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October 30, 1999
Football:
Penguins Fall In Gateway Championship to
Illinois State
YOUNGSTOWN,
OH -
The Youngstown State University
football team battled back from a
17-point fourth quarter deficit, but
fell to Illinois State, 31-28, at
Stambaugh Stadium. The Redbirds
(7-2, 5-0 GFC) won the automatic bid
to the NCAA I-AA Playoffs and their
first Gateway crown.
The Penguins (7-2,
4-1) trailed 31-14 in the fourth
quarter, but scored 14 quick points
to get back in the game. Jeff
Ryan hit John Schumacher
with a 6-yard touchdown pass from
Ryan to trim the deficit to 31-21.
Jon Tekac recovered an onside
kick with 7:03 to go in the game.
Ryan led YSU on an eight-play, 59-yard drive and hit
Elliott Giles with a 13-yard
pass with 5:25 to play.
After YSU forced a punt, the Penguins had one more chance to
try and tie the game, but YSU lost 3
yards in three plays before punting.
"In a championship game, you have to do all the little things
right to win the football game,"
said YSU head coach Jim Tressel.
"Today, we did not do everything
right. We fumbled in our own end,
missed a field goal and had one
blocked. You will not win games when
you do those things."
YSU took an early 7-0 lead when Tim Johnson picked off
a pass at the Illinois State 26-yard
line and set up the Penguins at the
18. Ryan hit Sean Guerriero
with a 16-yard pass down to the
one-yard line and Adrian Brown
scored his 51st career
touchdown with a one-yard run. He
needs two more to tie Tamron Smith
for the school record.
After a Redbird field goal made it 7-3, the Penguins went up
14-3 when Ryan hit Dennis Dlugosz
for his first career touchdown
reception.
The Penguins took a 14-10 lead into the intermission, but
Illinois State scored 14 third
quarter points to lead 24-14. On the
first possession of the second half,
Ryan fumbled at the 20-yard line and
the Redbirds captilized when Dusty
Burk hit Jacob Niete with a 19-yard
touchdown pass. The same combination
hooked up again on 4th
and 20 when Burk’s pass was knocked
down, but Niete made a diving catch
off the deflection for a touchdown.
Ryan completed 19-of-39 passes for 202 yards and three
touchdowns and also ran 20 times for
101 yards.
The Penguins will look to regain their winning ways when they
host Southwest Missouri State at 1
p.m.
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