Luke Sellers. “We’ve got to stay on the field, let our defense rest and not give (YSU) extra chances. We can’t have our defense on the field the whole game like we did last time. No defense is going to be effective when they have to play that long.”

The bad news for SDSU (4-1) is this Penguins team looks better than the one they faced two years ago. They’re 4-1, rolling to four straight blowout wins in non-conference play before falling in a tense 21-14 setback at No. 10 Northern Iowa last week. And they have the same kind of physical, ball-control offense that kept Christion, Goedert and Wieneke off the field two years ago.

The Penguins average 38 points per game thanks in large part to their running game, which has produced 248 yards per game and 5.7 yards per carry. Joe Alessi and Braxton Chapman have been a dangerous 1-2 punch in the backfield, with both averaging around seven yards per carry. Quarterback Nathan Mays has been in on the act, too, though he’s questionable to play this week. That would be a blow to the Penguins, as Mays is not only the team’s second leading rusher, but has completed 65 percent of his throws with seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Jeremiah Braswell has been a top target, averaging over 20 yards per catch with three touchdowns.

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The Jacks dominated the Penguins last year in Brookings, but the loss in their last trip to Ohio still lingers. This year’s SDSU defense is an improved one, though, and they aim to show that.

“We just couldn’t get off the field the last time we played them (in Youngstown) and at some point I feel like we started to feel sorry for ourselves,” said defensive end Ryan Earith. “Nobody quit, but things just didn’t go our way that night. We have to make sure we don’t let ourselves get in that position again. We want to be the most physical team out there every time we take the field. We know they’re gonna come out and try to run it down our throats but if we can make them one dimensional we’ll be set.”

SDSU’s offense, meanwhile, will hope to pick up where it left off in the second half of last week’s win over Southern Illinois. Pierre Strong rushed for 229 yards and J’Bore Gibbs threw three touchdown passes, but coach Bo Pelini’s defense will probably be the toughest the Jacks have faced since the season opener at Minnesota.

The Penguins allow 19 points and 303 yards per game and have 14 sacks, led by Justus Reed’s five and Ma’lik Richmond’s four.