The Youngstown State football team arguably played their best game of 2023 last week in their 31-3 win over Southern Illinois.

Now they're hoping to take that energy on the road.

The Penguins play at South Dakota, Saturday at 2:00 pm a place where they haven't won since 2015.

"I'm anxious to get back on the road and see if we fixed things," said fourth year coach Doug Phillips who is 3-8 in road conference games since taking over.

"South Dakota (4-1, 2-0) is a solid fundamental football team, " added Phillips.

The Penguins offensive line has been solid all season.  They've scored 19 rushing touchdowns in five games compared to 20 all of last season.

"We do a good job every week, but we always want to get better. We always come back after a game and say how can we get better," said junior guard David Metzler.

Defensively the Penguins recorded a season high seven sacks against Southern Illinois. 

"Trying to top seven sacks and trying to reach new heights and go for 10 this week," said defensive lineman Andres Lehrmann.

The Penguins lead the all time series 8-2 but both losses have been in the Dakota Dome.