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No. 8 North Dakota (6-3, 3-2 MVFC) plays at No. 4 Youngstown State (6-2, 4-1) at noon ET Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium, and the game streams on ESPN+. Ranks are from our Week 8 FCS Top 25.
It's the third straight top-10 opponent for North Dakota. Youngstown State shares the Missouri Valley lead and comes in rested after its first bye week.
Kickoff is noon ET (11 a.m. CT) on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown, Ohio. The game streams on ESPN+, with Anthony Romo on play-by-play and Braylon Heard as the analyst. WKBN 570 AM has the radio call.
South Dakota and Youngstown State share the Valley lead at 4-1. South Dakota State is 3-1, and North Dakota is 3-2. South Dakota plays at South Dakota State the same afternoon, so the race could look very different by Saturday night.
A Youngstown State win keeps the Penguins tied for first or alone at the top, depending on the result in Brookings. A North Dakota loss would give the Fighting Hawks three league losses with two conference games left. A North Dakota win would pull UND even with the Penguins in the loss column and give it the head-to-head edge.
The race is tangled. South Dakota State beat Youngstown State 27-20 in Brookings on Sept. 19. Youngstown State beat South Dakota 47-28 a week later. North Dakota beat South Dakota State 21-10 on Oct. 17 and then lost 26-23 in overtime at South Dakota.
Youngstown State opened with a 43-10 home win over Mercyhurst on Aug. 27, then lost 45-13 at Kentucky. The Penguins beat Duquesne 70-13 at home before opening Missouri Valley play with a 27-20 loss at South Dakota State on Sept. 19.
They haven't lost since. Youngstown State beat South Dakota 47-28 at home, won at Southern Illinois (28-16) and Indiana State (57-24), and then made it four straight with a 35-22 home win over Northern Iowa on Oct. 17. Donald Barksdale returned the opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, and the Penguins scored the first 28 points. They had a bye last week. Youngstown State averages 39.1 points and 470.3 total yards per game.
North Dakota opened with home wins over LIU (42-21) on Aug. 27 and St. Thomas (62-26), then won 47-23 at Portland State. The Fighting Hawks lost 34-7 at Nebraska on Sept. 19 before opening Missouri Valley play with a 42-35 win at Indiana State and a 55-28 home win over Murray State. They lost 24-17 at Northern Iowa on Oct. 10, then beat South Dakota State 21-10 at home on Oct. 17.
Last week, UND trailed 20-3 at halftime in Vermillion and scored 17 straight points to tie it. Kenten Laughman made a 45-yard field goal to force overtime. UND kicked a field goal on its overtime possession, and South Dakota answered with a touchdown to win 26-23. North Dakota averages 35.1 points and 429.4 total yards per game.
Youngstown State quarterback Beau Brungard is set to make his 34th straight start. He has completed 171 of 229 passes for 2,061 yards and 19 touchdowns this season and leads the team with 647 rushing yards and 11 rushing scores. His 57 career rushing touchdowns are a school record. Brungard led the FCS with 4,702 yards of total offense in 2025.
Wide receiver Lynn Wyche-El leads the Penguins with 50 catches for 644 yards and seven touchdowns. Running back Jaden Gilbert has 448 rushing yards and six touchdowns. On defense, end Michael Wells is on the Buck Buchanan Award watch list after a 10.5-sack season in 2025. Defensive back Cam Smith leads the team with 51 tackles.
North Dakota quarterback Jerry Kaminski has completed 172 of 266 passes for 1,993 yards, with 21 touchdowns and four interceptions. Running back Charles Langama averages 7.4 yards per carry, with 535 yards and six touchdowns. Deng Deng leads UND with 42 catches for 606 yards. Linebacker Ethan Boll has a team-high 61 tackles. Grant Noland's pass breakup against South Dakota was his 14th of the season, tying UND's single-season record.
Turnovers could decide it. Youngstown State is plus-3 in turnover margin, and North Dakota is minus-7. North Dakota allows 25.2 points and 118.0 rushing yards per game. Youngstown State allows 23.1 points and 132.9 rushing yards.
Both teams finish drives. North Dakota leads the FCS with 16 red-zone passing touchdowns. Youngstown State has scored on 36 of its 39 red-zone trips, and the three misses were kneel-downs.
North Dakota leads the series 5-1. UND won last year's meeting 35-17 in Grand Forks on Oct. 11, 2025. North Dakota leads 2-1 in Youngstown, and the last two meetings at Stambaugh Stadium were both close. North Dakota won 35-30 in 2022, and Youngstown State won 41-40 in overtime in 2024 by stopping a two-point try. That's the Penguins' only win in the series.
Both teams are in position for an FCS playoff bid, and the top eight seeds get first-round byes. In our latest bracket projection, Youngstown State is the No. 5 seed and North Dakota is No. 8. The loser on Saturday could fall out of that bye line, especially North Dakota, which would have four losses.
