Youngstown, Ohio — Beau Brungard found Austin Bray in the end zone for a two-point conversion in overtime, and Youngstown State's football team beat UNI 39-38 on Senior Day in the 2024 season finale at Stambaugh Stadium.
The Penguins took a 31-28 lead on a 12-yard pass from Brungard to Max Tomczak with 1:21 left in the fourth quarter, and the Panthers forced overtime with a 32-yard field goal by Caden Palmer with six seconds remaining.
UNI started overtime with possession and scored a touchdown on its third play, and Palmer's extra point put the Panthers ahead 38-31. Brungard ran for seven yards on fourth-and-one to keep the Penguins alive, and Tyshon King scored from the 9-yard line on the next play to make it 38-37. YSU elected to go for the win, and Brungard hit Bray, his second option on the play, in the middle of the end zone for the game-winner.
Youngstown State finishes the season with a 4-8 record, and each of the last two games at Stambaugh Stadium resulted in one-point overtime victories against Missouri Valley Football Conference opponents.
Brungard finished with two touchdowns passing and two touchdowns rushing in a banner day for the sophomore quarterback. He completed 31 of his 36 pass attempts, including his first 13, and finished with 256 yards through the air. He added 78 yards on 16 carries on the ground, and he finished the season with 998 yards rushing.
Brungard's 13 consecutive completions are the second-most in school history behind only Tom Zetts' 15 straight connections on Oct. 2, 2004, at Western Kentucky. Brungard was 11-for-11 in the first half, and he had completions on his first two attempts in the third quarter.
Tomczak had 10 receptions for 87 yards and the fourth-quarter touchdown, and Cyrus Traugh had five catches and a touchdown. King finished with 54 yards on the ground, including nine on the touchdown in overtime.
The Penguins jumped out to a 14-0 lead, but UNI scored the next 21 points to set up a back-and-forth second half.
The Penguins took the game's opening drive 75 yards on 10 plays, and Brungard concluded it with his first of two rushing touchdowns in the first half. Youngstown State converted on an early second-and-11 and a third-and-3 on the drive, and a 25-yard pass from Brungard to Tomczak moved the Penguins into the red zone. Two plays later, Brungard showed his elusiveness when he scrambled for a 17-yard touchdown.
YSU's defense forced a punt on the Panthers' opening drive, and the Penguins went 86 yards on 13 plays on another touchdown drive to go up 14-0. YSU didn't have any negative plays on the drive, and a 14-yard pass to Tomczak on the 11th play was the longest play. Da'Shaun Whatley followed the Tomczak reception with a rush to the UNI 1, and Brungard plowed into the end zone for his second rushing score of the game to put YSU up 14-0 with 12:19 left on the clock.
Youngstown State got a big play on special teams on UNI's next drive when Dominic Julius blocked a punt to give YSU the ball on the Panthers 27. A face mask penalty and a sack were detrimental, and Andrew Lastovka's 45-yard field-goal attempt was wide right. UNI took advantage of the opportunity and marched 73 yards on nine plays and scored on a 16-yard pass from Aidan Dunne to Desmond Hutson with 20 seconds left to make it a 14-7 margin at halftime.
Set to receive the second-half kickoff, the Panthers capitalized on consecutive possessions by taking the opening drive 63 yards on six plays. Hutson broke several tackles on a 39-yard catch-and-run to get the Panthers inside the 10, and Dunne completed a six-yard touchdown pass to Layne Pryor two plays later to tie the score at 14-14.
The Penguins got a stop defensively on the Panthers' next possession, but UNI was setup with good field possession again after YSU fumbled the punt return. On the next play, Dunne and Tye Edwards connected on a 29-yard touchdown to put UNI ahead 21-14.
On its first drive of the fourth quarter, Youngstown State finished off another long drive that resulted with a tying touchdown. The Penguins converted a third-and-five on a 10-yard pass to Tomczak on their side of the field, and Brungard hit Cyrus Traugh on a five-yard pass on 4th-and-five to keep the drive alive in UNI territory. That duo connected again two plays later for a 22-yard scoring pass where Traugh extended his arm into the end zone to tie the score at 21 with 8:06 remaining.
YSU's defense forced a three-and-out, and Andrew Lastovka kicked a 51-yard field goal on YSU's next possession at the 5:09 mark to put the Penguins ahead for the first time in the second half at 24-21.
The lead, however, lasted six seconds as UNI's Sergio Morancy returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards to put the Panthers up 28-24.
Brungard found Luke Hensley for a 21-yard pass on third-and-eight on the next drive, and the quarterback hit Richard Dandridge on a 12-yard pass down to the UNI 27. King ran for 11 yards on the next play, and Brungard connected with Tomczak in the right side of the end zone for the go-ahead score with 1:21 left. The pass was called incomplete on the field, but it was overturned after review.
The Panthers drove to the red zone with 17 seconds left, and YSU's defense forced three straight incompletions to force the 32-yard field-goal attempt by Palmer at the end of regulation.
The Penguins outgained the Panthers 402-308, and they ran 26 more plays and controlled the clock by more than 15 minutes.
