The Youngstown State football team had four student-athletes named to the Missouri Valley Football Conference's All-Academic team, the conference announced on Tuesday.
Senior linebacker Grant Dixon was a first-team selection while PK Colt McFadden and TB Christian Turner were second-team recipients and DT Vinny Gentile was tabbed Honorable Mention. It marks the first time since the 2012 season that the Penguins had four student-athletes earn Academic All-League laurels.
Dixon is the first Penguin to earn first-team accolades since Kyle Hegedus and Joe Alessi in 2019. Dixon was named first-team CoSIDA Academic All-District earlier this year. He led the Penguins with 67 total tackles, including 40 solo stops while being the team's leading tackler by 16 tackles. Dixon was an Honorable-Mention All-MVFC pick in the fall after earning first-team honors in the spring.
McFadden showed strong accuracy throughout the season making 8-of-9 field goals and 29-of-30 PAT attempts. His lone miss was a 56-yard try at UNI that had the distance, but was just wide. McFadden was an Honorable-Mention All-MVFC pick in the fall. Turner played in 49 games in his YSU career rushing for 1,206 yards on 267 carries and scored eight touchdowns. He also caught 84 passes for 657 yards and five scores. He was a two-time Campbell Trophy semifinalist and first-team CoSIDA All-Academic All-District honoree in the spring.
Gentile played in all 10 games, making eight starts on the defensive line in the fall. Gentile was a second-team All-MVFC academic selection in the spring.
