Youngstown State vs Murray State game
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
No. 4 Youngstown State (7-2, 5-1 MVFC) visits 1-8 Murray State Saturday in its final conference road game.
Murray State has lost six straight and lacks a conference win.
Background
Youngstown State is a Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) program coached by Doug Phillips, in his seventh season, and enters ranked No. 4 nationally. Murray State, coached by Jody Wright in his third season, is 1-8 overall and 0-5 in the MVFC. The game matters for YSU's conference standing — it sits atop the MVFC on a five-game league win streak — and is its last conference road game of the regular season. Murray State leads the all-time series 6-4 and 4-1 in games played in Murray, though YSU won the last meeting 51-17 in 2025.
How it unfolded
- Oct 25, 2025Youngstown State beat Murray State 51-17 in Youngstown, Ohio, in the teams' last meeting; quarterback Beau Brungard recorded a touchdown trifecta, including a 50-yard touchdown reception.
- Jul 10, 2026Murray State announced the Nov. 7 game against Youngstown State would kick off at 1 p.m. and serve as Junior Racer Day and Youth Sports Day.
- Oct 31, 2026No. 4 Youngstown State (7-2, 5-1 MVFC) beat No. 9 North Dakota 31-28 at Stambaugh Stadium, erasing a 21-7 halftime deficit with 17 unanswered points for its fifth straight MVFC win.
- Nov 3, 2026YSU announced the Nov. 7 game at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Ky., at 1 p.m. Central/2 p.m. Eastern, carried on ESPN+, WKBN 570 AM and iHeart Radio.
- Nov 6, 2026Murray State (1-8, 0-5 MVFC) returned home after a two-game road trip to host Youngstown State, seeking to snap a six-game losing streak.
- Nov 7, 2026Game scheduled at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Ky., at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CDT, streamed on ESPN+.
Key terms
- MVFC
- A football-only NCAA Division I FCS conference of colleges in the Midwestern United States, formerly the Gateway Football Conference.
- spread
- To win a spread bet by beating the point spread set for the game.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- The Kalshi market gave Youngstown State a 95% chance to win, with a spread of about 29.5 points.
- Caution
- Murray State athletics framed the home game as a chance to snap a six-game losing streak and noted the Racers are one of two MVFC teams without a conference win, alongside 0-5 Indiana State.
Still unverified
A Mahoning Matters social post states a noon start and a 34-17 Youngstown State win, differing from the 2 p.m. ET kickoff listed by YSU, Mahoning Matters' article and Murray State.