YSUsports.com - No. 7/7 Penguins Look to Rebound Against Indiana State

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Oct. 26, 2000
No. 7/7 Penguins Look to Rebound Against Indiana State
     The No. 7/7 (Coaches/SportsNetwork) Youngstown State Penguins will try to bounce back on Saturday against Indiana State and keep alive their chance at a Gateway Football Conference championship. Last Saturday, YSU lost it first game of the season losing at No. 6/7 Western Illinois, 24-10. Indiana State enters the game without a win in eight games. Kickoff for the Gateway Television game of the week is 4:06 p.m. (EST).
     Youngstown State, 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference, had their six-game winning streak and eight-game road win streak snapped losing 24-10 to the Leathernecks. The Penguins tied the game in the first quarter, but had to play catch-up the rest of the game. WIU led 17-7 at halftime before Jake Stewart made a 28-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 17-10. In the fourth quarter, Jeff Ryan’s pass on a third and five was intercepted by Ryle Irish who raced 44 yards for a touchdown.
     Indiana State (0-8 and 0-4) has struggled all year and with it’s last three games on the road could finish the season without a victory for the first time since 1951. Last Saturday, Northern Iowa beat the Sycamores 49-17. This season ISU has allowed more than 40 points in five games and allows 498 yards per game to its opponents.
     All-time against ISU the Penguins have had success winning eight of nine games.
     The contest is the first of three straight home games for YSU after playing four of their last five games on the road. At home this year, YSU is 3-0 with wins over Slippery Rock, Edinboro and Northern Iowa. In their last home contest, YSU drew 21,119 fans to the Northern Iowa contest to set a school and conference record. Following Saturday’s game, the Penguins play host to Hofstra on Nov. 4 and Southern Illinois on Nov. 11.
     Since YSU joined the conference in 1997, the Penguins are 15-7 in league play and are 7-3 at home in conference games.

Last Time Out: Western Illinois 24, Youngstown State 10
• The Penguins suffered their first defeat of the season losing 24-10 at No. 6/7 Western Illinois on Saturday in front of a crowd of 13,419 on a warm day in Macomb, Ill. The Leathernecks took the opening drive of the game down the field and scored on a 25-yard pass from Sam Clemons to Jasen Isom. YSU answered later in the quarter when P.J. Mays scored on a one-yard run. However, the tie was shortlived when backup quarterback Frisman Jackson took a handoff from Clemons and threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Jammarl O’Neal. Just before the half, Joe Lopez made a 25-yard field goal to put the WIU ahead 17-7. On its first drive of the second half, YSU cut the deficit to seven on a 28-yard field goal by Jake Stewart. In the fourth, the Penguins trailed by seven, but Ryle Irish intercepted a Jeff Ryan pass and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown and a 24-10 win.
• With the loss, YSU falls from a tie for first place in the conference to second place, a game behind the Leathernecks. Both teams entered the game with 3-0 records.
• P.J. Mays had his best game of the season for the Penguins rushing for 117 yards on 20 attempts. Mays, a sophomore from Youngstown who played at Cincinnati last season, is the first YSU player to rush for more than 100 yards in a game this season. Mays ran for 99 yards in the season opener against Slippery Rock.
• Team captains for the game were senior punter Troy LeFever, senior wide receiver Denver Williams and defensive lineman Montrial Thomas.
• Senior offensive guard Steve Rovnak saw action for the first time this season. Rovnak, a senior from Boardman, Ohio, came on the Penguins’ first offensive series.

Breakdown of the Indiana State Sycamores
     The Sycamores have struggled to find their way this season losing all eight games. Indiana State has scored just 89 points this year (11.1 per game) while allowing 316 (39.5). In five games ISU has allowed more than 40 points and has not allowed fewer than 21 in a contest this season. ISU is averaging just 245 yards while allowing 498 per game.
     Leading the Sycamores offense are running back Calvin Thomas and quarterback Jamie Dishroom. Thomas averages 54.5 yards per game and has 436 on the season on 79 attempts. Dishroom has run for 318 yards on 106 carries and has thrown for 266 yards. A highlight for the Sycamores is punt returner Keith Herron. Herron is averaging 20.1 yards per return on 10 returns. Place kicker Mike Megyesi has made four field goals and leads the team in scoring with 23 points.
    On defense, Terrance Miles and Tony Albrinck lead the way. Miles leads the team with 85 tackles, including 51 solo stops, and also has three interceptions and five pass breakups. Albrinck has 73 tackles, following a 16-tackle effort in a loss to Northern Iowa.
    Indiana State is coached by Tim McGuire (Nebraska, 1975) who is in his third year with the Sycamores. McGuire owns a 8-22 record at ISU and a 15-37 overall mark in five seasons. He was the head coach at Morningside College in 1982 and 1983.

All-Time Series Against Indiana State
     The Penguins have had much success against the Sycamores owning an 8-1 series record since the teams first meet in 1988. YSU won the first five meetings of the series and have won the last three since the Sycamores won in Youngstown in 1995. At home, the Penguins are 3-1 against ISU and 5-0 in Terre Haute, Ind.
     In 1997, the Penguins played their first Gateway Football Conference game at Indiana State and won 31-0. In 1998, YSU improved to 3-0 on the year with a 20-14 win at Stambaugh Stadium. Following that win the Penguins maintained their No. 1 ranking. Last year, YSU won a wild game in Terre Haute 31-28. YSU trailed for most of the game before scoring a touchdown in the final three minutes.
     Last Meeting: The Penguins trailed most of the afternoon before coming back to eke out a 31-28 win. YSU fell behind 20-7 before Adrian Brown’s first touchdown of the game cut the Sycamores lead to 20-14 at halftime. Brown scored again in the third to the Penguins a 21-20 lead. But ISU came back to score a touchdown early in the fourth. A Mark Griffith field goal cut the deficit to 28-24 before Brown scored on a three-yard run to cap a 93-yard drive with 2:41 left. Jeff Ryan finished the game with 90 yards rushing on 18 carries and one touchdown. He completed 13-of-26 passes for 173 yards.

YSU-ISU Series
YSU Leads 8-1
Result
1999 YSU, 31-28
1998 YSU, 20-14
1997 YSU, 31-0
1995 ISU, 13-6
1994 YSU, 14-3
1993 YSU, 17-10
1992 YSU, 30-24
1989 YSU, 20-19
1988 YSU, 25-7

Penguins Play 60th Homecoming Contest
On Saturday against Indiana State, the Penguins will play host to their 60th Homecoming contest. All-time in Homecoming games, YSU owns a 44-14-1 mark and has won eight straight games since losing in 1991. The last Youngstown State loss on Homecoming was 10-8 to Liberty in 1991.
Since that defeat, the Penguins have beaten Eastern Illinois (28-19 in 1992), Delaware State (42-28 in 1993), North Alabama (17-14 in 1994), Wingate (56-7 in 1995), Northwestern State (24-14 in 1996), Buffalo (52-17 in 1997), Southern Illinois (34-21 in 1998) and Cal Poly (10-7 in 1999).

Rovnak Returns to the Offensive Line
For the first time this season, senior offensive guard Steve Rovnak was on field for the Penguins. Rovnak, who has been out of action since fracturing the fibula in his left leg on Aug. 15, entered the game on YSU’s first offensive series. Last season, the senior from Boardman started 13 of 15 games for the Penguins. Rovnak missed the first six games of the 2000 campaign and should see increased playing time the remainder of the year.