Youngstown State at UNI
Nov. 22, 2025 | UNI-Dome
Cedar Falls, Iowa | 2 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Central

Broadcast Information
TV – ESPN+ (Mark Simpson, Justin Surrency)
Radio Network – 570 AM WKBN (Bob Hannon, Steve Leslie, Ron Potesta)
Internet Radio – 570wbkn.iheart.com
App Audio - iHeartRadio App

Penguins
2025 Record: 7-4, 4-3 MVFC
Last Game: Youngstown State 48, Indiana State 29
Head Coach: Doug Phillips (Sixth Season)
X: @ysufootball

Panthers
2025 Record: 3-8, 1-6 MVFC
Last Game: North Dakota State 48, UNI 16
Head Coach: Todd Sepsis (First Season)
X: @UNIFootball

Series History
All-Time Series: UNI leads 26-10
Last Meeting: YSU 39, UNI 38 (2014)
In Cedar Falls: UNI leads 15-3

Opponent	Date	Location	Video	Audio	Live Stats
	Saturday Nov. 22 | 2 pm Eastern	UNI-Dome Cedar Falls, Iowa	ESPN+	570 WKBN	Live Stats

    The No.  17 Youngstown State football team visits UNI on Saturday afternoon to close out the regular season. Kickoff at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa, is set for 2 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Central time. The game is available on the ESPN+, WKBN 570 AM and iHeartRadio.
    • YSU (7-4 and 4-3 in the MVFC) has won two straight games following a 48-29 victory last Saturday over Indiana State at Stambaugh Stadium. Late in the first half, the Penguins led 28-26 before scoring 20 of the final 23 points in the Senior Day win.
    • QB Beau Brungard (offense) and PK Andrew Lastovka (special teams) were named the MVFC Players of the Week against the Sycamores.
    • Brungard added three more rushing touchdowns and three more passing touchdowns to his season total which is now at 43 overall thanks to one receiving score. He rushed for three first half touchdowns before throwing one each in the second, third and fourth quarters.
    • Both teams traded touchdowns for the first 27 minutes, with the Penguins holding a slight 28-26 advantage. Lastovka's 39-yard field goal late in the first half made the halftime score 31-26. Two Brungard to Austin Bray touchdowns pushed the YSU lead to 45-26 before field goals by each team rounded out the scoring for the contest.
    • WR Max Tomczak hauled in seven passes for 109 yards in the contest. It marked his second 100-yard receiving game of the season and the fifth time has had at least seven catches in a contest this year. Tomczak, who has a school record of 214 career receptions, also has a catch in a school-record 44 straight games. Entering the game against UNI, Tomczak has 2,837 career receiving yards which trails only Jim Ferranti's 3,103.
    • UNI (3-8, 1-6 MVFC) dropped a 48-16 decision at top-ranked North Dakota State last Saturday in Fargo. The Bison jumped on top of the Panthers 31-2 at halftime in the contest. All three of the Panthers' wins this season have come at the UNI-Dome, including a 31-14 triumph over Murray State in their last home contest on Nov. 8. 
    • UNI leads the all-time series by a 26-10 margin thanks to long-standing winning streak over the Guins at the UNI-Dome. Last year, YSU beat the Panthers 39-38 on the final play of the season, which was in overtime.

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 Offense Yards (3,962)
    • First in Total Plays (546)
    • First in Points Responsible For (260)
    • First in Points Responsible Per Game (23.6)
    • Second Total Offense Per Game (356.9)
    • Second in total TDs (22)
    • Second in rushing TDs (21)
    • Second in points scored (132)
    • Second in points per game (12.0)
    • Third in passing completions (234)
    • Fifth in passing attempts (343)
    • Sixth in rushing yards (1,235)
    • Seventh in rushing yards per game (112.3)
    • Seventh in rushing attempts (203)
    • 10th in Total Passing Yards (2,691)
    • 12th in passing yards per game (244.6)
    His 2,362 career rushing yards rank him 14th among active FCS players.

Defense With 15 Takeaways

    The Penguins have forced 15 turnovers in 11 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. Last week against Indiana State, the Guins forced three turnovers which led to 17 important points.
    For the entire 2024 campaign, the Guins had three interceptions and four recovered fumbles.  This season YSU has 10 picks and five recovered fumbles.

Tomczak Breaking career Marks

    WR Max Tomczak broke the YSU all-time receptions record earlier this season.
    Tomczak now has 214 receptions, which easily eclipsed Jim Ferranti's mark of 186 that had stood since 1979 until this year.
    With his 2,837 yards receiving, Tomczak is still in contention to reach Ferranti's school mark of 3,103 yards. 
    This year, Tomczak he has 59 catches for 834 yards and five touchdowns. He is averaging 14.1 yards per catch. 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.
    He has caught a pass in a school record 44 consecutive contests. Tomczak also has at least four receptions in 25 of his last 29 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 44 field goals in 36 career contests, including two as time expired. He has
made 93 of 94 PATs dating back to Nov. 18, 2023. Kilpatrick is averaging 46.5 yards a punt this year. At Illinois State he had a career-long 67-yard punt. Nine of his 32 kicks are longer than 50 yards. Floyd has started 49 games (25 at Pitt, 13 at Buffalo and 11 at YSU) in his collegiate career.

National Honors Pill 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 has turned into a key play making threat for the Penguins.
    Wilson has 1,416 all-purpose yards - 836 on kickoff returns, 475 receiving and 105 rushing - in 11 games.
    His 836 kickoff return yards are two behind the school record of 838 set by Andre Coleman in 1999. He leads the FCS in total kickoff return yardage while ranking sixth in average (28.8).
    He was named the MVFC Newcomer of the Week following a standout performance against Murray State on Oct. 25. 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 and 52-yard return at NDSU.
    He has touchdown receptions in three of the last four games, including two vs. SIU.

Gilbert Key Dual Threat

    TB Jaden Gilbert has made a big impact in his first year as a starter. 
    Gilbert has rushed for 578 yards on 84 carries and scored three times. He has been a key asset in the passing game ranking third on the team with 38 receptions for 353 yards.
    At NDSU he had a 31-yard grab and picked up a 39-yard rush in the first half. He had a season-long 66-yard rush and 39-yard catch at Michigan State earlier this year. Against SIU he had a receiving and rushing touchdown.

Brungard Shows Off Skills

    Junior QB Beau Brungard is set to make his 24th straight start at QB on Saturday.
    For his career, he has rushed for 2,362 yards on 390 carries with 40 touchdowns. He has thrown for 4,940 yards completing 457-of-677 passes (67.5 percent) and 33 touchdowns.
    He has thrown a touchdown pass in each of the last 10 games and rushed for a score in nine contests.
    He ran for three scores and passed for three TDs last time out against Indiana State.
    At Illinois State on Oct. 18, 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 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).
    Ten times in 23 career starts he has rushed for more than 100 yards and six 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 36 starts. Shane Keenan has started 21 contests at both tackle and guard the past two years.
    Van Keen has started 17 contests at center and has a total of 2 career starts. 
    Guard Isaac Perkins started 15 games at Colgate before joining the Penguins this year. He started the first 10 contests this season. Fourth-year Penguin Joe Sferra started 10 of  11 contests during 2025. Matthew Keeley has made two starts at center while Nick Nielsen has started at tackle on four occasions.

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 11 games at YSU, Hodge ranks second on the squad in total tackles with 61 (32 solos and 29 assists). On four occasions he's registered eight-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. 

Harris, Shahid Step Up

    CB DJ Harris and SS Makai Shahid are key veterans in the secondary. Shahid and Harris are tied for third on the team with 57 tackles.
    Harris has made two interceptions this year by making impressive catches on deep balls. Against Indiana State, Shahid had the first pick of his career which set up a touchdown.
    In two seasons a starter, Shahid has 113 tackles, including 70 solo stops. He had 56 stops in 2024 and has followed that up with 57 this year. Harris has 113 total tackles at YSU, including 77 solo stops.

Wells With Monster Game

    Mike Wells turned in his best game as a Penguin with a 10 total tackles, 4 TFLs and 3.5 sacks against Indiana State. Coming into the contest, Well's career high in tackles was five. He had five solos and five assisted stops during the Sycamores. His 3.5 sacks totaled 26 yards in losses while his four TFLs netted 29 in losses.
    He now leads the MVFC with 8.5 sacks. He has 40 tackles, including 12.5 tackles for loss. For his career he has 68 tackles and 17 TFLs.

LBs Making Key Contributions

    The linebacking duo of Preston Zandier and Carston Marshall are major contributors. 
    Zandier now leads the team with 62 total tackles while Marshall is fifth with 52 stops.
    In 44 games played, Zandier has 117 career tackles with 107 coming in the last two years. Marshall now has 61 career stops in 19 games.

The Wright Stuff

    TB Ethan Wright has returned to the lineup after suffering an Achilles injury at Southern Illinois last November.
    In seven games this season, he has 35 rushes for 171 yards while catching 18 passes for 221 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. Against SIU, he had the first receiving touchdown of his career.
    In 18 games at YSU, he has 171 carries for 848 yards and five touchdons to go along with 36 receptions for 335 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.

Numbers of Note

• Turnover Margin: Since 1996, YSU is 164-52 when they win or tie the turnover margin. When committing more turnovers, YSU is just 33-96.
Since 1990 YSU is:
• 182-22-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 21 points in a game.
• 164-24 when rushing for 200-plus yards.
• 190-37 when scoring 28-or-more points.
• 100-14-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.
• 218-24 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.