The Jackrabbits are back in Brookings for a HUGE early season MVFC conference game against the Youngstown State University Penguins (#8 in the FCS Nation standings) who are 2-1 on the season with their lone loss coming to Kentucky. Their wins are similar to SDSU’s with dominating performances against Mercyhurst (43-10) and Duquesne (70-13) of the NEC. This is really experienced YSU squad. On the offensive side of the ball there are 17 players listed who are 5th years, Seniors, or Juniors. Their head coach, Doug Philllips, is a guy that I have liked and I believed that he was building the program the right way. However, the early struggles with losing half his roster to the portal every offseason had people questioning if he was the right guy for the job. It looks like he’s doing pretty good now that he has players who are bought into his system and he seems to be finding the right kind of player in the portal.
Offense
The YSU offense goes through #12 Beau Brungard (6-0, 215), the reigning Walter Payton Award Winner. YSU is scoring 42 points per game via a reasonably balanced attack. They are rushing for 169 yards per game (5.0 ypc) and passing for 295 per game. They have surrendered 5 sacks and have tossed 2 interceptions and have lost just 1 fumble. On 3rd down they have been really good converting on 60% of their attempts. On 4th down they are at 50%. In the redzone they are pretty dang good, scoring touchdowns on 13 of 14 trips. That is deadly efficient.
The best player in the FCS is Brungard and so far this season it doesn’t appear to be close. The Jacks are 3-0 against YSU during Beau’s time there. In the two games that he has started against SDSU he is 45 for 71 (63%) with 4 TDs to just 1 INT. He has also rushed for 189 yards and 2 TDs including a 74 yard scamper last season. I’m sure he would love nothing more than to knock off SDSU in what might be his last chance. So far this season he is completing 72% of his passes for 765 yards with 10 TDs to just 1 INT. He is again the leading rusher for the Penguins with 47 carries for a gross of 278 yards (5.5 ypc) and 4 TDs. Everyone is always concerned about his usage but if you watch his plays carefully, he just doesn’t take big hits. He gets out of bounds or gets down, saving himself for another play.
YSU has done a solid job of replacing the loss of Max Tomzcak and Flash Gordon from last years squad. #1 Lynn Wyche-El (5-10, 175) transferred in from Grand Valley State and already has 18 receptions for 229 yards and 4 TD. He was a first team All-GLIAC selection last season and had 38 receptions for 581 yards and 5 TDs. So his production this season is almost half of what he had in 10 games at the D2 level last season. Impressive! He is also contributing in the ground game with 4 carries for 20 yards. Outside of Wyche-El, YSU is doing a great job of spreading the ball around. #8 Bryan Hunt (6-0, 200) and #6 Jeremiah Sanders (6-3, 185) are the other starting wide receivers and second and third in yards. Hunt transferred in from Findlay where he had 89 receptions for 1,301 yards and 14 scores across 31 career games. Already this season he has 10 receptions for 111 yards and 2 TDs. Sanders, just a sophomore, saw action in 4 games last season and had just one reception. In his first real action he has 7 receptions for 102 yards and 1 TD. Ohio State transfer #2 Dorian Williams (6-2, 215) is a reserve who has 6 receptions for 98 yards and 1 TD. Bethune Cookman transfer #11 Lorenzo Jenkins (6-3, 185) has 4 receptions for 59 yards catching 26 passes for 408 yards and 3 touchdowns last season for the Wildcats. A gadget player to watch is #5 Fresh Walters (5-10, 180). He has a carry and has caught 4 passes this season for 24 yards. However, last season he had a 50 yard TD pass to Brungard against Murray State.
I thought the tight ends would be more involved this season for YSU but so far #17 Alex McDonald (6-4, 250) and #85 Austin Bray (6-5, 255) have not done much in their 5th season of college ball. McDonald has 3 receptions for 37 yards and Bray has just 1 catch for 5 yards.
The rushing attack has an impressive average but there really haven’t been a ton of attempts outside of Brungard. YSU has run the ball 102 times this season but 47 have been carries by Beau. The leading rusher is #7 Jaden Gilbert (5-10, 180) who has 17 carries for 129 yards (7.6 ypc) and 2 TD. He has not lost a yard on his carries yet this season. Gilbert is a weapon in the passing game too. He has 8 receptions for 58 yards and 2 scores. He is small but he has some real speed. The top backup, #0 Tahir Mills (6-0, 220) has just 8 carries for 8 yards. #4 Antuan Gardner (6-0, 210) has 9 carries for 38 yards (4.2 ypc) and 3 receptions for 54 yards.
The offensive line is experienced and overall does a nice job. From left to right they go:
- LT: #78 Desmeal Leigh (6-7, 325, 5th): Massive human who turned down multiple FBS offers to remain at YSU. Considered by many to be the top FCS offensive line prospect this season. Was a 2nd team All-MVFC selection and 3rd Team All-American. This is his 4th year starting.
- LG: #63 Isaac Perkins (6-4, 305, JR): Started 28 games in his collegiate career between YSU and Colgate.
- C: #64 Matthew Keeley (6-3, 285, Sr): Started final 4 games of the 2025 season at center.
- RG: #62 Shane Keenan (6-5, 305, 5th): Started 10 games in 2025 at either right tackle or right guard. Started 12 games at right guard in 2024.
- RT: #76 Nick Nielsen (6-6, 270, SR): Started 6 games at right tackle in 2025.
Defense
The YSU defense has a new coordinator in former Mercyhurst head coach Ryan Remedio. They will run a multiple front defense with stud edge #3 Mike Wells (6-3, 250) being the guy that keys their versatile attack. The defense may look like a 3-3-5 or a 4-2-5 depending on the situation. So far opponents are scoring 23 points per game. This number is tricky because they have gave up 10 to Mercyhurst and 13 to Duquesne but 45 to Kentucky. Opponents have only rushed for 130 yards per game and have passed for 200. Kentucky was able to put up 500 yards of offense (205 rushing and 301 passing). Mercyhurst passed for 212 and Duquesne rushed for 155… so I really have no idea where this defense is at. HA They have registered just 3 sacks and have 2 interceptions this season. They are salty on 3rd down allowing just a 29% conversion rate. Opponents have scored touchdowns on 5 of their 8 visits to the redzone.
The front 3 for YSU have some real talent and experience. #8 Ebony Curry Jr (6-5, 250, Sr) has 3 tackles on the year with a QBH. This is 3rd season being in the defensive line rotation. At the nose is #95 Thomas Jolly (6-3, 305, 6th) and he has 6 tackles and a TFL. He was hurt last season in the 4th game after transferring in after a standout career at Grand Valley State. The 3rd member of the group is #9 Jordan Pritchard-Sewell (6-1, 290, JR). He has 5 tackles and 2 QBH after transferring in from Holy Cross where he had 15 total tackles last season. #45 Michael Wright Jr (5-11, 285, So) and Temple transfer #90 Conlan Greene (6-4, 285, SR) are the top reserves along the defensive line. Wright has 5 stops while Greene has 3 stops and 1 sack.
The “X-Factor” for YSU happens to also play the “x” position in this defense. #3 Mike Wells (6-3, 250) has 11 tackles, 3 TFL, and .5 sacks along with a PBU and a QBH. Last season he had 50 total tackles, 10.5 sacks and 11 more QBH. He was on multiple All-American teams and was first team All-MVFC. The other linebackers are #5 Carston Marshall (6-2, 215) at the will and #35 Graydon Rollins (6-1, 220) at the mike. Marshall leads the team with 17 total tackles, 2 TFL, and a PBU and QBH. He started 11 games last season. Rollins started 6 games last season and had 38 total tackles. This year he has 11 total tackles. #23 Stephen Henderson (6-2, 225) and #33 Danny Nittoli (6-0, 220) are the two top reserves and have 3 tackles each with Nittoli adding a QBH.
Again, YSU primarily has 5 defensive backs on the field at all times. Their safeties do a lot of heavy lifting with true freshman #36 Roderick Owens Jr. leading the way with 14 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PBU, and 1 forced fumble from his free safety position. Owens is a bit of a pleasant surprise but he was an All-Ohio Division III defensive back solution last season. Next to him is #1 Cam Smith (5-11, 210) who has 12 tackles on the year. Reserve safety #0 Jussiah Williams-West (6-3, 180) has 12 stops of his own.
The cornerback group is led by Shippensburg transfer #18 Darvens Tunis (6-1, 170) who has 9 total tackles but also an INT and a PBU. #19 Brandon Chambers Jr (6-0, 180) is seeing his first significant action for the Penguins and has responded with 6 tackles and 2 PBU. New Hampshire transfer #7 Raleigh Collins III (6-3, 195) is playing the nickel spot and has 5 tackles, .5 sack, and 2 PBU this year. For New Hampshire he had 40 total tackles and 2 INTs a season ago. Before New Hampshire he was at West Virginia. #22 Dev Holman (6-2, 180) also has 4 tackles and 3 PBUs in just two games. He did not play last week vs the Dukes so his status is unknown. Holman played last season at Butler where he was a first team All-PFL selection after recording 44 total tackles, 7.5 TFL, 6 PBUs, 3 forced fumbles, and 2 INTs.
Special Teams
The Penguins possess possibly the best kicker in the MVFC in #24 Andrew Lastovka. However, he has not attempted any field goals this season and actually did miss an extra point vs. Kentucky. He is 16 of 17 on the year on extra points. In his career he has made 38 of 44 field goal attempts with longs of 49, 51, and 50 the last three season.
The kickoff duties belong to #30 Josh Wilkins and he has a 62 yard average on 21 kicks and has 13 touchbacks. #37 Evan Anderson has 5 punts with a 47 yard average including a long of 53 yards with just 1 touchback. He’s landing 1 inside the 20 and booted 3, 50+ yards.
#5 Fresh Walters (5-10, 180) is listed as the primary punt returner and he has 1 return for 19 yards. #1 Lynn Wyche-el has also returned a punt for 44 yards against Duquesne. #25 Donald Barksdale (5-10, 170) has 3 kick return attempts for 89 yards with a long of 44 yards.
Prediction
This is a heck of a way to start the MVFC slate. A top 10 opponent coming to Brookings with the top player in the FCS. The crowd should be electric for this one. Again, this is a veteran-laden group that is hungry to prove they belong in the upper echelon of the FCS. A win in Brookings would catapult them up the standings and raise some serious questions about this version of the Jackrabbits.
However, I think SDSUs defense will be able to shut down YSU often enough and the Jackrabbit offense will prevail. I believe the Jackrabbits will be able to move the ball but it all depends on if SDSU can convert in the redzone.
Jackrabbits 34- YSU 27
Go Jacks,
Matt
One Response
Great preview. Youngstown has an impressive resume — four national championships in what is now known as the FCS and 14 playoff appearances. This is likely to be the toughest home game of the year for the Jacks. I don’t say that to slight USD, which also will be a tough home game. But Youngstown appears to be experienced as well as talented.