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Nov. 25, 2001
Football: Penguins Play Valiantly at Marshall in
38-24 Loss
Huntington, W. Va. -- The Youngstown State football
team went toe-to-toe with one of
Division I-A's Top 20 teams on
Saturday night before eventually
losing to Marshall 38-24 at Marshall
Stadium.
The Penguins outgained the Thundering Herd 422-379 and junior
tailback P.J. Mays ran for 201 yards
and three scores. YSU led 24-17
before Marshall scored the game's
final 21 points. MU quarterback
Byron Leftwich, who was the No. 2
passer in the country was held to
201 yards passing, his second-lowest
total on the year. YSU finishes the
regular season at 8-3 and will learn
its postseason fate at 12:30 p.m. on
Sunday during the I-AA Playoff
selection show.
Late in the ballgame, the Penguins trailed 31-24 and were
threatening. YSU moved the ball 70
yards inside the Marshall with just
over three minutes remaining, but on
third down, Jeff Ryan was stopped
short of the goal line on a
quarterback sneak. With 2:31 left
YSU sophomore tailback Mike Burns
was stopped at the one by Chris
Crocker ending that Penguins drive.
YSU had one last chance taking over at the Marshall 49 with
1:04 remaining. After a Ryan keeper
on fourth down moved the ball to the
MU 29, his pass towards the
sidelines was intercepted by Roberto
Terrell and returned 76 yards for a
touchdown with 11 seconds left.
Trailing by a touchdown, Marshall tied the game on a two-yard
touchdown run by Brandon Carey with
1:49 remaining in the third quarter.
In the fourth, Leftwich threw his
third touchdown pass of the game
this one to Josh Davis from 14 yards
out to put the Herd (10-1) in front
31-24 with 12:43 left. Marshall has
now won 10 straight after losing to
Florida in the season opener.
The Penguins took their initial possession of the game 68
yards in five plays and grabbed a
7-0 lead on a 10-yard run by Mays.
Marshall eventually tied the game
late in the first when Leftwich hit
Darius Watts on an 11-yard scoring
pass. After a Curtis Head 20-yard
field goal put the Penguins behind
10-7, Mays scored from two yards out
to make the score 14-10 in YSU's
favor. Before the half, Marshall
grabbed a 17-14 lead on a 20-yard
pass from Leftwich to Curtis Jones.
YSU scored the first 10 points on the second on a six-yard
run by Mays and a 39-yard field goal
by Jake Stewart, but Marshall
rallied scoring the final 21 points.
The Penguins had more first downs 23-21, finished with 372
yards rushing, averaged 46.3 yards
per punt and owned the time of
possession advantage of 32:42 to
27:18. But YSU committed three
turnovers that turned into 17
Marshall points. |
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