Youngstown State at Murray State
Nov. 18, 2023 | Roy Stewart Stadium
Murray, Ky. | 2 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Central

Broadcast Information
TV – ESPN+ / MyYTV
Radio Network – 570 AM WKBN (Bob Hannon, Steve Leslie)
Internet Radio – 570wbkn.iheart.com
App Audio - iHeartRadio App

Penguins
Record: 6-4, 4-3 MVFC
Last Game: vs. South Dakota State (L, 0-31)
Head Coach: Doug Phillips (Fourth Season)
X (Formerly Twitter): @ysufootball

Racers
Record: 2-8, 1-6 MVFC
Last Game: at Illinois State (L, 44-7)
Head Coach: Dean Hood (Fourth Season)
X (Formerly Twitter): @racersfootball

Series History
All-Time Series: MSU leads 6-2
In Murray: MSU leads 4-0
Win Streak: YSU, 1 game
Last Meeting: YSU 20-13 (1987)

    The No. 25 Youngstown State football team plays its final game of the regular season at Murray State on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff for the contest at Roy Stewart Stadium is set for 2 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Central time. The game is available on ESPN+, MyYTV, WKBN 570 AM and iHeartRadio.
    The Penguins (6-4 overall, 4-3 in MVFC) will look to stay in playoff consideration when they visit Murray for the first time since 1986. At that time, the Guins and Racers were each members of the Ohio Valley Conference. The last meeting between the schools was on Nov. 7, 1987 in Youngstown.
    Youngstown State will be looking to complete a 7-4 regular season for the second straight year and finish with a 5-3 MVFC mark once again. A win would give YSU five conference wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since the 2005 and 2006 seasons. The last time the program had back-to-back seven-plus victories was in 2013 and 2014.
    Last Saturday, YSU could never get on track against No. 1 South Dakota State in a 34-0 loss at Stambaugh Stadium. The unbeaten Jackrabbits led 3-0 after the first quarter before breaking things open with 17 points in the second quarter. On the first play of the third quarter, SDSU added a 56-yard touchdown pass and the Guins could not battle back.
    Murray State (2-8, 1-6) is completing its first year in the MVFC on Saturday by hosting the Penguins. Last Saturday, the Racers dropped a 44-7 decision at Illinois State. That contest was 14-7 after the first quarter before Illinois State added the final 30 points of the contest.
    MSU beat Indiana State in its first conference decision on Sept. 30 at Roy Stewart Stadium, but since has played one of the tougher MVFC slates with six of its last seven contests against playoff-contending teams.
    The Penguins were members of the Ohio Valley Conference from 1981 to 1987 before becoming an independent. MSU was one of the founding members of the OVC back in 1948 before leaving the conference recently.
    YSU has never won in four previous visits to Murray dating back to 1970. The Guins have played games in Murray in 1970, 1980, 1984 and 1986.

Offense Putting Up the Points
    In their nine games against FCS opponents this season the Penguins have scored at least 31 points in seven of them. In five of those contests, the Guins have registered 40 or more.
    YSU set a school record with six consecutive 30-plus point contests and tied the school mark for 40-point games in a season with five (2016, 2001 and 1978 are the others).
    The Penguins opened the season by scoring 52 points against Valparaiso before adding 48 against Robert Morris to conclude the non-league season. In five league games, YSU has scored 44 against Missouri State, 41 vs. UNI and Illinois State and 31 each against Southern Illinois and South Dakota.
    In the nine FCS games, YSU is averaging 34.8 points per game. In their seven MVFC contests, the Guins are scoring 29.5 points per game.

Passing Numbers Skyrocket
    The Penguins have unleashed their aerial attack the past five contests with 101 completions for 1,299 yards and 11 scores. Through the first five games of the season, YSU had just four passing touchdowns.
    Against Missouri State, YSU threw for 415 yards, the third most in a game in school history.  Only a 446-yard effort vs. Eastern Kentucky in 1985 and 418 at Western Illinois in 2018 rank higher. It was third time this year the Guins had thrown for more than 300 yards in a game. 
    At Indiana State, YSU passed for 254 yards as Mitch Davidson was 25-of-37 via the air.

Tough On the Run
    The Penguins are allowing just over 100 yards rushing per game which ranks 13th in the FCS.
    Through 10 games, YSU is allowing just 101.5 yards per game. Seven times this year, the Guins have allowed fewer than 111 yards in a game, highlighted by a season-low six against Southern Illinois.
    On 260 carries against, the Guins have surrendered just 1,105 yards this season. However, 492 of those yards have come on 13 carries. On the other 246 attempts, YSU has allowed 533 yards (2.17 per rush).

Scoring on the Ground
    Through the first 10 games of the season, YSU has scored 24 rushing touchdowns. Last year in 11 games, the Guins had 20 and that was with first-team All-America running back Jaleel Mclaughlin in the backfield.
    First-year TB Tyshon King leads the squad with nine rushing scores. TB Dra Rushton has seven scores while QB Mitch Davidson has added five rushing TDs.
    In total, five Guins have scored a rushing touchdown. In 2022, only four Penguins scored on the ground.

King Penguin Impresses
    Transfer running back Tyshon King has been a strong addition to the program since coming in from Northern Michigan.
    Through 10 games at YSU in 2023, King has rushed for 742 yards on 137 carries and scored a team-high nine touchdowns. 
    Four times he has rushed for more than 111 yards, all of which have come at Stambaugh Stadium, including a career-high 148 yards vs. Illinois State.
     On three occasions he has been named the MVFC Newcomer of the Week for his efforts.

Rushton With Career Year
    TB Dra Rushton has had the best stretch of his YSU career during MVFC action.
    In his last six contests he has 84 carries for 374 yards and four touchdowns. He also had an important receiving touchdown in the win over Illinois State.
    At South Dakota, Rushton rushed for a career-high 116 yards on 16 carries. He ripped off a career-long rush of 33 yards vs. the Coyotes.
    Against Illinois State he had 109 yards on 19 carries. He had a key touchdown reception in the fourth quarter vs. the Redbirds.
    This year he has rushed for 468 yards on 110 carries. Entering this season he had 387 yards on 87 rushing attempts.

Lastovka Making Kicks
    First-year PK Andrew Lastovka has been a major contributor after taking over for three-year starter Colt McFadden this season.
    Lastovka is 11-of-13 on field-goal attempts this season. He made a season-high three field goals against Missouri State before making two of three, including a career-long 45-yarder at Indiana State. He is 35-of-36 on PAT kicks this season as well.
    Against Illinois State, he kicked a 37-yard field goal as time expired in YSU's 41-38 win.
    The walk-off winner vs. Illinois State was almost exactly one year since Colt McFadden made a 42-yard field goal as time expired to beat Western Illinois.

Strong on Special Teams
    The Penguins special teams have performed well throughout the campaign.
    YSU ranks seventh in the nation in net punting at 41.5 yards and is third in the nation with four blocked punts.
    Michael Voitus blocked a Valparaiso punt and Jaylen Castleberry returned it for a touchdown. Against RMU, Daryan Bowling was able to get his hands on a punt. At UNI, Bryce Oliver blocked a punt that was recovered by Deamontae Diggs and set the Guins up at the UNI nine. Against MSU, it was Diggs with a block that set up a field goal just before halftime.

Oliver Closing in on Flea
    WR Bryce Oliver has been a big producer for the Guins since his arrival and he could soon be the program's leader in career touchdown receptions.
    Oliver has 23 touchdown catches and trails only Jim "Flea" Ferranti by just two with three regular-season games to play.  
    Oliver has played in 30 games and has a touchdown reception in 16 contests (four in 2023, seven in 2022 and five in 2021). 
    In the last 14 games he has played against MVFC foes dating back to October 2022, he has caught touchdown passes in 10 contests.
    In his YSU career, Oliver has 130 receptions for 1,772 yards and 23 touchdowns.  This season he has 45 catches for 685 yards and five scores.

Charleston Having Big Year
    One of the great stories this season has been the return to the lineup of CJ Charleston. 
    Charleston missed last year after suffering an Achilles tendon injury in fall camp.
    He has 444 yards on 29 receptions and three touchdowns this year. Entering the season he had 27 catches for 361 yards in his career. 
    He had a career-high six catches for 119 yards against RMU in September. He has touchdown receptions against Valparaiso, Illinois State and Missouri State. His 72-yard touchdown reception vs. ISU was a career best.
    The season-opener against Valpo marked his first game since Nov. 20, 2021, which was at Southern Illinois. Since his debut in 2019, has caught 56 passes for 841 yards in 27 games played.

Howard Steps Up On D
    LB Alex Howard leads the Penguins with 63 total tackles (33-30) on the year. That total crushes his 2022 season total of 34.
    He's had at least five tackles in all but one game with a high of nine against Valparaiso and Illinois State.
    He has been credited with sacks against Valparaiso, Ohio State and Southern Illinois. Last time out he had six tackles at South Dakota.
    Last year, Howard had 34 total tackles and just 3.5 TFLs playing in 10 games while making three starts.

Davidson First Over 2K in 10
    QB Mitch Davidson is the first YSU quarterback to pass for more than 2,000 yards since Kurt Hess in 2013. This year, Davidson has completed 188-of-271 passes (69.4 percent) for 2,328 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also has five rushing scores this year. 
    He's tied the school record with three 300-yard passing games in one season joining Denny Klembara on the short list.
    Davidson threw for 390 yards vs. Missouri State, 332 at UNI and had 303 against Robert Morris. He has four touchdown passes in each of the last two games. In 10 of his 15 career starts, he's thrown for more than 200 yards.
     Davidson had an impressive performance during the 2022 campaign completing 119-of-201 passes for 12 touchdowns and just one interception.
    He has thrown just four interceptions in his last 367 attempts.

O-Line Features Strength
    YSU's offensive line features four of five starters from a season ago. That group has a large amount of starting experience with Jaison Williams (37 starts), Aidan Parker (35 starts), David Metzler (28 starts) and Ryan Johnson (25 starts) leading the way. Redshirt freshman Desmeal Leigh has started all 10 games at left tackle.

Preseason MVFC Accolades
    WR Bryce Oliver, OL Jaison Williams and DE Dylan Wudke were all named preseason first-team All-MVFC selections. DT Chris Fitzgerald and LS Sam Merryman were named to the preseason second team while TB/TE Jake Benio, LB Greg Benton and DB Quincy Lenton were tabbed preseason honorable-mention.

Experience On the D-Line
    The Guins have a wealth of experience on the defensive line as well.
    The defensive line features veterans Dylan Wudke (34 starts), Chris Fitzgerald (31), Anthony Johnson (16), Andres Lehrmann (10) and Devin Lee (five). Fitzgerald has started 31 straight games while Wudke has started 29.

Numbers of Note
• Turnover Margin: Since 1996, YSU is 156-48 when they win or tie the turnover margin. When committing more turnovers, YSU is just 30-88.
Since 1990 YSU is:
• 177-22-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 21 points in a game.
• 156-23 when rushing for 200-plus yards.
• 180-32 when scoring 28-or-more points.
• 96-14-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.
• 209-23 when leading entering the fourth.
• 95-3-2 holding opponents to 10 points-or-less.
• YSU is 21-6 when a back rushes for more than 200 yards in a game.