Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU quarterback Beau Brungard celebrates a first-half touchdown run by being lifted by offensive lineman Shane Keenan during Thurday's game against Mercyhurst at Stambaugh Stadium.

YOUNGSTOWN — Throughout the offseason, Youngstown State felt like it had found some answers after its struggles last season.

Following Thursday’s season-opening 24-15 victory over Mercyhurst at Stambaugh Stadium, the Penguins may still have some lingering questions on both sides of the ball.

“It’s a win. I don’t think we’re all satisfied, but it’s the first time we got to play,” head coach Doug Phillips said. “We gotta dig into the film and see areas where we can get improvement. … We’re going to learn a lot about our guys. For a lot of them, it’s the first time under the lights, not at night, but under the lights for Youngstown State University. We get back to work tomorrow and we get ready to move onto Week 2, and I want to see drastic increases in how we play next week.”

YSU gave up 374 total yards to the Lakers’ offense, including 311 yards through the air to Mercyhurst quarterback Adam Urena.

However, the Penguins offset that by forcing four turnovers, each coming in timely fashion.

Still, YSU only came away with three points off the turnovers. Those came after Justin Wimpye picked off Urena on the opening drive of the third quarter, and Andrew Lastovka kicked a 37-yard field goal for YSU’s only points of the second half.

“We had opportunities in the two-minute (before halftime). But we had two penalty flags where we didn’t get lined up,” Phillips said. “We had some veteran guys who didn’t get lined up. All of a sudden, you’re taking a first down away, which you could go down and drive before half and extend the lead. … So a lot of mistakes that you can’t make. The attention to detail is what we’ve been stressing at times.”

Senior defensive back Dathan Hickey, who was making his first start for YSU after missing all of last season with an injury after transferring from Yale, had two of those turnovers and led the defense with 13 tackles.

Hickey fell on a fumble in the second quarter, which put a stop to a Mercyhurst drive, and he snagged an interception in the final minutes of the fourth quarter with the Lakers threatening to score again to make it a one-possession game.

“I just think I made the plays when they came to me,” Hickey said. “I don’t like to be too high or too low, so I really made sure of that all day long. Waiting for a 6:00 game was pretty hard, but really I was just staying in that even mindset, and when the plays came, they came. But I was just trying to do my job.”

Mercyhurst had plenty of success moving the ball on YSU’s defense, as Urena and the Lakers’ receivers found gaps in the Penguins’ secondary.

They had to lean on the passing game because YSU was able to take away the run, giving up just 63 rushing yards on 24 carries.

“I thought our kids were playing hard,” Phillips said. “They’re keeping the ball in front of them, knowing that they’re going to dink the ball. We were able to stop their run. The game was close and we found a way to win there at the end.”

The Lakers had several scoring opportunities fall by the wayside.

All but one of their turnovers came in YSU territory and they missed a short 28-yard field goal right before halftime.

Offensively, after a sizzling start with touchdowns on each of its first three possessions, the Penguins cooled off considerably in their first game with new offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.

After jumping out to a 21-7 lead in the first half, YSU’s offense scored just three points the rest of the night. Quarterback Beau Brungard was 14-for-21 for 114 yards and he also ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries.

“We just didn’t get into any type of rhythm there in the second half,” Phillips said. “We still feel we have some great players on offense that we gotta find ways to get the ball. It can’t be just Beau. We feel we got good receivers, good running backs. … We’re figuring each other out, and that’s what gets me excited because we’re able to do it with a win. We’ve been part of losses where you maybe played as well, and it’s a loss. We’re going to learn from this and go and try to work on being 2-0 next week.”

Youngstown State 24, Mercyhurst 15

AT STAMBAUGH STADIUM

BY QUARTERS

Mercyhurst 7 0 0 8–15

YSU 7 14 3 0–24

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs: Mercyhurst: 20, YSU: 16; Rushes/Yards Rushing: Mercyhurst: 24-63, YSU: 40-187; Yards Passing: Mercyhurst: 311, YSU: 114; Comp-Att-Int: Mercyhurst: 32-48-2, YSU: 14-21-0; Penalties: Mercyhurst: 3-25, YSU: 8-78; Fumbles-Lost: Mercyhurst: 2-2, YSU: 0-0; Total Yards: Mercyhurst: 374, YSU: 301; Offensive Plays: Mercyhurst: 72, YSU: 61

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

Passing: Mercyhurst: Adam Urena 32-for-48 311 yds, 2 TDs, 2 INTs; YSU: Beau Brungard 14-for-21 114 yds

Rushing: Mercyhurst: Brian Trobel 7 carries 40 yds; YSU: Beau Brungard 28 carries 145 yds 2 TDs

Receiving: Mercyhurst: Dylan Evans 7 rec. 95 yds TD; YSU: Jaden Gilbert 5 rec. 34 yds

Scoring summary

First quarter

YSU: Jaden Gilbert 1-yd run (Laskovka kick) 7-0

M: Evan Van Dyke 1-yd TD pass from Adam Urena (Young kick) 7-7

Second quarter

YSU: Brungard 4-yd run (Lastovka kick) 14-7

YSU: Brungard 4-yd run (Lastovka kick) 21-7

Third quarter

YSU: Lastovka 37-yd FG 24-7

Fourth quarter

M: Dylan Evans 8-yd TD pass from Urena (2-pt pass) 24-15