Nov 6, 2022 Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Youngstown State's Bryce Oliver celebrates after the Penguins' 19-17 win at Illinois State on Saturday.
Oliver hauled in the game-winning 12-yard touchdown reception with 5 seconds remaining in the contest.
Twice in three games, Youngstown State has needed a last-second rally in the state of Illinois to keep its playoff hopes alive.
And twice, the Penguins have escaped the Prairie State with those dreams intact.
Trailing Illinois State by four with 1:05 to go and no timeouts, Youngstown State went on an 8-play, 80-yard march to the end zone, capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Davidson on a fade route to Bryce Oliver with 5 seconds to go, to top the host Redbirds on a blustery Saturday afternoon at Hancock Stadium, 19-17, in Missouri Valley play.
The win is the fourth in a row for Youngstown State (6-3, 4-2), and secures the Penguins’ first season above .500 since 2017.
YSU will visit Missouri State next week before hosting Southern Illinois to finish the regular season. “I think this team is hungry,” Davidson said after the game. “We haven’t had success in the past.
We’ve been through a lot of adversity, and we talk a lot about Youngstown , the grit, the toughness and just overcoming adversity.
I think we’ve learned how to do that, and we’ve learned how to win games.” There was a bit of redemption, too.
After dropping a would-be first down on the previous series, Max Tomczak began the game-winning drive with a 31-yard reception to the Illinois State 49.
A couple plays later, Davidson scrambled for a 13-yard gain, and a defensive holding call against Illinois State (5-4, 3-3) pushed the ball to the 26.
Jaleel McLaughlin ran for a 9-yard gain the next play, and then after Davidson spiked the ball to stop the clock, McLaughlin picked up YSU’s first third-down conversion of the game with a 5-yard rush.
After another spike, Davidson threw across the middle to Oliver for a would-be touchdown, but Oliver dropped the ball.
However, after an Illinois State timeout, Oliver delivered by hauling in the needed 12-yard touchdown pass in one-on-one coverage to give YSU the 19-17 advantage.
The Penguins attempted a two-point run, but it was stopped short. “I told Bryce to be ready for the next pass, because I’m coming right back to him,” Davidson said. “Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games, and he made a heck of a play on it.” That quick drive also is something that YSU practices each day, Davidson noted.
In fact, he said the offense was given 47 seconds to get a field goal in Wednesday’s practice, and succeeded. “We practice that stuff every day, and that’s where (head coach Doug Phillips) says practice execution becomes game reality.
It did today,” Davidson said.
On the ensuing kickoff, Illinois State’s returner fielded the ball with his knee down at the Redbirds’ 13 yard line, and ISU’s final attempt at scoring , a play with a few laterals , was stopped at the ISU 22.
While the offense woke up just in time, it was the YSU defense that kept the Penguins in it.
Illinois State led 17-13 going into halftime, but the Penguins posted a second-half shutout.
In all, Illinois State gained 287 yards of offense to YSU’s 297 yards, and the Redbirds rushed for 184.
Illinois State nabbed a quick lead, as the Redbirds forced a three and out and then took over at YSU’s 42 yard line after Paddy Lynch’s punt into the gusting winds went just 18 yards.
On ISU’s first play from scrimmage, quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse rushed 42 yards to the end zone to put Illinois State up 7-0.
Rittenhouse’s start over Zack Annexstad was a game-time decision.
Annexstad practiced all week, according to reports, but was held out due to a shoulder injury.
Rittenhouse went 7-for-14 for 103 yards in the air and added 10 rushes for 81 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
His second came with 1:54 left in the half after YSU’s Randy Smith muffed a punt at midfield.
It capped a 47-yard drive. “We could tell (Annexstad) wasn’t really throwing a lot of balls, and could tell when he was throwing, there was some sort of shoulder situation,” said YSU coach Doug Phillips. “So we knew in pregame warmups they had a new quarterback, and we knew if (Rittenhouse) is in, they’re going to run him.
We didn’t do a great job early there stopping the quarterback run on the reads and keeps, but bend don’t break in the second half.” YSU twice tied the game, the first time at 7-7 with a 2-yard Davidson run and the other a 38-yard Colt McFadden field goal.
McFadden connected again with 34 seconds left in the first half to draw YSU to within 17-13.
And as Phillips mentioned, the YSU defense didn’t break in the second half, forcing five punts on ISU’s five full drives.
The sixth drive was the one lateral play to end the game.
But YSU’s offense, faced with uphill battles due to field position, couldn’t muster much either.
Of Youngstown State’s six second-half possessions, four began inside the Penguins’ 10 yard line. “We were on our heels that whole second half, but I’m proud our kids never quit,” Phillips said. “They never got frustrated.
Mitch kept his head up and knew we were going to need him at the end of the game to make some of those throws.
And when we needed those completions, we got them.” Davidson finished 10-of-19 for 143 yards and a touchdown, while McLaughlin ran for 95 yards on 22 carries and had three receptions for 46 yards.
Davidson also ran for 55 yards and a score on 13 attempts.
Max Tomczak had two catches for 38 yards, and Oliver had two for 29 yards and a touchdown.
YSU continues its quest for a postseason berth Saturday at Missouri State. jwhetzel@tribtoday.com Today's breaking news and more in your inbox Even the most experienced and insightful anglers sometimes struggle to trigger strikes from wily game fish.
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