Michigan State Football dispatches Youngstown State, 41-24

Michigan State had a tough FCS opponent in Youngstown State Saturday afternoon but used a strong third quarter to put away the Penguins, 41-24, to move to 3-0 on the season. The victory also improves MSU to 4-0 in the all-time series against YSU that dates back to 2011.

The Spartans totaled 444 yards of offense, including 270 through the air on 22-for-29 passing by Aidan Chiles. The QB added one touchdown through the air on the afternoon, though he also had his first pick since Nov. 2, 2024 against then No. 10 Indiana. Nick Marsh and Jack Velling were the top targets for Chiles with six catches apiece. Marsh led the overall yardage with 94 and was a perfect six-for-six on targets. Velling added 70 yards while Michael Masunas had the lone touchdown for the receiving corps on the day.

On the ground, MSU totaled 174 yards on 33 attempts with four different Spartan backs punching it into the end zone. Chiles led the group with 76 yards that included a long of 28. Elijah Tau-Tolliver was the next closest with just 37. On the defensive side of the ball, Wayne Matthews led MSU with 10 tackles, including four solo.

For the Penguins, their offense racked up 339 total yards, including 242 through the air on 24-for-34 passing by junior quarterback Beau Brungard. He threw for two touchdowns and one interception on the day. Junior running back Jaden Gilbert added one on the ground among his 72 total yards, 66 coming on a single run.

First Half

MSU likely had fans frustrated on the opening drive as YSU managed to drive into field goal range to start the game. The Penguins managed to advance 65 yards on 15 plays before settling for a 28 yard field goal to take an early 3-0 lead. The drive mostly came in hard-fought gains, though a 23 yard pass did jump Youngstown State from midfield well into field goal range at the MSU 25. The opponent's drive also kept the defense out on the field for an extended period, eating up just over half of the clock for the opening quarter (7:39 total).

The Spartans answered right back with a touchdown drive of their own, advancing it 82 yards on 10 plays while ticking the clock down to just over a minute left in the first quarter. Rodney Bullard Jr. capped it off with an eight-yard run into the end zone for his first score of his career. MSU took the lead 7-3 after the PAT and never surrendered it from there.

After a tough first drive for the MSU defense, the unit quickly forced a punt on a three-and-out by YSU. MSU's offense mounted another clock-eating drive that ended in a second touchdown, opening up a 14-3 lead.

Thanks to a monster 66-yard run by Jaden Gilbert, Youngstown State was able to answer right back with its first trip into the endzone of the afternoon. The PAT was good and the Penguins suddenly trailed just 14-10 with 5:59 left in the half. MSU stalled out at the YSU 41 and turned it over on downs, but Beau Brungard was picked off by MSU's Amorion Smith at the MSU 24 with 1:14 left on the clock until halftime.

The Spartans rattled off a quick 70-yard drive before drawing what was a bit of a headscratcher for a penalty. As MSU advanced it to the one yard line and attempted to line up to spike the ball, the officials moved away to allow the teams to line up, yet a Penguin was still well behind MSU's line hurrying to get to his own side and bumped into the Spartans lineman causing a false start flag to be thrown and pushing MSU back to the six. The Spartans burned their final timeout to avoid the 10 second runoff as just three seconds remained and ended up settling for a field goal. The 24 yarder by Marting Connington was good and MSU headed into the locker room up 17-10.

Second Half

Michigan State sputtered right into a punt on its first drive, but promptly opened up the scoring margin on its next thanks to a huge 83 yard punt return by Omari Kelly that put the Spartans right on YSU's four yard line to start. In just one play, Brandon Tullis was in the end zone to make it 24-10 MSU after the PAT.

MSU kept its foot on the gas as the third quarter wound down, adding another touchdown on a 64-yard drive over six plays to make it 31-10 following the PAT.

The Penguins finally added another score of their own as the third stanza wound down. YSU was able to drive it 80 yards in just eight plays to make it 31-17.

As the third quarter was winding down, Chiles was picked off for the first time since last season with just 1:17 left, and the Penguins were immediately in field goal territory at the MSU 17 yard line. The defense forced an attempt at just that four plays later as the fourth quarter began, but the attempt went wide right. Chiles led the Spartans on a revenge drive that marched the ball 74 yards over 11 plays before Connington added three points for the Spartans on a 27 yard field goal to extend MSU's lead to 34-17.

The Penguins were able to add a late touchdown on their next drive, but took just over five and a half minutes of game clock to do it, leaving just 3:05 on the clock as they trailed 34-24. The game's final score came on the Spartans next offensive drive, capping off a 75 yard drive with a 22 yard run by Elijah Tau-Tolliver for the touchdown with under two minutes remaining in the game.

Michigan State begins Big Ten play next as it heads to Los Angeles to take on USC (RV) in a late matchup on Sept. 20. The 2-0 Trojans currently lead Purdue 10-0 in West Lafeyette at time of publication for this recap. Kick for next week is set for 11 p.m. Eastern Time