Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU receiver Luke Hensley carries the ball, while tailback Ethan Wright blocks a South Dakota State defender during the Penguins’ game against the Jackrabbits on Oct. 4 at Stambaugh Stadium.

YOUNGSTOWN — Last season, Youngstown State lost to South Dakota State by 50 points.

At the time, the Penguins were greatly outmatched against the Jackrabbits. This past weekend, however, YSU gave SDSU all it could handle in a 35-30 defeat, and save for a letdown third quarter, looked poised to pull the upset.

It was an indication of just how far YSU has come in the past year. But, the Penguins aren’t satisfied and they know they still have more work to do.

“Coming off the field last year, that was pretty embarrassing. So yes, (we’re) closing the gap,” head coach Doug Phillips said. “I told our kids, we own it. We own how we prepare. We own the fundamentals and discipline we play with. We own how well we execute. Playing for four quarters, playing for 60 minutes — we own what we put on film. There’s no excuses, never. You gotta own it, and we told them today, the greatest skill you can have in life is figuring it out, and we just gotta figure it out.”

After the loss to the Jackrabbits on Saturday, the Penguins sit at 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

But now YSU’s margin for error to make the FCS playoffs in a rugged MVFC gets smaller, and it magnifies the importance of the Penguins’ upcoming two-game road stretch, which begins Saturday at 4 p.m. (ESPN+/570 WKBN) at North Dakota in the Fighting Hawks’ Alerus Center dome.

“Coach Doug said during the team meeting this morning, ‘We’re going on a dome tour now,'” senior running back Ethan Wright said during Tuesday’s weekly press conference. “We got three games in a dome, and we know we haven’t had much success playing in the domes in the past. So we’re going to take pride going to these domes, taking these away games and coming back with a win. We feel like that’s very important for our season, and this team needs to establish that road confidence within ourselves.”

Led by a first-year starter at quarterback in sophomore Jerry Kaminski, North Dakota’s offense has been dynamic this season, averaging 40.2 points per game.

The 13th-ranked Fighting Hawks gave FBS foe Kansas State a fight in the season opener and only lost to No. 4 Montana by one a few weeks ago. So the Penguins, especially the defense, will have its hands full in Grand Forks on Saturday.

“It does put a great challenge on your defense, but in our league, you’re going to get that each and every week,” Phillips said. “So our job is to make sure we play fundamentally sound.”

HEALTH SCARE

The Penguins played with heavy thoughts weighing on their mind this past weekend against South Dakota State.

Freshman defensive lineman Bilal Tucker suffered a medical emergency late Friday night. He had a seizure and wouldn’t come out of it, according to Phillips.

A group of fellow freshmen were around him when he collapsed, and Tucker was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown, before he was life-flighted to Ohio State University Hospital in his hometown of Columbus.

“That’s real. When you go into an ER and you see your young man laying down,” Phillips said after Saturday’s game. “I’m just thankful we had people around.”

Phillips provided an update on Tucker’s status Tuesday, indicating that Tucker had pulled through and will return to Youngstown to rejoin the team soon.

“He’s one of our young defensive tackles that has shown great promise. He’s traveled and gotten in some games this year,” Phillips said. “To get him back and to know that he’s healthy — (thankful) to all the people that helped, the freshmen that were there when he collapsed, the emergency people, everyone that was involved.

“Getting the care in Columbus and figuring out what was wrong and getting him back in the fold — to get a Facetime call yesterday and see our big guy hungry was good to hear. And our kids were real happy to hear that he’ll be back soon.”

BACK ON THE FIELD

For the first time since suffering a season-ending injury in the second-to-last game of the season last year against Southern Illinois, Wright returned to the field last weekend against the Jackrabbits.

“I was very nervous. I was very excited the whole week. I was really envisioning being back out there in the game, and I had the opportunity to have my nephew there, my whole family,” Wright said Tuesday. “Coach Doug did a great thing. My nephew is battling cancer right now, so he was able to be the honorary captain, come out and walk with us out there. That brought me back to neutral, and I was able to get going, give me some confidence, get out there and just play full speed.”

He carried the ball twice for 24 yards, which included a 19-yard run on YSU’s first drive on an option from quarterback Beau Brungard. Wright also had three receptions for 35 yards.

“My No. 1 thing that I was afraid of was taking a hit,” Wright said. “The second play, I got that option, and once I took that hit on the sideline, I got up, and I was fine. I survived. I said, ‘let’s go to war. This is it, let’s just ride.’ All thoughts were gone after that.”