NOTEBOOK: Youngstown State tops last year’s pace for rushing touchdowns
Through the first five games of the season, YSU has scored 19 rushing touchdowns.
Last year in 11 games, the Guins had 20 and that was with first-team All-America running back Jaleel McLaughin in the backfield.
QB Mitch Davidson scored a rushing touchdown in the first four games of the year.
TB Tyshon King leads the squad with eight rushing scores.
In total, five Guins have scored a rushing touchdown. In 2022, only four Penguins scored on the ground.
Offense putting up the points
In their four games against FCS opponents this season the Penguins have scored at least 31 points.
In three contests, the Guins have registered 40 or more.
YSU opened the season by scoring 52 points against Valparaiso before adding 48 against Robert Morris, 41 at UNI and 31 vs. Southern Illinois.
Last year YSU scored 40-or-more points on three occasions and eclipsed the 30-point mark in five games.
The last time the Guins scored 40-plus points at least four times in a season was 2019.
Block party for Youngstown State
In three of five games, YSU has blocked a punt.
The Guins are just one of four FCS teams to block at least three punts so far this season.
In the opener, Michael Voitus blocked a Valparaiso punt and Jaylen Castleberry returned it for a touchdown. Against RMU, Daryan Bowling was able to get his hands on a punt as well.
At UNI, Bryce Oliver blocked a punt that was recovered by Deamontae Diggs and set the Guins up at the UNI nine-yard line.
Tough on the run
The Penguins rank second in the FCS allowing just 78.5 yards rushing per game after holding Southern Illinois to just six yards last Saturday.
That six-yard total was bolstered by seven sacks which resulted in 47 yards in losses by SIU.
Princeton leads the FCS allowing 66.2 yards per game while Dartmouth is third at 76.5 yards a game.
On 126 carries, the Guins have surrendered just 379 yards this season.
However, 160 of those yards have come on four carries (60, 40, 30, 30).
On the other 122 attempts, YSU has allowed 219 yards (1.80 per rush).
Memorable defensive effort
The Penguins had one of their best overall all-around defensive performances in school history against Southern Illinois. YSU held SIU to 100 yards of total offense, six yards rushing, recorded seven sacks, held the Salukis to 2-of-13 on third down and limited time of possession to 22:21.
The 100 yards were the fewest since September 2015 while the sacks were the most since October 2016.
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This story was originally published October 11, 2023 at 2:57 PM.