Youngstown State at Illinois State
Oct. 18, 2025 | Hancock Stadium
Normal, Ill. | 3 p.m. Eastern/2 p.m. Central

Broadcast Information
TV – ESPN+ (Kurt Pegler, Clay Harbor, Kacy Standohar)
Radio Network – 570 AM WKBN (Bob Hannon, Steve Leslie)
Internet Radio – 570wbkn.iheart.com
App Audio - iHeartRadio App

Penguins
2025 Record: 3-3, 0-2 MVFC
Last Game: North Dakota 35, YSU 17
Head Coach: Doug Phillips (Sixth Season)
X: @ysufootball

Redbirds
2025 Record: 4-2, 1-1 MVFC
Last Game: Illinois State 46, Murray State 32
Head Coach: Brock Spack (17th Season)
X: @RedbirdFB

Series History
All-Time Series: Tied 16-16
Last Meeting: ISU 23-16 (2024)
In Normal: Illinois State leads, 11-6

Opponent	Date	Location	Video	Audio	Live Stats
	Saturday Oct. 18 | 3 PM ET	Hancock Stadium Normail, Ill.	ESPN+	570 WKBN	Live Stats

    The 25th-ranked (AFCA/Coaches Poll) Youngstown State football team visits No. 9 Illinois State on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff for the contest is set for 3 p.m. Eastern/2 p.m. Central at the Hancock Stadium in Normal, Ill. The game is available on the ESPN+, WKBN 570 AM and iHeartRadio.
    • YSU suffered a 35-17 setback at North Dakota last Saturday at the Alerus Center. The Penguins fell behind 14-0 in the first quarter and were forced to play catch up the remainder of the contest. Down 28-7 in the third quarter, the Guins outscored the Fighting Hawks 10-0, to make it an 11-point contest in the fourth quarter. But a nearly eight-minute long scoring drive by UND put the game away.
    • QB Beau Brungard threw for 269 yards and two scores while rushing for 71 yards. On the season he has now thrown for 1,299 yards completing 121-of-189 passes and has thrown for nine TDs with just one interception.  He has rushed for 804 yards on 111 carries and has nine scores.
    • At North Dakota, wide receivers Flash Wilson and Mike Solomon caught the first TD passes of their YSU careers. Wilson hauled in a 37-yard scoring toss while Solomon had a 20-yard TD catch.
    • Tomczak is now the school record holder for career receptions with 188. His four catches at North Dakota pushed him past the school's previous leader, Jim Ferranti. Ferranti's record of 186 had stood since 1979. Tomczak also now has a reception in a school-record 39 straight games. Entering the game at Illinois State, Tomczak has 2,480 receiving yards which trails Ferranti's 3,103.
    • Illinois State (4-2, 1-1 MVFC) picked up a 46-32 high-scoring win at Murray State last Saturday night. The Redbirds jumped out to a 28-3 lead against the Racers and were in front 43-24 after the third quarter. QB Tommy Rittenhouse threw for 338 yards in the contest and had four TD passes. 
    • The Penguins are making their second trip to Normal in as many years. In fact, this is YSU's third trip in the past four seasons to Hancock Stadium. Last year, the Guins dropped a 23-16 decision on Nov. 2. YSU won a 19-17 thriller at ISU in 2022 and kicked a walk-off field goal for a 41-38 win in 2023 in Youngstown.
    • The all-time series between the two schools is tied 16-16.

Defense With Eight Takeaways

    The Penguins forced eight turnovers in six games, which has exceeded their total of seven from 12 games in the 2024 campaign.
    YSU forced four turnovers in the season opener vs. Mercyhurst with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries. That marked the most turnovers forced in a game by YSU since Nov. 19, 2022 (Southern Illinois).
    Against RMU, the Guins turned a late second-quarter fumble into a TD. Against Michigan State, Towson and South Dakota State the Guins had interceptions.
    Last year, the Guins had three interceptions and four recovered fumbles. 

Among The Best in The FCS

    QB Beau Brungard is among the nation's top performers in numerous rushing categories.
    He ranks fourth in rushing yards per game (121.2), sixth in rushing touchdowns and eighth in total touchdowns (nine) and eighth in total rushing yards (727).
    His 1,854 career rushing yards rank him 17th among active FCS players.

The Wright Stuff

    TB Ethan Wright has returned to the lineup after suffering an Achilles injury at Southern Illinois last November.
    Against South Dakota State, he had four receptions for 35 yards and two rushes for 24, including a long of 19. At North Dakota, he caught two passes and had two rushes.
    In 2024, Wright started at tailback on seven occasions for the Penguins en route to being named to the MVFC All-Newcomer squad. In 12 games at YSU, he has 138 carries for 687 yards and 20 receptions for 122 yards.
    In 32 career games played at UC from 2020-23, he had 215 yards on 44 attempts and caught five passes for 44 yards.

First-Time Starters

    The Penguins have had 22 first-time starters so far this year through six games.
    On offense, WR Flash Wilson, guards Joe Sferra and Isaac Perkins, TB Jaden Gilbert and TE Austin Bray started for the first time. On defense, DBs Dathan Hickey, Justin Wimpye and Dayne Hodge, LB Carston Marshall and defensive lineman Ebony Curry Jr., Thomas Jolly and Collin Vaughn started for the initial time. 
    Against Robert Morris, LB Graydon Rollins, WR Mike Solomon and TE Alex McDonald were first-time starters. 
    At Michigan State, WR RK Dandridge and TB Tahir Mills started. At Towson, DT Cameron Cunningham, DB Jussiah Williams-West and TE Michael Manna all started for the first time. At North Dakota, RT Nick Nielsen started for the initial time.

National Honors Trifecta

    The Penguins have had the Stats Perform National FCS Players of the Week on offense, defense and special teams this season.
    PK Andrew Lastovka was named the National Special Teams Player of the Week after kicking the game-winning field goal at Towson. QB Beau Brungard was named the National Offensive Player of the Week following his record-setting performance against Robert Morris. DB Dathan Hickey took top national Defensive honors following the opening game vs. Mercyhurst.

Tomczak Sets Catch Record

    WR Max Tomczak broke the YSU all-time receptions record on his third catch of the game at North Dakota last week.
    Tomczak now has 188 receptions, which move him past Jim Ferranti on the YSU all-time list. Ferranti's mark of 186 had stood since 1979.
    With his 2,401 yards receiving, Tomczak still has an outside shot of reaching Ferranti's school mark of 3,103 yards. 
    This year he has 33 catches for 477 yards and four touchdowns.
    In 2024, Tomczak had 73 grabs for 904 yards and four touchdowns. He had 56 catches for 669 yards in 2023 and 26 for 430 yards in 2022. In three games this season, he has 190 yards on 14 receptions.
    He has caught a pass in a school record 39 consecutive contests. Tomczak also has at least four receptions in 21 of his last 24 games.

Specialists Own Experience

    The Penguins' specialists group features an impressive array of experience.
    YSU has third-year starters in punter Brendon Kilpatrick and placekicker Andrew Lastovka. New to the lineup is long snapper Byron Floyd, who started for two seasons at Pitt and one at Buffalo, before transferring into the program.
    Kilpatrick was selected as the FCS Punter of the Year by the Augusta Sports Council in 2024. 
    Lastovka has made 36 field goals in 31 career contests, including two as time expired. Floyd has started 44 games (25 at Pitt, 13 at Buffalo and six at YSU).
    Lastovka has made 70 straight PATs dating back to Nov. 18, 2023. Kilpatrick is averaging 46.8 yards a punt on 21 kicks this year. Six of his 21 kicks are longer than 50 yards.

Hodge Headlines Back End

    DB  Dayne Hodge has played a key role on the defense after bringing a good wealth of experience to the secondary. 
    In six games at YSU, Hodge leads the Penguins in total tackles with 40 (22 solos and 18 assists). On three occasions he's registered nine-or-more tackles, with a season-high 10 against Mercyhurst in his YSU debut back in August.
    Hodge played in 28 games and started 19 contests at safety for Tulsa. 
    In 2024, he started 11 games. Hodge finished second on the team with 60 tackles (30 solos and 30 assists) with three pass breakups. In 2023, he played in all 12 games and started eight contests and registered 57 stops.

Harris, Shahid Step Up

    CB DJ Harris and SS Makai Shahid are key veterans in the secondary. Shahid ranks fourth on the team with 33 tackles while Harris is sixth with 26. The duo has combined to make 43 solo stops.
    In two seasons a starter, Shahid has 90 tackles as a starter, including 57 solo stops. He had 56 stops in 12 games last year. Harris has 82 total tackles at YSU, including 55 solo stops. In his collegiate career, he has 133 tackles (84 solos). 

Flash Finding Form

    WR Ky "Flash" Wilson is becoming a key threat for the Penguins as the season moves in.
    Wilson has 647 all-purpose yards - 406 on kickoff returns, 229 receiving and 12 rushing - in six games. 
    At North Dakota, he had a YSU-high of 102 yards receiving on four receptions and returned a kickoff 54 yards. He also caught his second touchdown pass of the season.
    At Towson, he opened the second half with a 76-yard kickoff return, a season long.

LBs Making Key Contributions

    The linebacking trio of Preston Zandier, Mike Wells and Carston Marshall are major contributors this year. 
    Zandier and Marshall are tied for second on the squad with 35 total tackles. Wells has moved to more an edge role and has 17 tackles with a team-leading 5 TFLs and three sacks.
    In 40 games played, Zandier has 90 career tackles. He had a career-high 45 stops in 2024. Marshall had nine tackles in eight games last year and now has 44 for his YSU career. Wells has 45 total tackles in 33 games played. He had 23 tackles last season.

Brungard Shows Off Skills

    Junior QB Beau Brungard is set to make his 19th straight start at QB on Saturday.
    For his career, he has rushed for 1,854 yards on 298 carries (6.2 yards per rush) with 28 touchdowns. He has thrown for 3,548 yards completing 344-of-523 passes (65.8 percent).
    Brungard is just 17 yards shy of YSU's QB rushing record of 1,871 set by Jeff Ryan (1998-2001). This year he has already eclipsed the school career record for rushing TDs by a QB with 28 (Cliff Stoudt - 25 from 1973-76).
    Brungard set the school  and conference record for rushing yards by a QB against Robert Morris on Sept. 7. On 10 carries, he had 264 yards and four touchdowns. The 264 yards tied for the third-most in a game in school history and broke the MVFC record of 245 (2001).
    Eight times in 18 career starts he has rushed for more than 100 yards and four times he has been the MVFC Player of the Week.

O-Line Features Depth

    YSU's offensive line features four starters with double-digit collegiate starting experience.
    Desmeal Leigh has the most starting experience on the team with 31 starts. Shane Keenan has started 17 contests at both tackle and guard the past two years.
    Van Keen has started 14 straight contests at center and has a total of 18 career starts.
    Guard Isaac Perkins started 15 games at Colgate before joining the Penguins this year. He has started each of the first six contests. Fourth-year Penguin Joe Sferra has also started all six contests in 2025.

2025 Team Captains

    YSU has elected five team captains for the 2025 season.  The five captains for the year are QB Beau Brungard (12), TB Ethan Wright (2), Punter Brendon Kilpatrick (40), DE Michael Voitus (42) and DB Dathan Hickey (11).
    Voitus has been named a team captain for the second straight year.

Preseason Accolades

Max Tomczak | WR
    • Senior Bowl Top 300
    • East-West Shrine Bowl Watch List
    • 2nd-Team Phil Steele Preseason All-America
    • 3rd-Team SI.com Preseason All-America
    • 3rd-Team Stats Perform Preseason All-America
Desmeal Leigh | OL
    • Third-Team SI.com Preseason All-America
Brendon Kilpatrick | Punter
    • FCS Punter of the Year Watch List 
    (2024 winner)
    • Third-Team SI.com Preseason All-America
    • 3rd-Team Stats Perform Preseason All-America
Dathan Hickey | DB
    • East-West Shrine Bowl Watch List

Numbers of Note

• Turnover Margin: Since 1996, YSU is 161-52 when they win or tie the turnover margin. When committing more turnovers, YSU is just 32-95.
Since 1990 YSU is:
• 181-22-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 21 points in a game.
• 160-24 when rushing for 200-plus yards.
• 186-36 when scoring 28-or-more points.
• 99-14-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.
• 215-24 when leading entering the fourth.
• 95-3-2 holding opponents to 10 points-or-less.