UND football Week 6 primer: How to watch, injuries and matchups with Youngstown State

Oct. 7—YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — The UND football team is faced with a familiar question.

After a dazzling performance at home in the Alerus Center, the Fighting Hawks are tasked again this weekend with figuring out how to take that mojo on the road.

UND visits Youngstown State for a 5 p.m. Saturday kickoff, searching for the school's first road Missouri Valley Football Conference victory since winning at Western Illinois in the spring of 2021.

"We seem to have a lot of energy when we play at home, there's no doubt," UND coach Bubba Schweigert said. "We have to figure out how to play with that energy on the road."

One of the areas UND needs to improve is better starts. The Hawks have allowed a touchdown on an opponent's opening drive in three of the five games this season after doing it five times in 11 games last season.

"We have to figure out a way to be at a better emotional level, especially early in the game," Schweigert said. "Playing catch-up is not the way you want to play this game. You want to play downhill and aggressive and play from the front and that really helps you on the road."

UND has won 17 of its last 18 home games, with the lone loss against FCS power North Dakota State by six points. On the road the last three years, the Hawks have won road games at Idaho State and Northern Arizona but have only been able to win once in MVFC play on the road at Macomb.

"Any game in the Missouri Valley is a tough game, home or away, but it's that much tougher on the road," UND wide receiver Jack Wright said. "The Alerus is such a great place to play, but we have a mature group. We have a group who knows what it takes to win on the road, it's just a matter of making it happen. If you can win those (road) games, it really propels your season."

UND will especially want to play with the lead against Youngstown State, a team that wants to run the football with the league's top back Jaleel McLaughlin.

McLaughlin has 518 rushing yards on 60 carries this season with an average of 8.6 yards per carry.

The Penguins, however, are unsettled at quarterback. Demeatric Crenshaw and Mitch Davidson have split time at moments, with Crenshaw carrying more of a reputation as a runner.

Crenshaw has thrown for 538 yards this season — about half of UND quarterback Tommy Schuster this year. YSU has a league-worst 51.1 completion percentage.

Davidson, who played in the second half last week against North Dakota State, is 9-for-14 for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

YSU coach Doug Phillips said starting quarterback against UND will be a game-time decision.

Kickoff: 5 p.m.

Where: Stambaugh Stadium (capacity 20,630) in Youngstown, Ohio.

TV: Midco Sports 2, Brian Shawn play-by-play, Jim Ballard analyst.

Radio: 96.1 FM (Jack Michaels on play-by-play, Tom Dosch analyst, Paul Ralston sidelines)

Streaming: ESPN-Plus

Injuries: UND has avoided the injury bug so far this year apart from starting safety Sammy Fort, who was lost for the year in the season opener against Nebraska. Aside from Fort, the Fighting Hawks should be at full strength on this road trip.

The Fighting Hawks need to be tough on McLaughlin on first and second down. Youngstown State is converting just 26.2 percent on third down (compared to UND's 45.9 percentage). The Penguins are content playing it safe on third-and-long and letting their defense make plays. Youngstown leads the Missouri Valley with seven interceptions this season. Offensively, UND needs to be able to feed Tyler Hoosman, who has three 100-yard games this season. The Hawks' offensive line is coming off its best half of the season, completely dictating the line of scrimmage late in the game against Missouri State.

The Penguins need to find enough of a passing game to keep UND honest defensively. Youngstown's quarterback choice will be a game-time decision but whoever is taking snaps will need to hit on play-action against an inexperienced UND secondary. Almost similar to when UND would play triple-option Cal Poly back in the Big Sky Conference era, YSU has to avoid situations that would force the Penguins to step outside their comfort zone like third-and-long and playing from behind.