The first week of the 2025 college football season brings Kentucky face to face with one of the FCS’s more dangerous teams. Youngstown State comes to Kroger Field on Saturday for the second all-time meeting between programs separated by 363 miles, and the Penguins arrive with plenty more than just a name on the schedule.
Doug Phillips is in year six at Youngstown State, where the former Cincinnati assistant has guided a program with four national championships and 14 FCS playoff appearances. After a rough beginning to his tenure, Phillips now appears to have his third playoff team and a real national championship threat on his hands.
The biggest reason is the offense.
Mike Yurcich, an Ohio native now 50, took over as offensive coordinator in 2025 after stops at Oklahoma State from 2013-18, Texas in 2020, Penn State from 2021-23, and Ohio State in 2019 as a position coach. The move down to the FCS level paid off quickly. His shotgun-based, up-tempo system with heavy RPO usage turned quarterback Beau Brungard into the kind of player who can carry a team.
Brungard, a Youngstown native, entered his third season as the starter and took a major leap. In 2024, he threw for 2,141 yards and ran for 1,106 non-sack yards while accounting for 28 total touchdowns.
Under Yurcich, he went to another level in 2025, finishing with a 68.7 percent completion rate, 3,234 passing yards, 1,106 non-sack rushing yards, and 53 total touchdowns. That earned him Missouri Valley Offensive Player of the Year honors, unanimous FCS All-American status, and the Walter Payton Award as the most outstanding offensive player in FCS.
He picked up right where he left off in Week Zero, throwing for 232 yards, running for 119, and accounting for five total touchdowns. He’s the centerpiece of everything Youngstown State does, especially when plays break down and Brungard starts improvising.
The supporting cast gives him room to operate. Jaden Gilbert rushed for 665 yards in 2025 and added 42 catches for 416 yards.
Against Mercyhurst, he ran for 89 yards on just five carries and caught two passes in a 43-10 win. Up front, the Penguins brought back five players who logged at least 500 snaps last season, including all-conference left tackle Desmeal Leigh, who has started 38 straight games for YSU and will be selected in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Wide receiver was viewed as a question mark entering the season, but this offense still has a chance to be one of the FCS’s best. Brungard’s ability to create outside structure only raises the ceiling.
Defense is where the reset begins.
Youngstown State’s offense was strong in 2025, but the defense struggled to get stops and finished sub-90 in both scoring defense and yards per play allowed. Phillips responded by changing the staff, bringing in Ryan Riemedio after 14 years at Mercyhurst, where he worked as a defensive line coach, special teams coordinator, defensive coordinator, and head coach.
Riemedio, 40, is now calling the defense for YSU after going 13-31 at Mercyhurst during the program’s move from Division II to FCS. Mercyhurst was one of the few teams to hold Youngstown State under 24 points last season and also limited Brungard to a season-low 114 passing yards, which helped Riemedio land the job. In his first game on the YSU sideline, and against his old school, the Penguins gave up 10 points and 4.7 yards per play to Mercyhurst.
That was a solid start, but the real test comes now.
Only five players who played at least 200 snaps last season are back on defense, so this is a rebuild. Still, Youngstown State has one obvious centerpiece in EDGE Michael Wells.
He’s an all-conference performer who picked up multiple All-American honors in 2025 after posting 50 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, and 10.5 sacks across 669 defensive snaps. Wells also led the team with 52 pressures by a wide margin and was one of the best pass rushers in the FCS.
He’s back for his fifth season at YSU, and the defense will be built around him.
Kentucky has already seen what a top-tier FCS opponent can look like. The Wildcats hosted Tennessee Tech in 2025, and that team came in with a 15-game winning streak and a style similar to Youngstown State’s, including a dual-threat quarterback and some defensive soft spots. Kentucky handled it with ease, rolling to 7.1 yards per play on a 62.1 percent success rate while the defense allowed just 10 points across three red zone trips.
Youngstown State is ranked No. 7 in this week’s FCS Coaches Poll after moving up from No. 9, sitting behind Montana State, South Dakota State, Montana, Illinois State, Tarleton State, and UC Davis. It’s a top-10 team with Missouri Valley title hopes and playoff ambitions.
Kentucky’s offense looks like it has the clearer edge in this matchup, but Youngstown State has enough firepower - and enough questions on defense - to make Saturday interesting.
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