YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – In a back-and-forth game, it was No. 22 North Dakota squeaking out the 35-30 victory at Stambaugh Stadium on Saturday night. With the win, the Fighting Hawks move to 4-2 (3-1 MVFC), while the Penguins drop to 2-3 (0-2 MVFC).
Jayson Coley took down Mitch Davidson for a nine-yard sack on third-and-seven from the UND 29 with just over a minute left in the game. The sack brought up fourth-and-16 from the UND 38. On the next play, Davidson connected on a 10-yard pass to Bryce Oliver and was immediately tackled by
C.J. Siegel. The turnover on downs allowed the Fighting Hawks to escape with the 35-30 victory.
In the back-and-forth contest, it looked like the Hawks had momentum after a blocked punt from
Cole Davis led to a three-yard score to put UND up 35-24 with 8:38 remaining. On the following possession, Youngstown State responded with a four-yard touchdown scamper from Jaleel McLaughlin to cut the deficit to 35-30. The Penguins attempted the two-point conversion but excellent coverage from
Edmund Ocansey broke up the pass in the end zone. YSU forced a three-and-out on the following possession, which allowed the Penguins to have the shot at the end.
In the game,
Tommy Schuster went 20-of-31 passing for 292 yards. He finished with one touchdown, a long pass of 50-yards and was sacked twice. He also became UND's Division I record holder for career passing yards and now has 5,492 yards through the air in his career.
Bo Belquist was Schuster's favorite target, racking up 82 yards on five catches for an average of 16.4 yards per catch.
Isaiah Smith finished with the most receiving yards, putting up 90 yards receiving on three grabs and a touchdown. Eight Hawks had at least one catch in the victory.
Tyler Hoosman was the leading rusher, putting down 51 yards on 14 attempts while scoring a touchdown. Smith finished with two rushes for 20 yards and a score to go with his receiving yardage.
Twenty-two UND players finished with at least one tackle, led by
Kadon Kauppinen with nine (five solo, four assisted) and a TFL.
Wyatt Pedigo was next with eight tackles (seven solo, one assisted). Coley and
Ben McNaboe each had one sack, with Coley's sealing the win for the Fighting Hawks.
North Dakota finished with 385 yards on 57 plays, while Youngstown State piled up 458 yards on 66 plays. The Penguins had 178 yards rushing and 280 yards receiving. Comparatively, the Fighting Hawks finished with 93 yards on the ground and 292 yards through the air.
North Dakota led 14-3 after the first quarter. The Fighting Hawks opened with a 7-0 lead after their first drive, following chunk plays in the form of a 14-yard pass from Schuster to
Caden Dennis and then a 26-yard completion to
Garett Maag before Hoosman punched it in from two yards out. Youngstown State responded on its second offensive possession in the form of a 47-yard field goal to bring the tally to 7-3. Three offensive plays later for UND, the Hawks led 14-3, when Smith took a 32-yard screen pass to the end zone.
The Penguins trimmed the deficit to 14-6 in the first moments of the second quarter when McFadden made a 38-yard field goal. Midway through the quarter, YSU knotted the game up at 14-14 when Davidson found Max Tomczak for a 21-yard touchdown pass. The Penguins then went for a two-point conversion and it was successful on a pass to Oliver.
On the next possession for North Dakota, the Hawks went down to the YSU 16 and faced third-and-one.
Quincy Vaughn lined up in the shotgun before going under center, faking a handoff to Maag before pitching the other way to Smith who went untouched into the end zone for the 16-yard score to give UND a 21-14 lead with 2:18 before intermission.
The Penguins went 10 plays and 70 yards over the next 2:05 and evened the score up at 21-21 with a 11-yard throw from Davidson to Oliver for the touchdown to knot the game up at intermission.
On YSU's first possession of the second half, it made it down to the UND 15 before facing fourth-and-seven after a Pedigo quarterback hurry forced an incomplete pass on third down. McFadden made the 32-yarder on the next play and gave the Penguins their first lead of the night at 24-21.
In the first drive of the fourth quarter, North Dakota ate up over five minutes of clock and picked up 76 yards. In the drive, Schuster become UND's Division I record holder for career passing yardage with a 21-yard pass completion to Maag. The Hawks worked their way down the field on that drive and ended it with a 14-yard scamper from Hoosman to put UND up 28-24 with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
Postgame Notes
- North Dakota moves to 4-0 in the series over Youngstown State.
- The Fighting Hawks are now 2-2 on the road this season, making it the most road wins for UND since going 3-3 in 2018.
- With 292 yards passing, Tommy Schuster now has the most career passing yards in UND's Division I history (5,492 yards). He passed Keaton Studsrud (2014-17), who had 5,452 yards.
- Schuster is now also 17 completions away from becoming UND's all-time record holder for career completions. He currently has 510 completions and is trailing only Todd Kovash (1987-90), who had 526 completions.
- With his five receptions, Bo Belquist moved up to No. 5 on UND's Division I list for receptions in a career now with 111 and is now No. 7 in Division I career receiving yards list with 1,186.
- For the second time this season, UND was edged out in time of possession, 30:38-29:22.
- UND held a 16:17-13:43 edge in time of possession at the break.
- Neither team turned the ball over in the game.
- Cole Davis scored the first touchdown of his career off a blocked punt with a three-yard return. With the score, it became the first blocked punt returned for a touchdown since April 24, 2021, when Hayden Reynolds blocked Missouri State and scored in the 44-10 win.
- North Dakota has now either had the lead or a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter in 16 of its last 17 games.
- 10 of UND's last 14 games have been decided by one score. The Fighting Hawks have won five of the last six one-score games.
How It Happened
First Quarter
7:42 – UND |
Tyler Hoosman 2-yard TD run. (
Brady Stevens kick). 8 plays, 55 yards, 4:34.
4:12 – YSU | Colt McFadden connects on a 47-yard field goal. 6 plays, 32 yards, 3:22.
2:35 – UND | Smith takes a 32-yard screen pass from Schuster to the house. (Stevens kick). 3 plays, 75 yards, 1:37.
Second Quarter
14:02 – YSU | McFadden makes a 38-yard field goal. 8 plays, 38 yards, 3:26.
5:48 – YSU | Mitch Davidson finds Max Tomczak for the 21-yard score. (Bryce Oliver, conversion successful). 4 plays, 70 yards, 1:44.
2:18 – UND | Smith scores on a 16-yard misdirection rush. 7 plays, 73 yards, 3:30.
0:06 – YSU | Davidson completes an 11-yard pass to Oliver for the score. 10 plays, 70 yards, 2:05.
Third Quarter
8:08 – YSU | McFadden makes a 32-yarder. 8 plays, 65 yards, 4:15.
Fourth Quarter
9:39 – UND | Hoosman scores on a 14-yard rush. (Stevens kick). 11 plays, 76 yards, 5:21.
8:38 – UND |
Cole Davis scores on a three-yard return off the blocked punt.
5:49 – YSU | Jaleel McLaughlin scores on a four-yard rush. (Davidson pass, unsuccessful). 7 plays, 78 yards, 2:43.
