Brungard was like a coach on the field

January 5, 2017 at 12:09a.m.

Former QB helped Penguins to two titles

YOUNGSTOWN

The list reads like a “Who’s Who” of Youngstown State championship quarterbacks.

First, there was Ray Isaac in 1991 who engineered the Penguins to a 25-17 victory over Marshall University and the school’s first title.

Then, there was Nick Cochran who provided the heroics and arguably the most exciting comeback of their six appearances the following year. Cochran rallied his troops from a 28-0, third quarter deficit to tie the score at 28 with 3:28 remaining, only to fall 31-28 and settling for a runner-up finish.

In 1997, Demond Tidwell guided YSU to a 10-9 victory over McNeese State for their fourth crown while Jeff Ryan, the architect of a 12-3 mark in 1999, closed the decade under center when YSU finished as runners-up after a 59-24 loss to Georgia Southern.

The only two-time champion to date, however, is Springfield graduate Mark Brungard, who methodically engineered YSU to the 1993 crown — the Penguins defeated Marshall 17-5 — and then followed that up with the 1994 championship, a 28-14 win over Boise State.

His said his maturation as a quarterback actually began in 1992.

“I remember that Nick was hurt on a play that season and coach [Jim] Tressel called upon me, gave me the play and while I heard it, I didn’t really hear it,” Brungard said. “Nick ran out into the huddle and I remember feeling so bad that I wasn’t prepared. Marshall would win that ’92 game and the bus ride out of the stadium was absolutely terrible with all of their horns blowing and noise that was being made. We called it HOH or the ‘Horns of Huntington,’ which became our anthem the following year. I just wanted to matter and be a factor in ’93.”

YSU went 13-2 that season and opened by winning two of its first three games, but it was with Chad Vogt under center and not Brungard.

In their fourth game at Eastern Kentucky, Brungard solidified his hold on the position by throwing three touchdown passes in a 26-22 win at Hanger Field, had a near-flawless run the rest of the regular season — the Penguins’ only loss came at Illinois State 13-10 in the next-to-last game of the regular season — and was primed for the playoffs.

Three home games in the postseason helped its second title run.

“We had a two-headed monster at running back in Tamron Smith and Darnell Clark, plus the best kicker in the nation in Jeff Wilkins. We had great special teams so we were primed for a run,” Brungard said. “In the title game against Marshall, we dominated and while it wasn’t sexy, we silenced the ‘Horns of Huntington.”

Former defensive coordinator Ken Conatser noted that Brungard just had what it takes when he stood and awaited the snap.

“Mark had charisma, the ‘it’ factor, if you will, but he worked as hard as anyone when preparing for an opponent,” Conatser said. “I’ve seen him have fun, but when he walked into the huddle it was all business. He’d say, ‘This is what we’re doing,’ and then go out and do it. We’ve had quarterbacks with more talent, but Mark never made mistakes nor did he turn the ball over.”

The following year the Penguins had all of the components in place to make another successful title run, but the season was almost derailed before it ever got under way.

“We returned a ton of talented players. Our offensive line and secondary was tremendous and Shawn Patton stepped right in at running back,” Brungard said. “Then in the season opener at the Ice Castle, Stephen F. Austin came in, tied us 10-10 and it was the wake-up call that we absolutely needed.”

Brungard took charge and lead the team to 10 consecutive wins with a first-round date the Friday after Thanksgiving against Alcorn State’s Heisman Trophy contender, Steve “Air” McNair and an ESPN national audience waiting.

“It was so loud that day and such a big stage for the entire I-AA nation, I just remember looking out across the street at Lyden House dormitory and seeing people watching the game,” Brungard said. “Coach Tressel yelled a play at me and I couldn’t even hear him.”

YSU went on to scorch Alcorn State 63-20, then followed that up with wins over Eastern Kentucky (18-15) and Montana (28-9) to advance to their fourth consecutive title game and a second with Brungard at the helm.

Brungard passed for 159 yards and a touchdown in that game, also rushing for 97 yards and two scores as he helped YSU defeat Boise State, 28-14.

Deflecting the praise to his teammates for those two titles is what you’d expect of this quiet leader.

“I was in no way the show, just blessed and thankful that I could be part of such a special run,” Brungard said.

Former assistant coach Sam Eddy recalled Brungard as a great team leader.

“Mark was a good quarterback, but his knowledge of what went on around him made him a great quarterback,” Eddy said. “He was a coach on the field who used to bring his lunch with him every day so that he could watch film. He knew as much as the coaching staff about an opponent.”

In 1995, Brungard was one of six team captains but the team finished 3-8 and missed the playoffs for the first time in six years.

“We advanced to the national championship game my first four years, but I always felt that I needed humbled and that ’95 season did exactly that,” Brungard said. “It’s easy to lead when you are winning, but I learned more about leadership and took more from that season as a teacher and now a parent than any other season.”