Youngstown, Ohio — The baby steps are getting less wobbly as every week goes by for the Indiana State football team, but the Sycamores still haven’t learned to walk yet.
A week after ISU went toe to toe with North Dakota State for a half, the Sycamores were within striking range of Youngstown State in the fourth quarter before the Penguins pulled away for a 35-21 victory on Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium.
While the performance was another step in a competitive direction for the Sycamores, ISU’s players and coaches weren’t in the frame of mind to crow about progress without the ultimate payoff — a victory. ISU (0-10, 0-6) lost its 24th game in a row, the nation’s longest losing streak, and the prevailing mood was that ISU let a win slip away.
“It isn’t going as fast as we’d like it to go, but it’s coming. We just have to pull together to make it happen,” ISU safety Donye McCleskey said. “Honestly, though, knowing this team, we’re not encouraged. We feel like we can win with this team. We beat ourselves with some of the mistakes we make.”
ISU coach Trent Miles felt for his players who keep getting closer and closer to an elusive win without the payoff.
“It’s progress, but it’s not where we want to be. Those kids hurt. It’s really hard on them. They don’t want to lose, no one wants to lose,” Miles said. “It’s a hurtful learning experience for the kids and coaches for the last 10 games.”
ISU rushed for 182 yards, its second-best effort of the season and best in a Missouri Valley Football Conference game. Darrius Gates ran for 110 yards, the first ISU 100-yard rusher since 2006.
“It’s getting closer [for the team] because we’re focusing more. We’re concentrating on execution, we’re trying to not be satisfied with how good we’re doing when we’re doing good. We’re getting closer and closer and it’s encouraging because we’re showing we can play with anybody,” Gates said.
ISU’s defense had its moments against the Penguins, but YSU (3-8, 2-5) ultimately rolled up 415 total yards. ISU has allowed more than 400 total yards in all but one of its conference games.
“We give up too many first downs. We can’t get ourselves off the field,” McCleskey said.
Despite all of that, ISU was in control most of the first half against YSU. The Sycamores led 21-7 midway through the second quarter, only the second time ISU has reached double-figure points in a game this season, much less a half.
It didn’t start out well. YSU took a 7-0 lead on a Ben Lane 2-yard touchdown run as the Penguins had their way running the ball against the ISU defense.
But just as it did a week ago against NDSU, ISU was able to answer with a good drive of its own. Gates got a lot of mileage when he went up the middle and cut to the sideline, as YSU’s injury-plagued defense had trouble catching Gates on the outside. Quarterback Ryan Roberts scored on a 1-yard run to tie the game as ISU gained all 69 of its yards on the drive on the ground.
“The line was doing an excellent job. They had to change what they were doing [defensively] because we made them change it,” Gates said.
ISU stopped YSU on its next two drives to take momentum away from the befuddled Penguins. The momentum change became a full-on surge when Gates broke a 53-yard run to put ISU inside the 5-yard line. Roberts followed left tackle Matt Duke into the end zone on the next play to put ISU up 14-7, only its second lead in a conference game this season.
It would get even better for the Sycamores. YSU running back Kamryn Keys fumbled at the YSU 47-yard line after a hit by Jayden Everett. McCleskey swooped in on the loose ball and there were no Penguins to stop him from scoring a 47-yard touchdown. ISU had a 21-7 lead with 10 minutes to go in the first half.
“We definitely felt at that point we were going to win the game, we just had to keep pushing, but they came out, they didn’t lay down, they didn’t let our momentum get to them. They came back out got themselves back in the game,” McCleskey said.
ISU held sway for a few more possessions before YSU got its bearings. The Penguins closed the half with a 10-yard Donald Jones touchdown catch with 4:32 left in the half and a key 5-yard Dana Brown touchdown run with 31 seconds left to go before the break to force a halftime tie.
For the second week in a row, ISU didn’t have much to offer in response after halftime, though ISU stayed within one possession of YSU into the fourth quarter. YSU’s defense was far more aggressive in the second half, blitzing more often, and the Sycamores were back on their heels as a result. ISU gained 76 of its 238 total yards in the second half and only got in YSU territory on two of its six second-half drives. Overall, ISU rushing-passing yardage split was 184-54 in favor of the run.
“In the second half, it becomes dial-a-blitz. [Opposing teams] say ‘forget it, they can’t really throw the ball right now.’ They blitz like you wouldn’t believe,” Miles said. “They took us out of our game. You’d like to slide protection and chuck it all over the field, but Ryan [Roberts] isn’t ready for that, nor are the freshman up front.”
YSU took a 28-21 lead when Jones tiptoed down the sideline after a missed tackle for a 23-yard touchdown pass five minutes into the second half. The Penguins gave themselves a cushion just over a minute into the fourth quarter when Dominique Barnes caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Summers to put YSU up 35-21.
ISU has completed its road schedule as its remaining two games are at Memorial Stadium. The task is daunting next Saturday as No. 4 Northern Iowa comes to town.
Youngstown State 35,
Indiana State 21
Indiana St. 7 14 0 0 — 21
Youngstown St. 7 14 7 7 — 35
First Quarter
YSU—Lane 2 run (Bri.Palmer kick), 8:38.
InSt—Roberts 1 run (Martinez kick), 5:30.
Second Quarter
InSt—Roberts 4 run (Martinez kick), 11:23.
InSt—McCleskey 47 fumble return (Martinez kick), 10:04.
YSU—Jones 10 pass from Summers (Bri.Palmer kick), 4:32.
YSU—D.Brown 5 run (Bri.Palmer kick), :31.
Third Quarter
YSU—Jones 23 pass from Summers (Bri.Palmer kick), 10:33.
Fourth Quarter
YSU—Barnes 11 pass from Summers (Bri.Palmer kick), 13:18.
A—8,913.
InSt YSU
First downs 15 25
Rushes-yards 41-184 52-273
Passing 54 142
Comp-Att-Int 5-15-0 14-23-0
Return Yards 6 39
Punts-Avg. 7-34.9 5-38.4
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-2
Penalties-Yards 3-35 5-45
Time of Possession 26:23 33:37
Individual statistics
Rushing —I ndiana St., Gates 17-110, Roberts 18-59, Lough 3-10, A.Brown 3-5. Youngstown St., Keys 17-123, D.Brown 11-65, Lane 10-38, Summers 4-16, Barnes 1-13, Campbell 3-10, Lee 4-10, Team 2-(minus 2).
Passing — Indiana St., Roberts 5-15-0-54. Youngstown St., Summers 14-23-0-142.
Receiving — Indiana St., Lough 3-30, J.Jones 1-13, A.Jones 1-11. Youngstown St., Jones 6-75, Barnes 3-34, Bush 2-14, Lane 1-12, Keys 1-7, D.Brown 1-0.
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