Youngstown State junior quarterback Beau Brungard is one of three standout FCS quarterbacks to be invited to the Walter Payton Award ceremony on January 3 in Nashville, Tenn., as part of the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show at the Woolworth Theatre.
Joining Brungard in Nashville for the event will be North Dakota State senior quarterback Cole Payton and Western Carolina redshirt sophomore quarterback Taron Dickens.
The trio have emerged from 30 finalists across 13 FCS conferences for the 39th annual Walter Payton Award, which is affectionately known as the Heisman of the FCS. The recipient, selected after the regular season by a 56-member voting panel.
On Monday, Brungard was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference's Offensive Player of the Year and was first-team All-MVFC.
In the 2025 regular season, Brungard rushed for 1,378 yards on 225 carries with 24 touchdowns while completing 254-of-368 passes for 2,917 yards and 23 touchdowns with just three interceptions. He also added a receiving touchdown. In MVFC games, he rushed for 852 yards on 155 carries with 16 touchdowns while completing 180-of-256 passes for 2,1621 yards and 19 TDs.
He became the first player in FCS history with a 300-passing, 200-rushing game (at Illinois State). On the year, he had seven 100-plus yard rushing performances and posted 10 straight 200-yard passing efforts to close out the regular season.
At the conclusion of the regular season, he ranked first or second in nine statistical categories in the FCS. He was first in total offensive yards (4,295), total play (593), total touchdowns (48) and points responsible for (290) while sitting second in points responsible for per game (24.6), total offensive yards per game (356.9), rushing TDs (24), points scored (150) and points per game (13.5).
In addition to the Walter Payton Award, the Buck Buchanan Award (FCS Defensive Player of the Year), Jerry Rice Award (FCS Freshman Player of the Year), Eddie Robinson Award (FCS Coach of the Year), HBCU National Player of the Year and Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be presented at the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Show.
The Penguins finished the season with an 8-5 overall record and reached the FCS playoffs for the second time in three seasons.
