Youngstown State University
Murray State
11/3/2026 2:00:00 PM | Football
Youngstown State vs. Murray State
Nov. 7, 2026 | Roy Stewart Stadium
Murray, Kentucky | 1 p.m. Central | 2 p.m. Eastern
Broadcast Information
TV – ESPN+ (Casey Roehl, Rob Cross)
Radio Network – 570 AM WKBN
Internet Radio – 570wbkn.iheart.com
App Audio - iHeartRadio App (Steve Leslie, Bob Hannon)
Penguins
2026 Record: 7-2, 5-1 MVFC
Last Game: YSU 31, UND 28
Head Coach: Doug Phillips (Seventh Season)
X: @ysufootball
Racers
2026 Record: 1-8, 0-5 MVFC
Last Game: ISU 35, MSU 14
Head Coach: Jody Wright (Third Season)
X: @racersfootball
Series History
All-Time Series: MSU leads 6-4
Last Meeting: YSU 51-17 (2025)
In Murray: MSU leads 4-1
| Opponent | Date | Location | Video | Audio | Live Stats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Saturday Nov. 7 | 1 p.m. Central |
Roy Stewart Stadium Murray, Ky. |
ESPN+ | 570 WKBN |
No. 4 ranked Youngstown State plays its final conference regular-season road game this Saturday against Murray State at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Ky. Kickoff for the contest is set for 1 p.m. Central/2 p.m. Eastern time. The game is available on ESPN+, WKBN 570 AM and iHeart Radio.
• Youngstown State (7-2, 5-1 MVFC) defeated No. 9 ranked North Dakota this past weekend after trailing 21-7 at halftime and 28-14 late in the third quarter before scoring 17 unanswered points to storm back for its fifth straight MVFC victory on Halloween at Stambaugh Stadium.
• YSU totaled 453 yards on offense as QB Beau Brungard was 19-of-29 passes for 268 yards through the air. He rushed for only 64 yards on 15 carries. It was the sixth time in the last three years that Brungard orchestrated a fourth-quarter comeback. WR Lynn Wyche-El hauled in six receptions for 148 yards and career-high three touchdowns, giving him 10 receiving touchdowns on the season.
• The Penguins trailed 21-7 at halftime after managing just one touchdown on their first drive of the game. However, YSU gained momentum to open the second half when Michael Wells intercepted a tipped Jerry Kaminski pass at the UND 28-yard line and returned it 21 yards. The Guins took advantage as Jaden Gilbert scored on a five-yard run after the defense intercepted Kaminski. Wyche-El found the end zone again late in the third to pull the Guins within seven.
• In the fourth, Andrew Lastovka's field goal drew the Guins within 28-24 and facing a fourth-and-19 from the UND 20, Brungard found an open Wyche-El in the end zone for what turned out to be the game winner.
• For the efforts in the victory, Brungard, Wyche-El and Wells were named MVFC Players of the Week. Brungard earned Offensive honors for the fourth time this season. Wells was named the special teams POW while Wyche-El was the Newcomer of the Week for the third time in four weeks.
• Murray State (1-8, 0-5 MVFC) fell to Illinois State last weekend, 35-14 in Normal, Ill. The Racers will be playing a top-10 team for fifth time in as many weeks when they host YSU.
• YSU has won both MVFC meetings against Murray State. The Penguins have outscored the Racers 85-34 in the two previous contests, including a 51-17 victory at Stambaugh Stadium last season.
Brungard Making History
QB Beau Brungard is set to make his 35th straight start at QB on Saturday. For his career, he has rushed for 3,306 yards on 573 carries and a school record 57 touchdowns. His 56th rushing score broke the school record of 55 held by Adrian Brown. Through the air, he is 690-of-995 for 7,812 yards and 60 touchdowns. This season, he has thrown for 2,329 yards while completing 190-of-258 passes (73.6 percent) for 22 scores. He has rushed for 711 yards on 144 carries and 11 scores. In 2025, he lead the FCS with 4,702 total offensive yards while rushing for 1,468 yards and 27 touchdowns. He completed 277-of-403 passes for 3,234 yards with 26 TDs. He added another score on a 50-yard touchdown reception against Murray State. In 12 games in 2024, Brungard rushed for 998 yards on 159 carries and scored 16 times, passed for 2,141 yards and completed 209-of-314 passes for 12 touchdowns.
First Time Starters
Through nine games, YSU has had 19 different players make their first career start. Against Mercyhurst starting for the initial time were: Jeremiah Sanders, Bryan Hunt, Cam Smith, Jordan Pritchard-Sewell, Raleigh Collins III, Dev Holman, Maximillian Johnson and Evan Anderson. At Kentucky, those Penguins making their first career starts included Darvens Tunis, Roderick Owens Jr., Lynn Wyche-El and Lachlan Amore. Against Duquesne, Mason Ludwig and Brandon Chambers Jr., made their first starts at YSU. At SDSU, Dominic Julius started at corner. Against USD, Michael Wright Jr. and Lemondte Chambers made their first start for the Guins. Lorenzo Jenkins made his first career start at SIU. Against UNI, Bilal Tucker started at defensive tackle. Of the 19 first-time starters, 12 are on defense, five are on offense and two are on special teams.
McDonald With Five TDs
TE Alex McDonald has scored five touchdowns during his career. Against South Dakota, he caught a four-yard pass from Beau Brungard to give the Guins a 33-21 lead in the fourth quarter. He hauled in a touchdown grab previously at South Dakota State. At Indiana State, he had a career-long 38-yard reception where he was tackled at the one. During the 2025 season, McDonald had TD grabs at Towson, North Dakota State and UNI.
Most Receiving TDs by a TE Since 2010:
10 – Nate Adams (2011-14)
8 – Will Shaw (2011-12)
7 – Miles Joiner (2018-19)
5 – Alex McDonald (2022-Present)
Gilbert Key Dual Threat
TB Jaden Gilbert continues to be one of Guins' key offensive weapons in 2026. So far this year, Gilbert has 80 rushes for 516 yards and seven touchdowns while catching 29 passes for 224 yards and two scores. At Indiana State, he had one of the best outings of his career. He rushed a career-high 16 times for 163 yards and three scores. The Honorable-Mention All-MVFC selection finished last season with 665 rushing yards on 95 carries, finding the end zone three times. In his career, he has 74 receptions for 649 yards and three touchdowns. On the ground, has 194 carries for 1,298 yards and 11 touchdowns. He had four rushing touchdowns entering this season.
Wells Highly-Touted
Defensive end Michael Wells is in his fifth year with the Guins. Wells is coming off an explosive 2025 season. He is on the watch list for the 2026 Buck Buchanan Award. Wells had an impressive all-around performance in the win over North Dakota. Wells intercepted his first career pass and returned it 21 yards. In the fourth quarter, he ran a fake punt 26 yards on 4th-and-4 for a key first down on YSU's go-ahead scoring drive. This season, Wells has 29 tackles, including 10 TFLs. Seeing more double teams, he has five QB hurries, four pass breakups, a fumble recovery and an interception through nine games. Last year, he was credited with 50 total tackles – 25 solos - 25 assists. He had 15 TFLs, highlighted by an impressive 10.5 sacks with 11 QB hurries, four pass breakups, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.
Guins Hot in the Red-zone
The Guins offense is tied for second in the FCS in total red-zone scores, matching South Carolina State with 40. Alcorn leads the country with 41 scores in the red zone in 2026. The offense is also tied for second in red-zone rushing touchdowns with 20, trailing SCSU's 22. The unit is also now tied for third with South Dakota and Morehead State in total red-zone passing scores (15). The Guins trail North Dakota (18) and Alcorn (16) in the rankings. YSU has 44 red-zone possessions this year. Of the four times the Penguins have failed to score, three were kneel downs at the end of the Mercyhurst, SIU and UNI contests.
Lastovka Leads Specialists
Senior PK Andrew Lastovka is in his fourth season with the Guins. He has played in 47 games, making 49 field goals and 183 PATs. He made all five of his field-goal tries this year (two at SDSU, two vs. USD, one vs. UND). Against Indiana State, he eclipsed the school marks for career PATs made and attempted which had been held by Jeff Wilkins since 1993. This season he is 43-of-45 on PAT tries. One miss came with backup holder Beau Brungard in that role. He's made final-play game-winning kicks against Illinois State (2023) and Towson (2025) during his career.
Receivers Showing Their Stuff
Leading the way has been playmaker Lynn Wyche-El. Through nine games, Wyche-El has caught a team-leading 56 passes for 792 yards and 10 touchdowns. He has scored a touchdown in every game this season, including three against North Dakota and two against Duquesne and South Dakota. He has been a key asset in the run game with 122 yards on 16 carries and three scores. WR Bryan Hunt has 21 catches for 307 yards and four touchdowns while Lorenzo Jenkins has 11 receptions and Dorian Williams has nine. Tailback Jaden Gilbert has 29 catches for 224 yards and a pair of scores while Jeremiah Sanders has 16 catches for 192 yards.
Leigh on Senior Bowl List
OT Desmeal Leigh has been named to the Panini Senior Bowl Top 300 list. It marks the second straight year that the Penguins have a player named to the preseason list. Last year, WR Max Tomczak was a candidate to participate in the all-star game. Leigh is one of just two FCS players to appear on the list. He had started 40 straight games at left tackle for YSU during his career before missing the Duquesne game with an injury. He now has made 45 career starts in his four years with the program.
Top GPA In The MVFC
For the first time in program history the Penguins led the Missouri Valley Football Conference in GPA for an academic year. In 2025-26, the Guins' student-athletes accumulated a GPA of 3.36 to take the top spot. YSU beat out North Dakota State (3.31), South Dakota State (3.30) and North Dakota (3.28) in the league's annual rankings.
Yurcich and Offense Success
Since joining the Penguins coaching staff in 2025, Offensive Coordinator Mike Yurcich has made a significant impact on the Guins' offense. Under Yurcich, YSU has recorded 15 games with 30 or more points, including 10 games with 40-plus points. The top five scoring performances came against Duquesne (70), Indiana State (57), Robert Morris (56), Murray State (51) and South Dakota (48). The offense now has seven games with 500-plus total offensive yards. This season so far YSU has gone over 500 against Indiana State (696), Duquesne (603) and South Dakota (502). During the 2025 season the offense eclipsed the 500-yard mark on four occasions - Robert Morris (593), Illinois State (561), Murray State (543) and Southern Illinois (648). YSU has also been efficient in the red zone. In the past two years, the Guins have converted 95-of-109 red zone appearances into scores, a impressive 91% success rate. Four of those failures were end-of-game kneel downs.
Lastovka Among Active leaders
YSU PK Andrew Lastovka ranks highly among FCS career leaders entering the contest against North Dakota. Lastovka has made the most (49) and is second with (63) field goals attempted of any active FCS kicker during his 47-game career. He ranks second in the FCS in PAT attempts (188) and PATs made (183) behind Montana State's Myles Sansted.
New Faces on Defense
Multiple new members of the defense have stepped up to make contributions. DB Cam Smith has a team-leading 58 tackles and a interception while true freshman Roderick Owens Jr., has a forced fumble, interception and has 54 tackles. DT Jordan Pritchard-Sewell has 25 tackles and three forced fumbles. Darvens Tunis has 15 stops and two picks.
O-Line Features Experience
YSU's offensive line features six players with multiple-game starting experience. Desmeal Leigh has the most starting experience on the team with 46 starts. Shane Keenan has started 29 contests at both tackle and guard the past three years. Van Keen has a total of 25 career starts between center and guard. Guard Isaac Perkins started 10 contests last year in his first year with the program and now has 19 starts at YSU. Prior to coming to Youngstown State, he started 15 games at Colgate. In 2025, Matthew Keeley made six starts at center while Nick Nielsen has started at tackle on seven occasions. Both started the first nine games this year.
2025 Brungard Awards Haul
QB Beau Brungard continues to build off an extraordinary record-breaking 2025 season. Besides being the Walter Payton Award recipient, Brungard was the Walter Camp Foundation Player of the Year, FCS ADA Offensive Player of the Year, Unanimous first-team All-American: Walter Camp, FCS ADA, AFCA, Stats Perform, SI.com, Associated Press, Phil Steele. He was also the MVFC Offensive Player of the year. Only twice has their been a repeat winner of the award.
