Youngstown State University
Indiana State
Penguins To Tussle With Indiana State on Homecoming
10/1/2024 1:00:00 PM | Football
Youngstown State vs. Indiana State
Oct. 5, 2024 | Stambaugh Stadium
Youngstown, Ohio | 2 p.m.
Broadcast Information
TV – ESPN+ (Drae Smith, Chris Sammarone)
Radio Network – 570 AM WKBN (Bob Hannon, Steve Leslie, Anthony Romo)
Internet Radio – 570wbkn.iheart.com
App Audio - iHeartRadio App
Penguins
Record: 1-4, 0-1 MVFC
Last Game: Missouri State (L, 31-38)
Head Coach: Doug Phillips (Fifth Season)
X (Formerly Twitter): @ysufootball
Sycamores
Record: 1-3, 0-0 MVFC
Last Game: Houston Christian (L, 24-27)
Head Coach: Curt Mallory (Eighth Season)
X (Formerly Twitter): @IndStFB
Series History
All-Time Series: YSU leads 24-8
At YSU: YSU leads 12-3
Win Streak: YSU, 2 games
Last Meeting: YSU 19-7 (2023)
| Opponent | Date | Location | Video | Audio | Live Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Saturday Oct. 5 | 2 PM |
Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, Ohio |
ESPN+ | 570 WKBN | Live Stats |
The Youngstown State football team returns home to take on Indiana State in the annual Homecoming Game on Saturday. Kickoff at Stambaugh Stadium is set for 2 p.m. The game is available on ESPN+, WKBN 570 AM and iHeartRadio.
The Penguins (1-4 overall, 0-1 in the MVFC) suffered a 38-31 setback at Missouri State last Saturday. Trailing by 14 points in the fourth quarter, the Guins tied the game with just over five minutes left, however MSU scored in the final seconds to snatch the win.
YSU took a 7-0 lead when Beau Brungard scored on a nine-yard run in the first quarter. The Bears answered with two big-play touchdowns to go ahead 14-7 in the second quarter. With four minutes left in the second quarter, Tyshon King tied the contest at 14 on an eight-yard TD run. In the final four minutes of the half, the Bears added 10 points to lead 24-14 at the half.
Andrew Lastovka's 38-yard field goal was the lone score of the third quarter, but YSU found itself trailing 31-17 after the first play of the fourth.
The Guins rallied as Ethan Wright scored on a three-yard run and with 5:46 left, Brungard bolted 44 yards for a touchdown tying the contest at 31. After the teams traded punts, MSU took over with just over a minute remaining. The Bears clinched the win when QB Jacob Clark found Lance Mason with eight seconds left.
Indiana State (1-3, 0-0) will be playing its MVFC opener this week in Youngstown. The Sycamores dropped a tough 27-24 decision to Houston Christian at Memorial Stadium in Terre Haute.
ISU trailed 17-0 after the first quarter, but closed to within three points with two second quarter TDs, including an 89-yard run by Plez Lawrence. After another HCU touchdown, a field goal cut the deficit to 24-17 at halftime. Down three with 59 seconds, the Sycamores missed a 29-yard field goal attempt that would have tied the game.
YSU is back at home for the first time since Sept. 21. After playing three of their first five games on the road, the Guins have three contests at Stambaugh Stadium in October.
The Wright Stuff
TB Ethan Wright has been a huge addition to the program after transferring from Cincinnati.
At Missouri State last week, Wright made his first start at YSU. He rushed for 76 yards on a season-high 17 carries and had a touchdown.
In four of the five games this year, Wright has rushed for 61 yards or more, including a season-best 77 against Valparaiso. That total included a 64-yard touchdown run.
In 32 career games played at UC from 2020-23, he had 215 yards on 44 attempts and caught five passes for 44 yards. After five games at YSU, he has 56 carries for 312 yards and 10 catches for 60 yards.
Castleberry With Best Effort
Junior CB Jaylen Castleberry produced the best performance of his YSU career at Missouri State last Saturday.
Castleberry had nine tackles, all solo stops, in the contest vs. the Bears. For the season, he has 18 total tackles, including 15 solo stops. He is one of three players with 15 solo tackles.
Voitus Has Big Game
Junior DE Michael Voitus collected a pair of sacks in the contest at Missouri State.
Voitus registered two of YSU's season-high three sacks in the contest. After five games, he leads the team with three sacks and has been credited with eight total tackles, seven of which are solo stops.
Voitus also had three sacks in 11 games played in 2022, two of which came at MSU.
Traugh Emerges At WR
Redshirt freshman WR Cyrus Traugh has emerged as a go-to receiver this season.
Through five games, Traugh has 16 receptions for 228 yards and a team-high three touchdowns.
He had a breakout performance at Pitt with two touchdown receptions and four catches for 89 yards. At Pitt he had scoring receptions of 44 and 25 yards accounting for both of YSU's touchdowns in the game.
His other touchdown grab came at Villanova in the season opener.
The King Penguin
Tailback Tyshon King has four rushing touchdowns through five games in 2024. He had a season-high two scores against Duquesne.
This season he has rushed for 192 yards on 56 carries, including a season-high 67-yard performance against Duquesne.
In his first season at YSU last year, King rushed for 1,011 yards on 187 carries and scored nine touchdowns en route to earning second-team All-MVFC honors. Six times last year he has eclipsed the 100-yard mark.
Tomczak Stepping Up
WR Max Tomczak is off to a great start to the 2024 season. Through five games he has 24 receptions for 305 yards and two touchdowns.
In the win over Valpo, he had a career-high two touchdown receptions, hauling in four catches for 98 yards. Against Duquesne he caught five passes for 62 yards. At Pitt he had a season-high six catches for 48 yards. At Missouri State, he had four receptions.
Tomczak caught 47 passes for 564 yards and a touchdown last year. He led the Penguins during MVFC play with 41 receptions. In 2022, he had 26 catches for 430 yards and two TDs.
For his career, he has 97 receptions for 1,299 yards and five scores.
Specialists Keep Excelling
The Penguins specialists are two of the most talented at the FCS level.
PK Andrew Lastovka, who was 17-of-20 on field-goal attempts in 2023, has made all five of his attempts this season, including a season-long 46-yard boot at Pittsburgh. He is now 22-of-25 on field-goal tries in his career.
P Brendon Kilpatrick boomed a career-long punt of 65 yards in the opener at Villanova and added a punt of 63 yards at Pitt. He has 15 punts on the year and is averaging 45.8 per kick. He has six punts of 50 yards or more.
Brungard Shows Off Run Skills
Sophomore QB Beau Brungard has rushed for 430 yards on 58 carries after five games. He is averaging an impressive 86 yards per game and 7.4 yards per rush.
Twice this year he has rushed for more than 100 yards - 194 vs. Valparaiso and 110 at Missouri State.
He has 10-or-more rushes in four of the first five games with a high of 16 vs. Villanova and Missouri State.
New Faces on Defense
This season, 13 different players have made their first career starts on defense for the Penguins.
Most recently, CB Payton Edwards (Indiana State transfer) and DB Andrew Centofanti started at Missouri State. The week before, LB Preston Zandier started at Pitt. Against Duquesne, DT Tyler Bukur, DT Nehemiah Dukes and CB Jordan Rudolph were starters.
Against Villanova in the season opener, first-time starters were SS Stephon Hall, FS Makai Shahid, DB Kerion Martin and CB Isaiah Hackett, LBs Mike Wells and Devin Johnson and DTs Joe Brown and Jaelen Crider.
Previous starters were CB Jaylen Castleberry, DE Dawan Martin and DE Hunter Allen. Allen and Castleberry have started all five games so far this year.
Father-Son QB Starters
QB Beau Brungard joined his father, Mark, as starting quarterbacks for the Guins.
Beau Brungard, a third-year sophomore, started for the first time in his career at Villanova. He has started all five games for YSU so far this season.
Mark made his starting debut on Sept. 2, 1993, at Western Michigan. Ironically both of those were season-opening Thursday night road games.
O-Line Features Experience
YSU's offensive line has a plethora of experience with three players starting more than 30 games.
That group features right tackle Jaison Williams (44 starts), Aidan Parker (42 starts), left guard David Metzler (32 starts) and left tackle Desmeal Leigh (18).
New to the lineup this year is Shane Keenan who has started five times at right guard. Van Keen, who started twice at center in 2023, started the past three contests along the line, including a start at center at Missouri State.
Grinding Down the Clock
The Guins, who ranked first in the FCS in time of possession averaging 35:06 per game in 2023, are currently first in the country again with an impressive TOP average of 38:00.
The Guins lead nationally in the category by more than a minute-and-a-half per game ahead of Valley members North Dakota State and North Dakota.
Possession Time Game-By-Game
42:17 vs. Duquesne
42:00 at Missouri State
37:29 at Pittsburgh
36:12 at Villanova
33:25 vs. Valparaiso
Scoring Drives Breakdown
By Plays
8 | 7-or-fewer plays
12 | 10-or-more plays
15 | 8-or-more plays
By Time
7 | 3 minutes or less
8 | 6-plus minutes
14 | 4-plus minutes
Brungard's Big Day
QB Beau Brungard rushed for 194 yards on just 10 carries and had three touchdowns against Valparaiso on Sept. 7. For his efforts he was named the MVFC's Offensive Player of the Week. He also completed 11-of-14 passes for 125 and a pair of touchdowns.
He was just one yard shy of the school record for rushing yards in a game by a quarterback. Demeatric Crenshaw had 195 yards against Missouri State during the 2021 campaign.
Top 5 QB Rushing Performances
195, Demeartic Crenshaw vs. Missouri State, 2021
194, Beau Brungard vs. Valparaiso, 2024
152, Matt Rycraft vs. WIU, 2003
134, Demeartic Crenshaw vs. WIU, 2021
125, Jeff Ryan vs. Hofstra, 2000
Williams Garners Multiple Preseason Accolades
Veteran OL Jaison Williams was named to multiple preseason FCS All-American teams.
Williams was tabbed a preseason Second-Team All-American by FCS Football Central/SI.com and a third-team All-American by Stats Perform.
In 2023, he earned second-team all-conference honors after being named Honorable-Mention All-MVFC in 2021 and 2022.
Five Earn All-MVFC Honors
YSU had five preseason All-MVFC selections. Garnering first-team accolades were OL Jaison Williams and TB Tyshon King.
Additionally, WR Max Tomczak was a second-team pick while long snapper Sam Merryman and placekicker Andrew Lastovka were honorable-mention selections.
2024 Team Captains
YSU has elected five team captains for the 2024 season. The five players voted captains for the upcoming year are Jaison Williams (54), Tyshon King (10), Michael Voitus (42), Devin Johnson (45) and Logan Pasco (34). Williams and King are the offensive captains, Voitus and Johnson are the defensive captains and Pasco is the special teams captain.
Memorable Performance
The performance against Valparaiso was one of the top all-around efforts in program history.
YSU's 59 points tied for the seventh most in a game in school history. The 429 rushing yards were the eighth-most while the 554 total yards ranked as the 19th-best in program history.
Numbers of Note
• Turnover Margin: Since 1996, YSU is 158-48 when they win or tie the turnover margin. When committing more turnovers, YSU is just 30-93.
Since 1990 YSU is:
• 178-22-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 21 points in a game.
• 158-23 when rushing for 200-plus yards.
• 182-34 when scoring 28-or-more points.
• 97-14-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.
• 211-23 when leading entering the fourth.
• 95-3-2 holding opponents to 10 points-or-less.
