Before you know it, autumn will arrive, and when it does the Valparaiso University football program will be ready to kick off the 2023 schedule, which was released on Wednesday.

The Beacons will start the season on Thursday, Aug. 31 with a road test against Missouri Valley Football Conference foe Youngstown State in Youngstown, Ohio. Valpo played by far its most competitive game in program history against an MVFC program this past season, falling 28-21 at Illinois State, and will look to get over the hump against a full-scholarship opponent in 2023.

This will mark Valpo’s fourth matchup with the Penguins and first of the Landon Fox Era as the team made previous stops in Youngstown in 2011, 2012 and 2018. This will be the program’s first Thursday night affair since Aug. 29, 2019 at Eastern Kentucky, the first game of Fox’s head coaching tenure.

The nonconference portion of the season continues on Sept. 9 as Valpo visits Indiana Wesleyan in Marion, Ind. This will mark the third consecutive year that the instate foes have locked horns and the second time that the Beacons have visited the Wildcats. Valpo defeated Indiana Wesleyan 20-17 at Brown Field to open up the 2022 season before the Wildcats went on to win their next 11 games en route to an NAIA national semifinal appearance.

After an early bye week on Sept. 16, Valpo will be in action for nine consecutive weeks, including the home opener on Sept. 23 vs. Marist, which doubles as the team’s Homecoming game at Brown Field. That will also represent the first Pioneer Football League contest of the year.

Valpo will step outside of PFL play on Sept. 30, as Southwest Minnesota State comes to Brown Field for the nonconference finale. The Mustangs are part of the Division-II Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. This will mark the first matchup between the two teams.

Valpo will visit Drake on Oct. 7 before hosting Morehead State on Oct. 14. Davidson returns to Valpo’s schedule for the first time since 2019 on Oct. 21 in North Carolina, before Valpo heads to Indianapolis on Oct. 28 for the latest installment of the Hoosier Helmet rivalry against arch nemesis Butler.

Dayton will come to Brown Field on Nov. 4 before Stetson is in town for the Nov. 11 Senior Day. Valpo has not played against the Hatters since the 2019 campaign. The regular season will come to an end on Nov. 18 as Valpo makes the long journey to St. Paul, Minn. to play defending PFL champion St. Thomas.