2018 Youngstown State Penguins football team

The 2018 Youngstown State Penguins football team represented Youngstown State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-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 4–7, 3–5 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place.

2018 Youngstown State Penguins football
Conference	Missouri Valley Football Conference
2018 record	4–7 (3–5 MVFC)
Head coach	Bo Pelini (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Crist (1st as OC, 4th overall season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Richard McNutt (1st as DC, 4th overall season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Donald D'Alesio (1st as DC, 3rd overall season)
Home stadium	Stambaugh Stadium (Capacity: 20,630)

2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 North Dakota State $^		8	–	0					15	–	0
No. 3 South Dakota State ^		6	–	2					10	–	3
No. 23 Northern Iowa ^		5	–	3					7	–	6
Indiana State		5	–	3					7	–	4
Western Illinois		4	–	4					5	–	6
Illinois State		3	–	5					6	–	5
Youngstown State		3	–	5					4	–	7
South Dakota		3	–	5					4	–	7
Missouri State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Southern Illinois		1	–	7					2	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Penguins finished the 2017 season 6–5, 4–4 in MVFC play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place.

Preseason

Award watch lists

Award	Player	Position	Year
Walter Payton Award[1]	Tevin McCaster	RB	SR

Preseason MVFC poll

The MVFC released their preseason poll on July 29, 2018, with the Penguins predicted to finish in fourth place.[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	North Dakota State	390 (39)
2	South Dakota State	270
3	Northern Iowa	258
4	Youngstown State	248
5	Illinois State	248
6	South Dakota	206
7	Western Illinois	163
8	Southern Illinois	139
9	Missouri State	90
10	Indiana State	41

Preseason All-MVFC Teams

The Penguins placed six players on the preseason all-MVFC teams.[3]

Offense 1st team Tevin McCaster – RB Vitas Hrynkiewicz – OL Gavin Wiggins – OL Steven Wethli – LS

Defense 1st team Armand Dellovade – LB 2nd team Bryce Gibson – DB

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	2:00 p.m.	Butler*	No. 25	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	L 21–23	11,219
September 8	6:00 p.m.	at No. 14 (FBS) West Virginia*		Mountaineer Field Morgantown, WV	AT&TSN Pitt	L 17–52	58,446
September 15	2:00 p.m.	Valparaiso*		Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	W 42–7	14,913
September 29	4:00 p.m.	at Western Illinois		Hanson Field Macomb, IL	ESPN3	L 38–45	4,352
October 6	6:00 p.m.	Southern Illinois		Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	W 17–14	14,581
October 13	3:00 p.m.	at No. 2 South Dakota State		Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium Brookings, SD	ESPN+	L 7–36	14,357
October 20	6:00 p.m.	South Dakota		Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	W 29–17	11,112
October 27	2:00 p.m.	Indiana State		Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	L 17–43	9,090
November 3	3:30 p.m.	at No. 1 North Dakota State		Fargodome Fargo, ND	ESPN+	L 7–17	18,028
November 10	12:00 p.m.	No. 22 Northern Iowa		Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	ESPN+	W 31–10	8,407
November 17	1:00 p.m.	at Illinois State		Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	ESPN+	L 28–35	5,583
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

Butler

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	0	0	16	23
No. 25 Penguins	7	0	14	0	21

See also: 2018 Butler Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2014	YSU, 44–13

at West Virginia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Penguins	0	7	10	0	17
No. 14 (FBS) Mountaineers	7	14	21	10	52

See also: 2018 West Virginia Mountaineers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–2	2016	WVU, 38–21

Valparaiso

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	7	0	0	0	7
Penguins	7	14	14	7	42

See also: 2018 Valparaiso Crusaders football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2012	YSU, 59–0

at Western Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Penguins	7	0	10	21	38
Leathernecks	6	10	14	15	45

See also: 2018 Western Illinois Leathernecks football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
18–12	2015	YSU, 23–21

Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Salukis	0	7	0	7	14
Penguins	3	3	0	11	17

See also: 2018 Southern Illinois Salukis football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
15–12–1	2017	YSU, 28–21

at South Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Penguins	7	0	0	0	7
No. 2 Jackrabbits	9	7	7	13	36

See also: 2018 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–12	2017	YSU, 19–7

South Dakota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Coyotes	0	0	10	7	17
Penguins	19	3	0	7	29

See also: 2018 South Dakota Coyotes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–1	2017	YSU, 31–28

Indiana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Sycamores	3	13	7	20	43
Penguins	7	3	7	0	17

See also: 2018 Indiana State Sycamores football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
22–5	2017	YSU, 66–24

at North Dakota State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Penguins	0	0	7	0	7
No. 1 Bison	0	7	0	10	17

See also: 2018 North Dakota State Bison football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–8	2017	NDSU, 27–24

Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 22 Panthers	0	7	3	0	10
Penguins	7	7	14	3	31

See also: 2018 Northern Iowa Panthers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–21	2017	UNI, 19–14

at Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Penguins	3	10	8	7	28
Redbirds	7	7	7	14	35

See also: 2018 Illinois State Redbirds football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
13–14	2017	ILST, 35–0

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	25	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Coaches	24	RV	NR	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR

References

1. "FCS football: 2018 Walter Payton Award watch list". August 1, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
2. http://www.valley-football.org/news/2018/7/19/football-north-dakota-state-tabbed-as-favorite-to-win-2018-mvfc-title.aspx
3. http://valley-football.org/documents/2018/7/31//2018_MVFC_Preseason_Team_and_Poll.pdf?id=41