YSU's Latrell Fordham (1) and Van Keen (67) celebrate Cyrus Traugh's (18) 18-yard touchdown reception in the end zone last week against Villanova.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Coming into the season, it was Beau Brungard’s game experience from a year ago that gave him a leg up in Youngstown State’s quarterback competition.

“He had an opportunity to sit behind Mitch (Davidson),” head coach Doug Phillips said. “He has game reps and he played last year.”

Last year, Brungard saw action in all but one of the Penguins’ games. He came in for specific plays or with the backups at the end of games. Altogether, he went 14-for-20 for 108 yards and carried the ball 28 times for 129 yards and three touchdowns during his freshman campaign.

But until Thursday’s 24-17 loss to Villanova, Brungard had yet to start a game at the collegiate level or play a prolonged stretch of meaningful game time.

“I don’t think it prepares you fully, playing here and there,” Brungard said. “It definitely is good to get out there and get some snaps last year. It gets you a little prepared, but every single play not going to the sideline, it’s different.”

Against the Wildcats, Brungard played every snap for the first time, completing 18-of-25 of his passes for 152 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran 16 times for 82 yards.

Both picks came in two-minute offense situations — the first was right before halftime with YSU down 17-3 and in need of a score to get back in the game, while the second was on the Penguins’ final possession after getting the ball back with a chance to drive for the game-tying score.

“That’s something we rep every single day in practice — the two-minute scenario,” Brungard said. “We just gotta hurry up, get on the ball, get set and run plays efficiently as fast as we can and just get out of bounds and focus on time management. We work on that a lot and I think our guys did a great job of it. There was just a little mistake on my end, but I think we did a great job there. That’s something that we’ll fix and we’ll be fine next week.”

After a slow start for the offense in the first half, Brungard settled in and he led the Penguins on two long scoring drives in the second half that lifted them right back into the game.

Overall, Brungard called his first career start “a great experience,” but also one that he needed to learn from at the same time.

“Certainly, it was a good learning opportunity (against Villanova),” Brungard said. “It’s just a different kind of game, and I’m excited to move forward from this game and take what I’ve learned and get better.”

DEFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS

The first game action for YSU’s new look-defense was a mixed bag against Villanova.

The Penguins were a stout rush defense last season — ranking in the top 25 in the FCS, as they gave up about 120 yards per game.

But the Wildcats took advantage of YSU’s inexperience up front, as they ran for 246 yards, including 107 from quarterback Connor Watkins, while averaging 8.2 yards per carry.

Missed tackles were often the culprit that hurt the Penguins.

“Their quarterback was going to make plays through the air and with his legs,” Phillips said. “I thought at times we had guys there, but we gotta tackle better.”

However, after Villanova had scored its final touchdown in the third quarter, YSU’s defense closed out the game strong and took control at the end of the third and throughout the fourth quarter.

“We just gotta work on starting the game stronger,” defensive lineman Jaelen Crider said. “We have to work on coming out and attacking immediately, the way we came out in the second half. That’s the way we need to come out in the first half.”

The Penguins limited the Wildcats to just 51 total yards at 3.4 yards per play in the fourth quarter. Villanova’s final three possessions were a missed field goal, a punt and a kneel down after the game-sealing interception.

“We preach bend, don’t break,” Crider said. “Big plays are going to happen, especially with (Villanova), they pride themselves in their explosives. The plays are going to happen. You just have to know that and keep your composure as a player. Just because he ran 15 yards, the next play could be a sack for negative five. It’s just honestly keeping our composure, trusting the scheme and understanding that those things are going to happen, we just gotta keep playing ball.”

POSITION CHANGE

Latrell Fordham was recruited to YSU as a wide receiver, and began his Penguins career on the offensive side of the ball.

But last year, the coaching staff elected to take Fordham’s skillset and move him to the defense, so he tried things out at defensive back.

Fordham didn’t see the field much in the secondary, but he still utilized his speed and athleticism as one of the Penguins’ kickoff returners.

In the end, Fordham’s natural position won out, and he returned to the offensive side of the ball this offseason and started at receiver against Villanova last week.

“Sometimes I find out I sometimes don’t make good decisions,” Phillips said. “We tried him on defense, but I was excited when he said, ‘Coach I want to go back.’ That’s what I was waiting for. I want him to come in here and be the best wide receiver he can be. By going and playing (on defense) sometimes you learn more about football. By being a corner, maybe he learned about leverage. Now that he’s back on offense, I think his football IQ is a little bit better.”

Fordham agreed with his coach that the things he learned while playing defense have helped him now that he’s back on offense.

“It’s made things a little easier, especially after being on defense, when it comes to receiver,” Fordham said. “It’s just learning more about corner and defense in general. I feel like I’m ahead of the game by just knowing a lot of things like what the defense lines up in and what coverage the defense is in.”

Fordham added that he also had the chance to confer with former YSU receiver and current Tennessee Titans’ practice squad member Bryce Oliver about what it takes to find success at receiver.

“Especially Bryce because me and Bryce are really close,” Fordham said. “We talk over the phone and he helped me out, even talking to (former YSU receiver) CJ (Charleston) at Michigan. He’s learned more things, and since we’re close, it helped out because he’s at that next level that I want to get to.”

Fordham finished with one reception for 10 yards on two targets against the Wildcats in his first career start.

Have an interesting story? Contact Neel Madhavan by email at nmadhavan@tribtoday.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @NeelMadhavan.