The Thunderbirds evened their record at 3-3, putting them at .500 for the first time since 2004 with a 14-7 victory over Youngstown State on Saturday at Eccles Coliseum.

"This win means a lot for our psyche," said T-Birds coach Ed Lamb. "[Youngstown] is the winningest program in our league. To see our guys have a connection with all the hard work they've done is really fulfilling."

In the first 10 minutes it looked like SUU was in over its head against the Penguins. Youngstown took apart the Thunderbird defense early on, getting on the board in the opening minute with a 45-yard touchdown run by Kamryn Keys.

But all it took was two first quarter turnovers to shift the momentum back to the Thunderbirds.

After Youngstown's opening scoring drive, SUU's Scott Larsen forced a Youngstown fumble on its second drive and, minutes later, Tico Pringle intercepted a pass in the end zone to end the late first-quarter threat.

In the second quarter, Youngstown QB Brandon Summers was injured after a sack and redshirt freshman Paul Corsaro was brought in.

SUU's defense took advantage of the change and sacked Corsaro in his first play of the game. That set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Deckar Alexander to tie things up 7-7 at the end of the first half.

"We hung in there," said Lamb. "They really got up on us on the first three drives, but we were able to stop it with opportunity turnovers."

jgustavson@sltrib.com