Christina Lee, Senior Photographer

For the first time in school history, the Yale Bulldogs (9–2, 6–1 Ivy) have won a Football Championship Subdivision playoff game. This afternoon, the Bulldogs beat the odds and came back from down 28 points to upset the 15th-seeded Youngstown State Penguins (8–5, 5–3 MVFC) in historic fashion.

The victory sends the Bulldogs to a second-round matchup against Montana State next weekend — further extending Yale’s postseason after Team 152 earned the Ivy League’s first automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, participation in which had previously been prohibited for conference members.

The Bulldogs got off to a nightmarish start, finding themselves down 35–7 at the half. The first half of the ballgame was dominated by the Youngstown State quarterback and Walter Payton Award finalist Beau Brungard. Using both his feet and his arm, he systematically tore apart a stout Yale defense that had the most forced fumbles and sacks in the Ivy League.

The Penguins’ defense also feasted on mistakes made by the Eli offense, which turned the ball over an uncharacteristically high three times in the first half. As the second quarter came to a close, the Youngstown State faithful were on their feet cheering for the dominant home team.

However, the Bulldogs proved that they should never be counted out.

Yale started off the second half with the ball and marched right down the field in a six-minute drive that ended with a four-yard touchdown reception by Spencer Mermans ’27 — the bruiser’s first one of the season.

Yet it took just three plays for Youngstown State to answer, and Brungard threw another touchdown pass to go up 42–14 on Yale.

Down by 28 yet again, the Bulldogs were determined to claw their way back into the game. In a classic Team 152 offensive drive, the Elis worked their way down the field and capped off the drive with another Josh Pitsenberger ’26 score, his second of three on the day. Looking to make a splash, the Yale coaching staff decided to go for two, and it paid off as quarterback Dante Reno ’28 connected with Graham Smith ’27 for the successful conversion to make the score 42–22.

The Penguins retook the field looking to cushion their lead after Yale’s second touchdown of the half, but the Bulldog defense had other plans. A speedy wide receiver from Youngstown State, Ky “Flash” Wilson, got the ball punched out from his hands and the Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year, Abu Kamara ’27, scooped it right up into his.

A few plays later, and Yale was back in the end zone after a Lucius Anderson ’29 score off of a jet touch pass, making the score 42–29.

All of a sudden, the Bulldogs were back in a two-score game. Players on the sideline started pounding on the Team 152 trash can to make noise, and Yale fans rose to their feet in the stands at Stambaugh Stadium.

Youngstown State drove down the field after several third-down conversions but stalled out in Yale territory. On fourth down, the Penguins were forced to bring their special teams unit on the field for a field goal attempt, which bounced off an upright and missed.

On the second play of the next drive, Reno connected with Jaxton Santiago ’28 over the middle, who was hit in the head and neck area by former Bulldog Dathan Hickey ’24, now a graduate student player for Youngstown State. The officials deemed Hickey’s cheap shot on Santiago — which appeared in the replay to have been a clear targeting play — legal. However, Santiago was helped off the field with what seemed to be a lower leg injury and he did not return to playing.

On the next play, Pitsenberger ran over two defenders, including Hickey. After the play, Hickey began to exchange pleasantries with his former team’s sideline. Joe Nash ’25, sensing Hickey’s hostility, ran over and politely showed Hickey to his seat, which happened to be face-down on the ground. Nash was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct following the play.

Following a gutsy fourth down conversion, the Bulldogs worked their way back into the red zone and capped off their drive with a touchdown reception by Smith, making the game a one-score affair.

With the pressure mounting, the Penguins crumbled.

Their offense was forced to punt after just three plays, and Yale’s offense took the field needing just one more touchdown to take the lead for the first time all game.

“We just took it one play at a time,” defensive end James Cave ’27 wrote in a message to the News. “We didn’t worry about the scoreboard or anything but the guys on our sideline, stacked good plays into good drives, and good drives into a good second half.” 

On the Bulldogs’ first play of the drive, Pitsenberger found a hole and sprinted down the field. The lone defender he needed to beat before reaching the end zone was none other than Hickey. Pitsenberger outran him and left Hickey behind on the ground. Yale’s star running back waltzed into the end zone to complete his 56-yard house call.

After the touchdown and extra point, Yale was up 43–42.

Youngstown State, desperate for points, instead turned the ball over on downs in their next possession, all but sealing their fate.

That meant that all Yale had to do was pick up a few first downs to melt the clock and end the game. After forcing Youngstown State to use a few of their timeouts, the Bulldogs poured salt in the wound as Mermans baited a Penguin defender into committing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Two plays later, Pitsenberger picked up another first down to end the game and, as he has all season, kneeled the ball right on the Youngstown State one-yard line. The Bulldogs proceeded into victory formation.

After being given a 99.8 percent chance of losing by ESPN halfway through the third quarter, the Bulldogs did the improbable and successfully knocked off Youngstown State to win their first ever FCS playoff game.

“That was insane,” long snapper Joey Fortner ’27 wrote in a message to the News.

In a press conference after the game, Brungard, the Youngstown State quarterback, described his shock at the Penguins’ change in fortune.

“It’s just like a surreal moment, it’s a nightmare,” he said. “Never in a million years I thought that this could happen.”

Yale will travel to Bozeman, Montana, next week to take on the No. 2-seeded Montana State Bobcats (10–2, 8–0 Big Sky) in the second round of the FCS Playoffs. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. local time on Saturday, Dec. 6.

Sabrina Thaler contributed reporting from Youngstown.