Road to CFB Visits a Youngstown State Football Game Day
There’s something pure about FCS football. It largely serves the farthest frontiers like the Dakotas and Montana, and fills in the gaps in the mid-south and northeast coast. It doesn’t have the glamour of the SEC or the exposure of the Big Ten, but history in Division I-AA runs just as deep. Fans are just as passionate and the play is just as good.
So, to celebrate Halloween, I decided to check out the most local FCS team we have here in northeast Ohio, the Youngstown State Penguins.
This game day also continues the six-year tradition of going to a brand new game day with my dad. In the past, we’ve tackled Virginia Tech and Tennessee (2021), Wisconsin (‘22), Notre Dame (‘23), Purdue and Indiana (‘24), and Navy (‘25). This game day is vastly different from the grandeur we tackled in the past and gave us our first look at what an FCS game day has to offer at Youngstown State.
Pregame At Youngstown State
I love FCS football. Hunkering down in December to watch late-night playoff games under a half-foot of snow in Bozeman, Montana, just warms the heart. FCS programs are very proud, their fans passionate, and stadiums full. It’s another 128 game day experiences (as of 2026) completely absent to most fans.
Hell, my only FCS experience before this day was at the 2022 National Championship Game in Frisco — I’m most fans in that statement.
This isn’t to say Youngstown State is going to draw 107,000 fans. This day, it didn’t even draw 17,000. But the game day experience is what you make of it and, to the thousands of fans packing the tailgate lots, Saturday is heaven.
For outside fans, I don’t recommend getting to campus too early. Unless you have a tailgate setup, there’s not much reason to arrive earlier than 60-90 minutes prior to kickoff. Entrance and egress from the grounds are painless, parking is cheap (I recommend the $5 M-66 lot just a block from the stadium), and there’s not many activities to indulge in before heading into Stambaugh Stadium.
You should make your way to the M-70 tailgate lot any way for the Marching Pride to parade its way between the tents and play a song for a handful of their choosing (usually the more exciting spreads). This happens about 90 minutes prior to kickoff right as the gates open to Stambaugh Stadium. YSU’s marching band is small but coordinated, making for a nice pregame watch.
The Ice Castle
Tickets to get in to Stambaugh Stadium are reasonable. It was $20 to sit right at the 50-yard line and $10 for my senior dad to sit next to me. To buy them at the gate, it’s $25 for reserved seating and $10 for seniors. This, plus cheap parking and reasonable concessions, make Youngstown State a great game day option for families.
Once you’re inside the stadium, navigate to the middle of the home concourse and check out the Thomas F. Mosure Hall of Gridiron Glory. Inside this free museum, you’ll find the history of Penguin football (including Jim Tressell’s Coach of the Year awards) and notable YSU alumni playing in the NFL. As of 2026, it did not feature QB Beau Brungard’s Walter Payton Award from the previous fall.
Pick the right fall Saturday and sit higher up in the home stands for some spectacular fall foliage views. Stambaugh Stadium hits in the Mahoning Valley near-ish to Cuyahoga Valley National Park and other northeast Ohio metroparks. The rolling hills do disguise some less-than-desirable neighborhoods, but from the stands, you just see washes of fall color across those hills.
In the south end zone, you’ll find, not one but, two celebration items: the Spirit of Youngstown Steam Whistle and touchdown cannon. That steam whistle represents Youngstown’s history of labor and industry, specifically in the steel and automotive industries. Those relics still exist, specifically the large, vacant GM assembly plant outside the city in Lordstown. The steam whistle blows for, well, just about everything — touchdowns, field goals, first downs, third downs, fourth downs, you name it.
#4 Youngstown State 31, #9 North Dakota 28
Youngstown State stared down a possible disaster. It trailed, 21-7, backed up against its own end zone as North Dakota threatened another score. A permeable Penguins defense forced a fourth down and the subsequent field goal was blocked. Rather than go down 28-7 and give the ball back at the half, YSU carried some momentum into the second half down 14.
Both offensive coordinators flexed their chops this afternoon in what started as a pretty wild game. Brungard connected on a few long passes and his receiver, Lynn Wyche-El, finished with three scores. UND QB Jerry Kaminski also accounted for three scores, but it came by passing, rushing, and receiving on a Fighting Hawks trick play.
But YSU kept things close, trailing 28-14 in the third quarter. Brungard and the defense managed to mount a comeback to score the go-ahead touchdown with just two minutes left. The top-10 matchup lived up to its billing.
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