December 11, 1999
Football:
Fourth-Quarter Magic
Lifts YSU Past FAMU, 27-24
YOUNGSTOWN, OH- Sophomore quarterback Jeff Ryan (So.,
Boardman, OH) hit
Damion Matthews (Sr., Miami, FL)
with a 10-yard touchdown pass with
44 seconds left in the game as the
Youngstown State University football
team advanced to the NCAA I-AA
National Championship Game with a
27-24 win over Florida A&M on
Saturday.
"I saw Elliott
Giles out of the corner of my eye in
the back of the end zone. I just
reached up and grabbed Ryan's pass,"
said Matthews.
The Penguins advanced to their sixth championship game this
decade and will face Georgia
Southern next Saturday in
Chattanooga, Tennessee. The game can
be seen live on ESPN at 2:00 p.m.
The Penguins and Eagles have each
won four national titles.
YSU (12-2) trailed 24-13 after Florida A&M (10-4) scored with
11:35 to play. After holding the
Penguins, YSU punted back to the
Rattlers. After two personal foul
penalties, the Rattlers started
their drive at the YSU 30-yard line.
FAMU drove down to the four-yard
line. On second down, Quinn Gray was
intercepted by Tim
Johnson (Jr., Fairfield, AL)
at two-yard line. YSU then trimmed
the Rattlers lead to 24-19 when Ryan
hit Elliott Giles (Sr.,
Miami, FL) with a 46-yard
touchdown pass.
After the Penguins held on a third and two play and the Rattlers
punted back to the Penguins at their
28-yard line. YSU drove down to the
10-yard line. On a third down play,
Ryan found Matthews in the middle of
the end zone for the game-winning
score.
"Like we said all year, this team is going to play fourth
quarters," said YSU head head Jim
Tressel, who ran his career mark to
23-4 in postseason play. "I could
not be prouder of a bunch of guys
and the 23 seniors who will not let
us stop."
The win was the Penguins' 15th straight in the playoffs and was
their seventh come-from-behind
victory this season.
Senior Adrian Brown (Sr., Canton, OH) moved into
second place in school history with
189 yards on 30 carries. He passed
Robbie Robson with 3,819 career
yards. |
