For the first quarter, it looked as if Saturday’s Valparaiso University football game at No. 25/23 Youngstown State could play out in rather mundane fashion with a nationally-ranked, full-scholarship, Missouri Valley Football Conference opponent holding the upper hand on both sides of the ball.

But then, a story happened at Stambaugh Field in Youngstown, Ohio. And that story had a name. And that name was Caron Tyler (Temecula, Calif. / Chaparral).

The redshirt freshman quarterback came off the bench late in the first quarter, and to say he provided a spark would be an understatement. Tyler did it all – leading the team up and down the field with big plays through the air and on the ground – to cut the lead to as few as six in an eventual 59-25 loss to the Penguins.

How It Happened

• The game started in wobbly fashion as Valpo fumbled the first play from scrimmage after the opening kickoff and the ball was recovered and returned four yards by Stephon Hall for a defensive touchdown that gave the Penguins the lead just 16 seconds into the game.
• The Penguins had built the lead to 21-0 by the end of the first quarter, but that’s when the Beacons began their Tyler-led surge. After he ran successfully throughout the drive, Tyler connected with freshman Gary Givens III (Tampa, Fla. / Jesuit) for a 39-yard TD on a third-and-7 from the YSU 39 with 12:24 left in the second. A two-point conversion jump pass from Ryan Mann (Vernon Hills, Ill. / Vernon Hills [Northern Illinois]) to Jake Vickers (Canton, Mich. / Canton) – similar to a Jarrett Morgan/Ryan Clarke play from 2017 against Dayton that lives in Valpo lore – made it 21-8 after a nine-play, 76-yard drive.
• After the Penguins went three-and-out offensively, Tyler used a 33-yard run before finding Vickers for a 16-yard gain inside the 10. That set up Tyler’s most impressive play of the day, a seven-yard touchdown run where he jumped over several Penguins near the goal line, an effort worthy of SportsCenter Top 10 consideration, to make it 21-15 with 8:30 left in the half.
• After a 65-yard TD run by YSU QB Beau Brungard, Valpo put together a six-play, 79-yard scoring drive that featured a 17-yard pass from Tyler to Evan Jernegan (Altadena, Calif. / St. Francis) and finished with a 55-yard TD run by Tyler that made it 28-22 with 2:30 left in the half.
• Big plays remained a Beacon bugaboo defensively as Ethan Wright’s 64-yard TD run made it 35-22 with 1:43 left in the half, and that stood as the halftime score.
• The Penguins picked up right where they left off with Brungard’s 66-yard TD run on the second play from scrimmage in the second half. After the two teams exchanged punts, a 57-yard catch by Chris Gundy (Smithfield, Va. / Smithfield) set up a 26-yard field goal by Ryan Hawk that made it 42-25 with 6:15 left in the third.
• Youngstown State outscored Valpo 17-0 in the fourth quarter to account for the final margin.

Inside the Game

• Tyler went 8-of-17 through the air for 160 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 120 yards and two scores on 15 carries.
• Running back Michael Mansaray (Columbus, Ohio / Westerville South [South Dakota]) added 12 carries for 46 yards.
• Givens hauled in three receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown, while Gundy had two grabs for 64 yards.
• Tyler’s touchdowns, both rushing and passing, were the first of his collegiate career.
• Givens had his first collegiate catch and his first collegiate TD on Saturday.
• Hawk had a perfect day kicking the football, going 3-for-3 on extra points and 1-for-1 on field goals. The field goal was the fifth make of his career.
• Tyler had Valpo’s best day on the ground since Ryan Mann had 121 rushing yards on Nov. 11, 2023 vs. Stetson.
• Tyler’s 120 rushing yards were the most by a Valpo quarterback since Chris Duncan had 154 on Oct. 12, 2019 vs. Dayton.
• The 25 points marked Valpo’s highest ever scoring output against a Missouri Valley Football Conference opponent, surpassing 21 in 2022 vs. Illinois State.
• The defense was led by Jake Birmingham (River Forest, Ill. / Oak Park and River Forest) and Colin Graves (Seattle, Wash. / Bishop Blanchet), who registered eight tackles apiece.
• Youngstown State’s 59 points marked the most by a Valpo opponent since New Mexico State’s 65 on Dec. 3, 2022.
• Valpo had 167 passing yards to YSU’s 125, but the Penguins held a 429-164 advantage on the ground.
• Punter Sam Johnson (Birmingham, Ala. / Oak Mountain [Jackson State / Alabama]) averaged 43.7 yards per attempt on six chances, pinning two inside the 20. His long of 65 was the longest Valpo punt since Evan Matthes hit one 67 yards on Oct. 14, 2023 vs. Morehead State.
• Valpo cleaned up the penalties from Week 1 to Week 2, committing just two for 15 yards against Youngstown State.

Thoughts from Head Coach Landon Fox

“It’s nice to see a step in the right direction offensively from last week to this week. However, we did have a couple missed opportunities. We gave them one touchdown offensively, and had another one where we didn’t score in the redzone. Those are the disappointing things, but there are definitely positives in terms of what we were able to do moving the ball at times.”

On Tyler: “Caron is a very good athlete who throws the football well. The game just needs to slow down for him, but he has all the tools to be a good quarterback. We had planned on him coming into the game and playing him, so that wasn’t anything that wasn’t expected. We planned to play two quarterbacks and if somebody got rolling, we would stay with him, and that’s what happened.”

On Tyler’s Leaping TD: “He was a bad man on that one. His ability to get up over the top, do two flips and still get in there and score was impressive. That’s what he can do for you with his legs. That’s going on ESPN, I would think. And just think, Mikey Appel is sitting there ready to come back. It’s a good problem to have with multiple quarterbacks who can get it done.”  

“Defensively, we’re not doing a good job of putting guys in position to fill gaps and control the line of scrimmage. We have guys missing gaps inside and it puts us in some 1-on-1 tackles, which we haven’t been very good at.”

“I like the strides we made offensively from Week 1 to Week 2. Now the question is, can we do it again? If we don’t clean things up defensively, everybody is going to run the football on us. We have to have all three phases operate well together.”

Up Next

Valpo (0-2, 0-0 PFL) will open the home portion of the season next week with a rare Brown Field night game as Indiana Wesleyan comes to town for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff in the instate showdown. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.