# 2019 Youngstown State Penguins football team

The 2019 Youngstown State Penguins football team represented Youngstown State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fifth-year head coach Bo Pelini and played their home games at Stambaugh Stadium. They were a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 6–6, 2–6 in MVFC play to finish in eighth place.

## Preseason
### MVFC poll

In the MVFC preseason poll released on July 29, 2019, the Penguins were predicted to finish in seventh place.
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | North Dakota State | 392 (32) |
| 2 | South Dakota State | 348 (4) |
| 3 | Illinois State | 289 (3) |
| 4 | Indiana State | 279 (1) |
| 5 | Northern Iowa | 266 |
| 6 | South Dakota | 176 |
| 7 | Youngstown State | 153 |
| 8 | Western Illinois | 128 |
| 9 | Southern Illinois | 89 |
| 10 | Missouri State | 80 |

### Preseason All–MVFC team

The Penguins did not have any players selected to the preseason all-MVFC team.

## Schedule

YSU has scheduled 12 games in the 2019 season instead of the 11 normally allowed for FCS programs. Under a standard provision of NCAA rules, all FCS teams are allowed to schedule 12 regular-season games in years in which the period starting with Labor Day weekend and ending with the last Saturday of November contains 14 Saturdays.
| Date | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 24 | vs. Samford* | | Cramton BowlMontgomery, AL (FCS Kickoff) | ESPN | W 45–22 | 12,560 |
| September 7 | Howard* | | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN+ | W 54–28 | 12,390 |
| September 14 | Duquesne* | | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN+ | W 34–14 | 15,991 |
| September 28 | Robert Morris* | No. 22 | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN+ | W 45–10 | 12,659 |
| October 5 | at No. 13 Northern Iowa | No. 18 | UNI-DomeCedar Falls, IA | ESPN3 | L 14–21 | 10,137 |
| October 12 | No. 3 South Dakota State | No. 19 | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN+ | L 28–38 | 12,381 |
| October 19 | at Southern Illinois | No. 19 | Saluki StadiumCarbondale, IL | ESPN+ | L 10–35 | 7,670 |
| October 26 | Western Illinois | | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN+ | W 59–14 | 10,437 |
| November 2 | No. 1 North Dakota State | | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN+ | L 17–56 | 11,102 |
| November 9 | at South Dakota | | DakotaDomeVermillion, SD | ESPN+ | L 21–56 | 4,561 |
| November 16 | at Indiana State | | Memorial StadiumTerre Haute, IN | ESPN+ | L 17–24 | 3,645 |
| November 23 | No. 7 Illinois State | | Stambaugh StadiumYoungstown, OH | ESPN+ | W 21–3 | 9,190 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game |||||||

## Game summaries
### Vs. Samford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Penguins | 14 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 45 |
| Bulldogs | 7 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 22 |
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | YSU | SAM |
| 1 | 9:09 | 5 | 85 | 1:22 | SAM | Robert Adams 55-yard touchdown reception from Liam Welch, Mitchell Fineran kick good | 0 | 7 |
| 1 | 2:12 | 13 | 83 | 6:57 | YSU | Samuel St. Surin 16-yard touchdown reception from Nathan Mays, Colton McFadden kick good | 7 | 7 |
| 1 | 1:29 | | | | YSU | Fumble recovery returned 25 yards for touchdown by Cash Mitchell, Colton McFadden kick good | 14 | 7 |
| 2 | 10:57 | 8 | 41 | 3:55 | YSU | 43-yard field goal by Colton McFadden | 17 | 7 |
| 2 | 0:36 | 12 | 90 | 2:46 | YSU | Josh Burgett 4-yard touchdown reception from Nathan Mays, Colton McFadden kick good | 24 | 7 |
| 4 | 14:29 | 8 | 63 | 3:45 | YSU | Braxton Chapman 1-yard touchdown run, Colton McFadden kick good | 31 | 7 |
| 4 | 13:37 | 3 | 70 | 0:52 | SAM | Montrell Washington 64-yard touchdown reception from Chris Oladokun, 2-point run good | 31 | 15 |
| 4 | 5:16 | 13 | 75 | 8:21 | YSU | Braxton Champan 1-yard touchdown run, Colton McFadden kick good | 38 | 15 |
| 4 | 3:17 | 6 | 36 | 1:59 | SAM | Chris Oladokun 10-yard touchdown run, Mitchell Finehan kick good | 38 | 22 |
| 4 | 2:16 | 3 | 44 | 1:01 | YSU | Christian Turner 3-yard touchdown run, Colton McFadden kick good | 45 | 22 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 45 | 22 |

### Howard

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bison | 14 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Penguins | 6 | 21 | 20 | 7 | 54 |

### Duquesne

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dukes | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Penguins | 7 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 34 |

### Robert Morris

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Colonials | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| No. 22 Penguins | 7 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 45 |

### At Northern Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 18 Penguins | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| No. 13 Panthers | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |

### South Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 3 Jackrabbits | 3 | 0 | 13 | 22 | 38 |
| No. 19 Penguins | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |

### At Southern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 19 Penguins | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Salukis | 14 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 35 |

### Western Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Leathernecks | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Penguins | 28 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 59 |

### North Dakota State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 1 Bison | 21 | 21 | 7 | 7 | 56 |
| Penguins | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |

### At South Dakota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Penguins | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Coyotes | 21 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 56 |

### At Indiana State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Penguins | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Sycamores | 3 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 24 |

### Illinois State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 7 Redbirds | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Penguins | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

## Ranking movements

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final |
| STATS FCS | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 22 | 18 | 19 | 19 | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | |
| Coaches | — | RV | RV | 21 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 18 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | |