Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. YSU quarterback Beau Brungard scrambles and looks to throw downfield during a fall practice on Aug. 19 at Stambaugh Stadium.

YOUNGSTOWN — After a position battle that went through spring practice and into fall camp, Youngstown State has named a new starting quarterback.

Sophomore and former Springfield star Beau Brungard has been taking reps with the first-team offense in practice and will start YSU’s season opener Aug. 29 against Villanova.

“He had the opportunity to sit behind Mitch (Davidson) last year. He has game reps from having played last year,” head coach Doug Phillips said. “It comes down to practice execution. It’s the guy that can complete balls, make the checks, make the right decisions in a heated environment. There’s a lot of pressure on you when you’re in a football game. But he’s gotta come out and earn it every day — just because you’re a starter going into Week 1, you still gotta come every day to practice to be that starter.”

Brungard emerged on top after duking it out with fellow sophomores Brady Shannon and Max Blanc and redshirt freshman Bryce Schondelmyer all offseason.

“Great thing is, I feel really comfortable putting a lot of guys in, which has not always been the case,” offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Troy Rothenbuhler said. “A lot of those guys could jump in at any point, situationally or whatever. We feel good about the whole group of guys.”

Brungard finished last season 14-for-20 for 108 yards and an interception, to go along with 129 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries on the ground.

His athleticism and ability to make plays with his legs adds another dimension to the Penguins’ offense, and was something it didn’t necessarily have last year with Davidson — a prototypical pocket passer — leading the way under center.

A perfect example of which came in the first week of November last year on the road at Indiana State. With the Penguins clinging to a six-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, Brungard came in for a play and scored on a 37-yard run down the sidelines to help YSU put the Sycamores away late.

“The nice thing is, Beau can do some of the things Mitch did, plus he’s got a little bit extra in the tool bag,” Rothenbuhler said. “You compare them, you say Brady’s a little bit more like Beau, you’d say Max is a little bit more like Mitch. But they all bring unique things. But there’s certain things in common — leadership, wanting to win, those types of things that there was no doubt that Mitch had, which helped set him apart, which is helping these guys because they saw him do it.”

Brungard follows in the footsteps of his father, Mark, a former YSU quarterback himself, who led the Penguins to the 1993 and 1994 Division I-AA national championships.

“It feels awesome. It’s always what I’ve wanted to do, especially here at this school, just carry on that legacy,” Brungard said. “I just have to be confident in the guys around me. They make my job easy. When you have great guys around you, helping you, it’s great.”

Like Brungard said, he’ll have no shortage of returning talent and experience around him to help ingratiate him into the offense, and it all starts up front with the offensive line.

The Penguins return four starters to an experienced, veteran group that includes seniors Aidan Parker, Jaison Williams and David Metzler, along with sophomore Desmeal Leigh. Williams and Parker have combined for 78 starts, while Metzler and Leigh have a combined 37 starts.

“I feel really good about our execution,” Parker said. “I think it helps when you have that experience on the line — that helps everything run. But we still gotta keep getting better. We’re still not quite as focused as we need to be. Just like any team, every time we come out on this field, we expect perfection. Obviously we’re not going to get that, but we strive for that every day. I think that’s just going to push us and elevate us because we want to be a really explosive offense.”

Meanwhile, sophomore Shane Keenan has emerged to take the starting spot at right guard, according to Phillips.

“When I look back, I just know we’re better (on the O-line) than we’ve ever been,” Phillips said. “Why? Because of that playing experience. I like our depth at O-line. For us, it’s about consistency. I feel we have layers at offensive line. We have depth at offensive line and our offensive line coach (Austen Bujnoch) has been here since I’ve been here and been able to recruit and build it.”

The tight end group is almost as experienced with Brandan Serrano and Colt Sechrest back. Their abilities as additional blockers in the run game are key, but their confidence to run routes and catch passes downfield continues to expand as well, according to Rothenbuhler.

YSU’s returning experience on the offensive line will be expected to protect Brungard, while continuing to pave the way for the Penguins’ running back duo of Tyshon King and Ethan Wright.

King led the Penguins with 1,011 yards and nine touchdowns on 187 carries last year, while Wright transferred to YSU during the offseason after four years at Cincinnati.

The pair give the Penguins a one-two punch out of the backfield just like they had last year with King and Dra Rushton. But this year, YSU has also developed some increased depth behind those two with Cephus Harris III, Da’Shaun Whatley and Jaden Gilbert, among several other young tailbacks.

“We said going into spring that we felt like we had a strong running back room,” Phillips said. “I don’t know if I saw the depth perform like I’d like in the spring, but I’ve seen it in (fall) camp. Those guys have been taking a lot of reps, and when you play 12 straight games, you better have a lot of depth at running back. I feel confident right now with four or five that have been repping with the No. 1 offense that any of them can go.”

The Penguins are in a similar position at receiver with a stable of players that they can call on to catch passes out wide.

Junior Max Tomczak is the most experienced returner of the group. But sophomore Joey Farthing exhibited flashes last season, as he hauled in four touchdowns on nine receptions.

Senior Latrell Fordham has also returned to the receiver room after playing defensive back last year, while Cyrus Traugh has emerged as an outside threat during the offseason. Transfers Jawon Hall and Matt Reardon are also expected to contribute.

“We have some new guys that came in and are a lot better than they were in the spring because they’re understanding the offense,” Phillips said. “So it’s going to be by-committee. We need all those guys to be able to play. I think we have eight guys that can play and those eight guys are the ones you’ll see on Saturdays.”

Phillips said YSU won’t know what it has offensively until it finally gets a chance to line up across from another team. The Penguins open the season against Villanova, the same team that ended their season last year in the FCS playoffs.

“We’re tired of going against (each other). You could see that Tuesday,” Phillips said. “Our guys are ready to play. We’re the only sport in America where you just scrimmage against each other. We gotta take on a great Villanova team and we’ll learn a lot about ourselves real quick in that first quarter, second quarter because we’re taking a lot of guys that maybe we haven’t been in a game with. So we’re trying to get their mindset ready for what happens. That’s why I’m excited to see that identity and who we’re going to be. It might take the first half of the season for us to truly learn what the Penguins of 2024 are going to look like.”

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