Nov. 4, 2000
Football: Penguins Pull Out 42-35 Double Overtime
Win
Youngstown, Ohio -- The fifth-ranked Youngstown State
football team mounted a furious
rally that ended up in a 42-35
double overtime victory over No. 8
Hofstra in front of 16,832 fans at
Stambaugh Stadium on Saturday
afternoon.
In the second overtime, YSU scored on Jeff Ryan's
school-record-tying fourth touchdown
pass of the game to Brandon Pedraza
from 25 yards. On Hofstra's final
possession, YSU linebacker Tim
Johnson, who finished with 18
tackles, intercepted Rocky Butler's
final pass in the end zone to end
the game.
For the contest, Ryan ran for a career-best 125 yards on 18
carries. He had 194 yards passing on
14 completions and with his four
touchdown passes, he now has 40 in
his career to tie the school mark.
The win lifts the Penguins to 8-1 on the year, while Hofstra
falls to 7-3.
For most of the afternoon, Youngstown State had to battle
uphill. The Pride had leads of 7-0,
14-7, 28-14 and 35-28 before YSU
finally pulled out the victory.
The Penguin rally began with 7:42 remaining in the game when
Ryan moved the offense 40 yards in
three plays to pull within a
touchdown. After the defense held,
YSU took over at its own 30 with
2:38 left.
Ryan threw his third touchdown of the game, a two-yard score,
to Eugene Mintze with 15 seconds
left and Jeff Stewart's extra point
capped a wild 9-play 70-yard drive
that tied the game.
In the first overtime, Hofstra scored first on Butler's
eight-yard pass to Jason Maxwell to
go ahead 35-28. But YSU hung tough
and took advantage of Hofstra
holding penalty on a would-be
interception that would have ended
the game. On the play following the
key penalty, P.J. Mays scored his
second touchdown of the game to
force a second overtime.
While Youngstown State hung on to win, top five teams Georgia
Southern, Delaware and Western
Illinois all lost. Illinois State
beat Western Illinois 25-18 to give
the Penguins a share of the Gateway
lead with one game remaining. New
Hampshire stunned Delaward 45-44 and
Furman pounded No. 1 Georgia
Southern 45-10. |