Youngstown State at North Dakota State
Nov. 1, 2025 | Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome
Fargo, N.D. | 3:35 p.m. Eastern/2:35 p.m. Central

Broadcast Information
TV – ESPN+ (Dom Izzo, Kyle Emmanuel, Sam Goetzinger)
Radio Network – 570 AM WKBN (Bob Hannon, Steve Leslie, Ron Potesta)
Internet Radio – 570wbkn.iheart.com
App Audio - iHeartRadio App

Penguins
2025 Record: 5-3, 2-2 MVFC
Last Game: YSU 51, Murray State 17
Head Coach: Doug Phillips (Sixth Season)
X: @ysufootball

Bison
2025 Record: 8-0, 5-0 MVFC
Last Game: North Dakota State 38, South Dakota State 7
Head Coach: Tim Polasek (Second Season)
X: @NDSUfootball

Series History
All-Time Series: North Dakota State leads 13-4
Last Meeting: NDSU 27, YSU 14 (2022)
In Fargo: NDSU leads 7-2

Opponent	Date	Location	Video	Audio	Live Stats
	Saturday Nov. 1 | 3:30 PM ET	Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome Fargo, N.D.	ESPN+	570 WKBN	Live Stats

    The 18h-ranked (Stats Perform Poll) Youngstown State football team visits No. 1 North Dakota State this Saturday afternoon. Kickoff at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome is set for 3:35 p.m. Eastern/2:35 p.m. Central time. The game is available on the ESPN+, WKBN 570 AM and iHeartRadio.
    • YSU is coming off a dominate 51-17 Homecoming victory over Murray State. The Guins trailed 7-0 before scoring 38 unanswered points against the Racers. YSU QB Beau Brungard threw two touchdown passes, ran for two scores and added a 50-yard touchdown reception for good measure. The Guins passed for 302 yards while rushing for 241 in the contest.
    • Trailing 7-0, Brungard and Ethan Wright had short rushing scores before Flash Wilson hauled in a 62-yard deep pass for a score. Andrew Lastovka's 34-yard field goal made the contest 24-7 at halftime. In the third quarter, Brungard caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Fresh Walters before added a one-yard run. Following an MSU field goal, Wilson returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and later Max Tomczak hauled in a two-yard scoring toss to round out the scoring.
    • Wilson was named the MVFC Newcomer of the Week for his performance against Murray State. He accounted for 252 all-purpose yards (126 kickoff returns, 89 receiving and 37 rushing). 
    • WR Max Tomczak hauled in seven passes for 75 yards in the win and now has 199 career catches in his YSU career. Earlier this season, he broke the previous school mark of 186 by Jim Ferranti that had stood since 1979.  Tomczak has a reception in a school-record 41 straight games. Entering the game against NDSU, Tomczak has 2,608 receiving yards which trails Ferranti's 3,103.
    • North Dakota State (8-0, 5-0 MVFC) put on a impressive display on national television Saturday night beating South Dakota State 38-7 in Brookings. QB Cole Payton completed 18-of-23 passes for 243 yards and on the ground he racked up 137 yards on 17 carries and scored four touchdowns. NDSU raced out to a 21-0 lead against the Jackrabbits en route to the win.
    • This is the first meeting between the teams since a 27-14 Bison victory at the Fargodome on Oct. 1, 2022. YSU's last win in the series was on Nov. 12, 2011, a 27-24 triumph at NDSU.

Defense With 11 Takeaways

    The Penguins forced 11 turnovers in eight games, which has by far 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. At Illinois State, two interceptions led to 10 points in the victory. Against Murray State, YSU picked up another interception.
    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 and offensive categories.
    • First in Total Yards Per Game (358.6)
    • First in Total Offense Yards (2,866)
    • First in Total Plays (404)
    • Second in rushing TDs (14)
    • Second in total TDs (15)
    • Second in points scored (90)
    • Second in Points Responsible Per Game (21.3)
    • Fourth in yards per game (123.9)
    • Fourth in rushing yards (991)
    • Sixth in rushing attempts (156)
    His 2,118 career rushing yards rank him 14th among active FCS players.

Tomczak Sets Catch Record

    WR Max Tomczak broke the YSU all-time receptions record earlier this month.
    Tomczak now has 199 receptions, which eclipsed Jim Ferranti's mark of 186 that had stood since 1979 until this year.
    With his 2,608 yards receiving, Tomczak is still in contention to reach Ferranti's school mark of 3,103 yards. 
    This year, Tomczak he has 44 catches for 605 yards and five 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 41 consecutive contests. Tomczak also has at least four receptions in 23 of his last 26 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 39 field goals in 33 career contests, including two as time expired. He has made 80 straight PATs dating back to Nov. 18, 2023.
    Kilpatrick is averaging 47.3 yards a punt this year. At Illinois State he had a career-long 67-yard punt. Eight of his 25 kicks are longer than 50 yards. Floyd has started 46 games (25 at Pitt, 13 at Buffalo and eight at YSU).

National Honors Piling Up

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

Flash Finding Form

    WR/KR Ky "Flash" Wilson is becoming a key play making threat for the Penguins.
    Wilson has 975 all-purpose yards - 574 on kickoff returns, 345 receiving and 56 rushing - in eight games.
    He was named the MVFC Newcomer of the Week following a standout performance against Murray State. He had 252 all-purpose yards against the Racers, highlighted by a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and 62-yard reception for a score.
    At Towson, he had a 76-yard kickoff return while also adding a 54-yard return at North Dakota.

First-Time Starters

    The Penguins have had 22 first-time starters so far this season.
    In the season opener, 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. Parker Jacobs was in the lineup against South Dakota State. At North Dakota, RT Nick Nielsen started for the initial time.

Brungard Shows Off Skills

    Junior QB Beau Brungard is set to make his 21st straight start at QB on Saturday.
    For his career, he has rushed for 2,118 yards on 343 carries with 33 touchdowns. He has thrown for 4,128 yards completing 389-of-582 passes (66.8 percent) and 25 touchdowns.
    Last time out vs. Murray State, Brungard ran for two scores, threw for two scores and caught the first touchdown pass of his career.
    At Illinois State, Brungard had a 328-yard passing and 200-yard rushing effort. With no other confirmed numbers, he is believed to be the first player in FCS history to accomplish a 300-200 performance.
    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).
    Nine times in 20 career starts he has rushed for more than 100 yards and five 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 33 starts. Shane Keenan has started 19 contests at both tackle and guard the past two years.
    Van Keen has started 16 straight contests at center and has a total of 20 career starts.
    Guard Isaac Perkins started 15 games at Colgate before joining the Penguins this year. He has started each of the first eight contests. Fourth-year Penguin Joe Sferra started the seven contests of 2025 but missed last week.

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 eight games at YSU, Hodge leads in total tackles with 44 (24 solos and 20 assists). On three occasions he's registered nine-or-more tackles, with a season-high 10 against Mercyhurst in his YSU debut. At Illinois State, he picked up his first YSU interception.
    Hodge played in 28 games and started 19 contests at safety for Tulsa before coming to YSU this season. 
    In 2024, he started 11 games and 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 40 tackles while Harris is fifth with 33. 
    Harris has had interceptions in each of the past two games making impressive catches on deep balls. His pick at Illinois State helped stop a Redbird drive and eventually set up YSU's go-ahead score.
    In two seasons a starter, Shahid has 98 tackles, including 60 solo stops. He had 56 stops in 2024. Harris has 89 total tackles at YSU, including 60 solo stops. In his collegiate career, he has 140 tackles (89 solos). 

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 team with 43 tackles each. Zandier did not play last Saturday vs. Murray State. Wells has moved to more an edge role and has 22 tackles with a team-leading six TFLs and four sacks.
    In 40 games played, Zandier has 98 career tackles with 88 coming in the last two years. Marshall now has 51 career stops in 16 games while Wells has 50 total tackles in 35 games played. He had 23 tackles last season.

The Wright Stuff

    TB Ethan Wright has returned to the lineup after suffering an Achilles injury at Southern Illinois last November.
    In four games this season, All-MVFC tilts, he has 14 rushes for 75 yards while catching 10 passes for 159 yards. At Illinois State, he took a screen pass 40 yards on 3rd-and-8 to help seal the victory late in the fourth quarter. Last Saturday against Murray State, he scored his first touchdown of the season. 
    In 2024, Wright was named to the MVFC All-Newcomer squad. In 15 games at YSU, he has 150 carries for 752 yards and 28 receptions for 273 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.

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 163-52 when they win or tie the turnover margin. When committing more turnovers, YSU is just 32-95.
Since 1990 YSU is:
• 182-22-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 21 points in a game.
• 162-24 when rushing for 200-plus yards.
• 188-36 when scoring 28-or-more points.
• 100-14-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.
• 216-24 when leading entering the fourth.
• 95-3-2 holding opponents to 10 points-or-less.
• YSU is 23-6 when having a ball carrier with more than 200 yards in a game.

Up Next:

    YSU plays two straight games at home starting with a contest against Southern Illinois on Nov. 8. The Guins then close out the home regular-season slate against Indiana State on Nov. 15.