Photo courtesy of YSU Athletic Communications / Trevor Parks. YSU junior quarterback Beau Brungard (right) speaks with FCS Awards Ceremony presenter Kendra Sheehan after winning the 2025 Walter Payton Award on Saturday at Woolworth Theatre in Nashville, Tenn.

It’s been an eventful month for Beau Brungard since Youngstown State’s season came to an end at the end of November.

The junior quarterback has received countless honors and awards in recognition of his breakout 2025 campaign. He was named Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year, Walter Camp FCS Player of the Year and FCS ADA Offensive Player of the Year, while also receiving First-Team All-American honors from numerous outlets and publications.

But on Saturday, he received his most prestigious honor yet, as he was named the recipient of the 2025 Walter Payton Award at the Stats Perform FCS Awards Ceremony at Woolworth Theatre in Nashville.

“A lot of these awards, they have my name on them, but it doesn’t show all the work that the O-line, the coaches and all the playmakers around me that make all these things possible,” Brungard said in a phone interview Saturday evening. “All these awards just go to show the kind of team we have and the players that are around me and the amazing coaches we have. I’ve just been so blessed and thankful, and I just want to praise the Lord for all the awards I’ve been able to get, and I’m proud to do it for Youngstown.”

Brungard is YSU’s first Walter Payton Award recipient in program history. He beat out the award’s two other invited finalists, Western Carolina quarterback Taron Dickens, who finished second in the balloting, and North Dakota State quarterback Cole Payton, who finished third.

Brungard joins an elite fraternity of the award’s past recipients, which includes former FCS greats like Alcorn State quarterback Steve McNair, Villanova running back Brian Westbrook, Eastern Illinois quarterback Tony Romo and Eastern Washington receiver Cooper Kupp.

“It’s been so awesome to be able to come down here, almost treat it like a little vacation and talk to so many great players in our league and great coaches and meet so many new people,” Brungard said. “It’s been amazing. I’m just so honored and thankful to be able to be a part of it and experience it.”

YSU had a large contingent in Nashville to attend the ceremony. In addition to nearly a dozen of Brungard’s family members and friends, university president Bill Johnson, athletic director Ron Strollo, head coach Doug Phillips, offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich, advisor to the head coach Mike Tomczak and sports information director Trevor Parks were all in attendance.

“It just goes to show the amazing support system that I have around me, and the support system that we have for this football team in Youngstown,” Brungard said. “It was so amazing to see how many people were able to come down here. It was awesome.”

Brungard’s junior season included some eye-popping numbers. He completed 68.7% of his passes for 3,230 yards and 26 touchdowns, while also rushing 242 times for 1,468 yards and 27 touchdowns. He also added a receiving touchdown during the game against Murray State to finish with 55 total touchdowns this season.

He helped lead the Penguins to an 8-5 overall record and the program’s second FCS playoff appearance in the last three years. With Brungard under center, YSU had comeback wins this season against Towson, Southern Illinois and Illinois State, which is facing Montana State for the national title on Monday.

The Walter Payton Award, which debuted in 1987, is known as the Heisman of the FCS, and is given annually to the country’s most outstanding offensive player.

A national panel of more than 150 sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries voted on the award’s winner, based on players’ regular-season performances. Voting was conducted before the start of the FCS playoffs.

While the FCS Awards Ceremony and the FCS national championship game on Monday night officially mark the end of the subdivision’s 2025 football season, work to prepare for the 2026 season has just begun for Brungard and the Penguins.

On Dec. 5, Brungard announced that he intends to return to YSU for his senior season, despite rumored overtures for him to enter the transfer portal.

“It was a decision that I thought a lot about, and most importantly, prayed a lot about,” Brungard said. “I asked that God would help me make a decision, and He opened the door for me, and He made it easy for me.

“Everything that goes on with the portal and other teams trying to recruit you, it’s crazy and it’s a pretty hectic time when coaches are trying to get ahold of you and some of the things they throw at you. I just tried to stay off my phone as much as I could and just look in the mirror and see what I value. When I looked in the mirror and saw what I value, I just decided that I wanted to stay loyal and stay home for my last year.”

Plus, the way the season ended for the Penguins — a heartbreaking loss to Yale in the first round of the FCS playoffs — left a sour taste in Brungard’s mouth.

“We left so much out there on the plate from this past year,” Brungard said. “We start workouts on Monday, so I’m excited to get back to work and just empty the tank and not let any regret or doubt in our minds of the work we’re going to put in this year. We’re just going to lay it all out there for one more year.”