YSUsports.com - No. 3 Penguins Open Conference Play at SMS

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Sept. 27, 2000
No. 3 Penguins Open Conference Play at SMS
     The No. 3 (Sports Network/Coaches) Youngstown State Penguins begin Gateway Football Conference at Southwest Missouri State at Springfield, Mo., on Sept. 30. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., central time, 8 p.m. in Youngstown. Both teams enter the game coming off an idle Saturday.
     In the Penguins’ last outing, they earned a hard-fought 26-20 win at Kent State on Sept. 16. It was YSU’s third straight win over their Northeastern Ohio neighbors.
     The game against the Bears (1-2) comes as the second of three straight road tilts for Youngstown State. After passing the first test at Kent State, YSU has a week to prepare for road games against the Bears and at Illinois State on Oct. 7.
     The Penguins enter the game with a 3-0 mark, the fifth time under Coach Jim Tressel that YSU has opened a year with three wins. In three of those seasons, Youngstown State advanced to the playoffs. The most recent 3-0 start came in 1998.
     SMS, which lost 26-19 in double overtime at McNeese State on Sept. 16, also lost at Arkansas in the season opener and defeated Missouri Southern 48-3 in week two.
     In two previous visits to Plaster Field in Springfield, YSU has left victorious. In 1998, the Penguins closed out the season with a 24-17 win and in 1996, earned a 17-13 victory. Against SMS, the Penguins have won all four meetings, with three of those games decided by seven points or less. The game will be the first contest in school history played on FieldTurf. The surface is used by Southwest Missouri State, Tulsa, Nebraska, Cincinnati, Washington, Washington State and at Tropicana Field in Florida.
     All-time in four Gateway Football Conference openers, the Penguins are 3-0. Since YSU joined the conference in 1997, the Penguins are 12-6 in league play.

Head Coach Jim Tressel in 15th Season at YSU
     Head Coach Jim Tressel (Baldwin Wallace, 1975) is in his 15th season on the Youngstown State sideline. Tressel has turned the Penguins program into one of the most dominating in Division I-AA. Since his arrival in 1986, YSU has had seven 10-plus win seasons, 11 winning seasons, appeared in the playoffs nine times and reached the title game six times.
     The second-longest tenured coach -- and only fourth -- in the programs 60-year history Tressel has amassed a 127-54-2 record in now his 15th season. His .698 winning percentage is the best in school history and is the 12th-best among active I-AA coaches. He ranks 15th in wins (127) on the all-time Division I-AA list and has won more games than any current Gateway Football Conference coach.
     Last season, the Penguins advanced to the Division I-AA Championship Game for the sixth time under Tressel. In the title game, Georgia Southern handed YSU its first postseason loss in 15 games after setting an NCAA record for a postseason winning streak. Youngstown State has won national titles in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1997, while qualifying for the title game in 1992 and 1999. In 1999, he was named the Ohio College Coach of the Year, the sixth time he has been awarded the honor.
     All-time against teams who currently form the Gateway Football Conference, Tressel owns a 20-14 mark.
     Before coming to YSU in 1986, Tressel was an assistant coach at Ohio State, Syracuse, Miami (Ohio) and Akron.

Last Time Out: Youngstown State 26, Kent State 20
     • The Penguins improved to 3-0 with a 26-20 victory over Kent State. YSU has now started a season 3-0 for the fifth time under Coach Jim Tressel. Youngstown State took the games opening drive and marched 79 yards in 14 plays to take a 7-0 lead on 14-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Ryan to Brandon Pedraza. Kent State tied the game at seven before YSU scored 13 points in the second quarter, both Ryan runs, to take a 20-7 halftime lead. KSU cut the deficit to 20-14 on a 19-play 75-yard, 10:15 drive, but the Penguins answered back on a eight-yard pass from Ryan to Sean Guerriero midway through the fourth quarter. Kent State scored a touchdown with 54 seconds left, but Jerald Burley recovered the onsides kick to seal the win.
     • Jeff Ryan improved to 16-7 as a starting quarterback completing 10-of-15 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan now has 32 touchdown passes for his career, tying for the fourth-most in school history. He scored on runs of four and two yards to give him 44 touchdowns in his career.
     • Tim Johnson and Justin Dellarose combined for 28 tackles in the game as the two linebackers were flying all over the field. Johnson had a season-high 17 tackles and had his first interception of the season. Dellarose had 11 tackles and 10-yard sack.
     • YSU’s defense held the Golden Flashes to 275 total offensive yards, the lowest of the season.
     • Sophomore defensive tackle Guy Mazard made his first career start for the Penguins.
     • Tri-tailbacks Eric Lockhart, P.J. Mays and Josiah Doby combined for 86 yards on 34 carries. Lockhart led the rushing for 40 yards on 13 attempts.
     • Youngstown State won the game despite totaling only 208 yards in total offense. That total was the 18th lowest in a game in school history.
     • Team captains for the game were senior corner back Ed Blizzard, senior defensive lineman Montrail Thomas and senior wide receiver Denver Williams.

Breakdown of Southwest Missouri State
The Bears (1-2) have had a week to prepare for Youngstown State after losing in double-overtime at McNeese State. Offensively, SMS is led on the ground by running back Beno Gore. Gore has rushed for 123 yards through three games and has two touchdowns. Quarterback Austin Moherman, a transfer from Ohio State, has three touchdown passes and is averaging 162.3 yards passing a game. Defensively, the Bears are allowing 364.3 yards per game and are led by linebacker Corky Martin. Martin has made 35 tackles in three games, P.J. Jones is second with 30 stops. Punter Eddie Pena has kicked 25 times for an average of 40 yards a kick.
SMS is coached by Randy Ball, who is in his second season with the program. Prior to his arrival in Springfield, Mo., Ball was the head coach at Western Illinois. All-time he is 2-1 against YSU.