Youngstown State University
UNI
Penguins Face UNI in Season Finale at Stambaugh
11/12/2024 1:40:00 PM | Football
Youngstown State vs. UNI
Nov. 16, 2024 | Stambaugh Stadium
Youngstown, Ohio | Noon
Broadcast Information
TV – ESPN+ (Brad Wells, Don Patteson, Kelly Burke)
Radio Network – 570 WKBN (Bob Hannon, Steve Leslie, Anthony Romo)
Internet Radio – 570wbkn.iheart.com
App Audio - iHeartRadio App
Penguins
Record: 3-8, 2-5 MVFC
Last Game: at Southern Illinois (L, 33-37)
Head Coach: Doug Phillips (Fifth Season)
X: @ysufootball
Panthers
Record: 2-8, 0-6 MVFC
Last Game: Illinois State (L, 31-9)
Head Coach: Mark Farley (24th Season)
X: @UNIFootball
Series History
All-Time Series: UNI leads 26-9
At YSU: UNI leads 11-6
Win Streak: UNI, 4 games
Last Meeting: UNI, 44-41 (2023)
| Opponent | Date | Location | Video | Audio | Live Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Saturday Nov. 16 | Noon |
Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, Ohio |
ESPN+ | 570 WKBN | Live Stats |
The Youngstown State football team concludes the 2024 season this Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium against UNI. Kickoff at Stambaugh Stadium is set for noon. The game is available on ESPN+, WKBN 570 AM and iHeartRadio.
YSU (3-8 overall, 2-5 in the MVFC) wrapped up its road slate with a tough 37-33 defeat at Southern Illinois last Saturday. The Penguins scored the games initial 28 points only to have the Salukis score 37 of the final 42 to earn their first MVFC win of the campaign.
The Guins bolted out to a 28-0 lead. In the first quarter, QB Beau Brungard scored on runs of three and 27 yards to grab an early two-score lead. In the second quarter, Brungard added his third rushing score of the contest from 26 yards out and later Tyshon King had the first TD reception of his career and the Guins led 28-0 at the 3:59 mark of the second quarter.
SIU scored the next 12 points to grab some momentum, but Mike Wells returned a fumble 96 yards for a defensive two-point conversion giving YSU a 30-12 lead at halftime.
A 38-yard field goal by Andrew Lastovka gave the Guins a 33-18 lead after three periods. But in the fourth, Southern Illinois scored 19 points, including the go-ahead score with 1:04 left. YSU had three throws into the end zone in the final seconds but could not convert.
For the game, Brungard threw for a career-best 266 yards while rushing for 121 yards. WR Max Tomczak had nine receptions for a career-high 154 yards. The Guins ran 84 plays and held the ball for 38:02.
UNI (2-8 and 0-6) is coming off a 31-9 home defeat to Illinois State last Saturday. The Panthers trailed 10-3 at halftime, but the Redbirds had three second-half touchdown runs to break the game open.
On Sunday, long-time head coach Mark Farley announced that this season would be his final at the helm of the Panthers. In his career, he is winningest football coach in UNI and Missouri Valley Football Conference history with 182 victories since 2001.
The Panthers have won the past four meetings, including a wild 44-41 contest last year. YSU's last win over UNI was on Nov. 10, 2018 (31-10).
Senior Day Honors
The Guins will honor a group of 14 seniors prior to the game against the Panthers. That group includes Sam Merryman, Tyshon King, Jawon Hall, Brandan Serrano, Payton Edwards, Logan Pasco, Devin Johnson, Caleb Mitchell, Jaison Williams, Aidan Parker, David Metzler, Karter Kellgren, Hunter Allen and Tyler Bukur. Student assistant Daniel Minenok will also be recognized.
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 36:02. YSU has the national lead by almost a minute over Davidson (35:08).
The Guins have held the ball for more than 40 minutes in three games this season (Duquesne, Missouri State and South Dakota State).
Scoring Drives Breakdown
By Plays
14 | 7-or-fewer plays
23 | 10-or-more plays
31 | 8-or-more plays
By Time
13 | 3 minutes or less
14 | 6-plus minutes
26 | 4-plus minutes
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 11-of-15 attempts this season. He is now 28-of-35 on field-goal tries in his career.
P Brendon Kilpatrick is averaging 45.8 yards per punt on 38 kicks this season. He has 13 punts of 50 yards or more, highlighted by two 65-yard boots. Additionally he has placed a 17 inside the 20-yard line.
He would rank seventh nationally, but is only averaging 3.45 punts per game, just below the NCAA's minimum qualifications of 3.6 attempts a contest. YSU leads all of FCS in net punting.
Tomczak Stepping Up
WR Max Tomczak is having a great 2024 campaign entering the season finale. Through 11 games he has 62 receptions for 803 yards and three touchdowns.
He's had at least four receptions in every game this season, including a season-high-nine against South Dakota. At Southern Illinois he had nine receptions for a career-high 154 yards.
Against Valpo, he had a career-high two touchdown grabs on four catches for 98 yards.
He caught a career-high 56 passes for 669 yards in 2023.
For his career, Tomczak has 144 receptions for 1,902 yards and six scores.
The Wright Stuff
TB Ethan Wright has been a huge addition after transferring from Cincinnati this fall.
Wright has started at tailback each of the past seven games for the Penguins.
In the win over North Dakota, he had a season-high 93 yards on 16 carries. Against Indiana State, he had 81 yards on 15 carries and scored two touchdowns at Missouri State, he rushed for 76 yards on a season-high 17 carries and added a touchdown.
In six games this year, Wright has rushed for 61 yards or more.
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 11 games at YSU, he has 136 carries for 677 yards and 18 receptions for 114 yards.
Brungard Shows Off Run Skills
Sophomore QB Beau Brungard has set the school single-season record for rushing yards by at quarterback.
Brungard has rushed for 920 yards on 143 carries and scored 14 touchdowns this year. He is averaging 83.6 yards per game and an impressive 6.4 yards per rush.
He has smashed the previous mark of 638 yards set by Jeff Ryan in 1999.
At Southern Illinois, he had a career-high 22 carries for 121 yards and three scores. The three scores also tied a career high. He also threw for a career-high 266 yards.
Four times this season he has rushed for more than 100 yards. On two occasions - vs. Valparaiso and North Dakota - he was named the MVFC Offensive Player of the Week.
Johnson Sets Career High
Senior LB Devin Johnson has set a career-high for tackles this season with 47 stops. His previous career best was 25 in 2022.
In the win over North Dakota, Johnson had a career-high eight tackles, highlighted by five solo stops. He's had at least three tackles in each of the past nine games.
In 49 games played during his career, he has been credited with 101 tackles (65 solos).
Traugh Emerges At WR
Redshirt freshman WR Cyrus Traugh has emerged as a go-to receiver this season.
Through 11 games, Traugh has 31 receptions for 378 yards and a team-high four touchdowns.
He had a breakout performance at Pitt with two touchdown receptions and four catches for 89 yards. Against the Panthers he had scoring catches of 44 and 25 yards accounting for both of YSU's touchdowns in the game.
His first career touchdown grab came at Villanova in the season opener. He hauled in his first MVFC touchdown against North Dakota.
The King Penguin
TB Tyshon King has six rushing touchdowns in 2024 and 15 for his YSU career. He scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime on fourth-and-goal vs. North Dakota. At SIU, he caught the first touchdown pass of his two-year career.
This season he has rushed for 487 yards on 124 carries. He had a team-leading 59 yards on 12 carries at Illinois State. Earlier in the season he had a season-high 67-yard performance against Duquesne.
50-Start Club
LS Sam Merryman and OT Jaison Williams started their 50th career games at Illinois State.
Both made their first career starts in February 2021 at North Dakota State.
Offensive lineman Aidan Parker will start for the 50th time on Saturday vs. UNI.
Specialists Earns MVFC Honors
Brendon Kilpatrick and Andrew Lastovka have both been named MVFC Specialists of the Week this year.
YSU is the only MVFC program to have both of its specialists earn weekly honors in 2024.
Kilpatrick was named the Missouri Valley Football's Special Teams Player of the Week following the Penguins' 21-14 win over Indiana State.
Lastovka was named the MVFC Special Teams Player of the Week after YSU's 41-40 victory over North Dakota.
New Faces on Defense
This season, 14 different players have made their first career starts on defense for the Penguins.
Most recently, DB DJ Harris started at Illinois State. 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, 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. Castleberry has started every game 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 every game 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 (51 starts), Aidan Parker (49 starts), left guard David Metzler (33 starts) and left tackle Desmeal Leigh (24).
New to the lineup this year is Shane Keenan who has started 10 times at right guard. Van Keen, who started twice at center in 2023, started the past eight contests along the line, including a starting at center the last seven games.
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.
In his career, Williams has started 51 games for the Penguins including the last 24.
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 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.
Numbers of Note
• Turnover Margin: Since 1996, YSU is 158-49 when they win or tie the turnover margin. When committing more turnovers, YSU is just 32-95.
Since 1990 YSU is:
• 179-22-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 21 points in a game.
• 159-24 when rushing for 200-plus yards.
• 183-35 when scoring 28-or-more points.
• 97-14-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.
• 213-24 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.
