YSU LIVE | Penguins trail 17-9 at halftime

The YSU football team trails South Dakota State 17-9 at halftime of Saturday's game at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.

South Dakota State's first drive of the second quarter stalled at the YSU 6 to set up a 23-yard field goal attempt by Peter Reifenrath that was wide right.

Reifenrath atoned for the miss on the next series, making a 43-yarder with 4:59 that made it 10-9. He tied longtime NFL standout Adam Vinatieri for fourth on the school's career FG list with 27.

The Jackrabbits scored again just before the end of the half, this time on a 9-yard TD pass from Thomas O'Brien to Colin Cochart with 1:14 left. They went 88 yards in six plays, abusing YSU's secondary, which didn't help itself with poor tackling.

Incidentally, SDSU has outscored opponents 87-52 in the second half of games this year. Entering today's game, the Jackrabbits had been outscored 68-21 in the first half.

YSU has been outscored 52-28 in the third quarter.

Here's some halftime stats:

YSU has 193 yards, including just 41 on the ground. The Penguins' leading rusher, Jamaine Cook, has carried six times for 11 yards and lost a fumble.

Kurt Hess has completed 16 of 23 for 152 yards and a TD, finding Dominique Barnes six times for 70 yards and a TD.

RB Kyle Minett has carried 14 times for 67 yards and a TD for SDSU, while Thomas O'Brien has completed 9 of 18 for 192 yards and a TD.

If the Penguins want to get back into the game, they're going to have to shore up things in the secondary, move the ball through the air and force a couple turnovers.