Coaching Capsules
    YSU: Second-year Coach Jon Heacock (Muskingum, 1983) is 13-7 overall at Youngstown State. Heacock finished the 2001 season with an 8-3 record setting a school record for wins by a first-year mentor. He has spent eight of the past 11 years on the YSU coaching staff. He spent seven seasons in Youngstown from 1990 through 1996 before spending three years as the defensive coordinator at Indiana. He returned to YSU as the defensive coordinator in 2000 and took over as head coach in January 2001.
    Illinois State: Denver Johnson (Tulsa, 1981) is in his third season as the head coach of Illinois State. Johnson owns a 14-17 mark in his tenure with the Redbirds. Prior to taking over at ISU, he was the head oach at Murray State posting a 21-12. As a head coach he is 35-29 overall.

Illinois State Scouting Report
    Illinois State is playing its final home game of the 2002 season on Saturday against the Penguins. The Redbirds are 4-0 at home this season with wins over Quincy, Murray State, SMS and Southern Illinois. Overall, ISU has won five straight home games with its last defeat against Western Kentucky on Nov. 3, 2001. ISU has not lost a Senior Day game since 1997.
    Last Saturday, Illinois State had its hopes of a Gateway title dashed with a shut out loss at Western Kentucky. The Redbirds gained just 120 yards of offense in the game and had the ball for just over 22 minutes. However, the defense played tough allowing just three field goals in the 9-0 loss, a game which tied as the lowest-scoring contest in Gateway history.

Series Even Through 10 Games
    Youngstown State has won the past two games against the Redbirds to even the all-time series at five wins apiece. YSU won last year 44-30 and won in 2000 at Hancock Stadium 14-12.

Last Meeting: YSU 44, ISU 30
    The Penguins beat the Redbirds 44-30 last season on Oct. 20 at Stambaugh Stadium. Jerald Burley returned a punt 77 yards for a touchdown and caught a 33-yard touchdown pass and P.J. Mays scored two touchdowns in a Homecoming victory. The Penguins had 371 yards total offense and held the Redbirds to 266, including a minus-six yards rushing. Leading 37-30 in the fourth, Mays scored on a 13-yard run to put the game out of reach.

Last Meeting In Normal
    YSU forced six Illinois State turnovers including a fumble recovery at the Redbirds one-yard line, which set up the winning touchdown in a 14-12 win on Oct. 7, 2000. Colby Street started at quarterback and played the first quarter throwing a nine-yard touchdown pass to John Schumacher. ISU scored the next 12 points before YSU recovered a fumble at the ISU one in the third quarter. Eric Lockhart scored to put Youngstown in front to stay. The Penguins defense stopped the Redbirds on fourth-and-inches at the YSU 30 with 3:22 left.

Homecoming Success Continues
    The Penguins have won their last 11 Homecoming games dating back to a 10-8 loss to Liberty in 1991. All-time at Stambaugh Stadium in Homecoming games, YSU is 18-3 and in school history owns a 47-14-1 mark.

No Interceptions Thrown Lately
    The Penguins’ quarterbacks have not thrown an interception since the second quarter against SMS -- Aaron Marshall’s only interception of the season. That is a span of 22 quarters without throwing an interception. In that time, YSU has thrown 79 passes without throwing to an opposing player.

Heacock Streak at Hancock
    Coach Jon Heacock will try to pick up where his brother, Jim, the coach at Illinois State from 1988-1995, left off. Jim won his final two home games as the coach of the Redbirds in 1995. Now Jon looks to make it three straight wins at Hancock for the family.

Mays Scores 41st Touchdown
    Senior tailback P.J. Mays scored his 41st career touchdown in the victory over Southern Illinois on Saturday.
    Mays is just the third player in Gateway Football Conference history to score at least 40 touchdowns in a career. Mays scored his 41st touchdown on a 14-yard run in the fourth quarter against the Salukis. He joins two former Northern Iowa players -- Jeff Stovall (44) and Dedric Ward (43) -- as the only individuals in conference history with 40-or-more touchdowns.

200, 100 For the First Time Ever
    For the first time in school history, the Penguins had a player amass more than 200 yards rushing and another amass 100 yards rushing in the same game. Against Southern Illinois, tailback P.J. Mays had 210 yards while Mike Burns added 123 yards. It marked the second time this season -- Mays and Josiah Doby in the opener against Clarion -- that YSU had multi-100-yard runners in a game. Also, it is the 19th time since 1974 that the Penguins have had two 100-yard rushers in the same game.

Tekac Cracks Tackle Top 25
    Senior linebacker Jon Tekac has posted a career-high 92 total tackles this season. Tekac’s previous best was last year when he recorded 69 stops. For his career, the senior from Pulaski Township, Pa., has recorded 251 total tackles, which ranks him 21st in school history. He is four behind Ian Dominelli for the 20th spot on the all-time list.

Looking to Win Turnover Margin
    With two games remaining in the 2002 campaign, the Penguins are searching for two more wins and are trying to win the turnover-margin battle. Through nine games, YSU is even making 18 turnovers and causing 18 turnovers. In 16 of the last 17 years (all but 1989), Youngstown State has had an advantage (or a plus) in the turnover-margin department.
    In five victories, the Penguins own a plus-six turnover advantage (15-9). In four defeats, Youngstown State is at a minus-six disadvantage (9-3).

Penguins On November 9
    This will be the eighth contest in YSU history on a Nov. 9. YSU has an all-time record on Nov. 9 of 6-1: 1943 vs. Morris Harvey (W, 28-14); 1956 vs. Gustavus Adolphus (W, 13-0); 1961 vs. Gustavus Adolphus (W, 40-6); 1974 at Central State (W, 25-14); 1985 at Akron (L, 5-30); 1991 vs. James Madison (W, 28-21); 1996 at SW Missouri State (W, 17-13).

YSU Defense Playing Well
    The Youngstown State defensive unit leads the Gateway Football Conference in passing defense and ranks third in three other defensive categories. YSU ranks second in the Gateway in scoring defense, rushing defense and total defense. The Penguins rank 14th in the nation in pass defense and 20th in total defense.
    In the previous two games against Western Illinois (38) and Southern Illinois (42), both teams were averaging a combined 80 points per game, but scored only 28 against the Penguins. YSU allowed two touchdowns in the two games.

Opponents Can’t Miss on FGs
    Entering the game against Illinois State, opposing field goal kickers have made 11 straight attempts against YSU. Placekickers have not missed a field-goal attempt since the Indiana State game. On the year, opponents are 15-of-19 while YSU is 3-of-6. The three made are the fewest in a year since making one in 1973. YSU made four in 1995 and 1975 and five in 1996 and 1977.

Penguins Have Shot at Winning Mark
    By winning one of their final two games, the Penguins can finish with a winning record for a school-record-tying seventh straight season. YSU has had six straight winning seasons -- 8-3 in 1996, 13-2 in 1997, 6-5 in 1998, 12-3 in 1999, 9-3 in 2000 and 8-3 in 2001 -- its second-best streak in school history. YSU had seven straight winning seasons from 1940 through 1949, a streak that was interrupted for three years by World War II. YSU had a streak of six straight winning years from 1989 through 1994.

Mays Sets 200-Yard Record
    Senior tailback P.J. Mays is the first player in YSU history to have four 200-yard rushing games in his career. Mays and Paris Wicks were tied at three 200-yard games prior to Mays’ 210-yard performance against Southern Illinois. He also has 12 100-plus yard games in his three-year career.

Mays Eclipses 3,000-Yard Mark
    Senior tailback P.J. Mays is the fifth player in school history to rush for more than 3,000 yards in a career. Mays has 3,228 yards, including his total from one playoff game. In regular-season games he has 3,193 yards rushing. He joins Tamron Smith, Paris Wicks, Robby Robson and Adrian Brown as the only Guins over the mark. Mays ranks fourth in all-time rushing yards and has the third-best regular-season total in school history.

Mays Over 1,000 Yards Again
    P.J. Mays has 1,001 yards rushing on the season marking the second consecutive season he has rushed for more than 1,000 yards. He is the first YSU back to have more than 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons since Tamron Smith in 1992 and 1993. Only two other players, besides Smith and Mays have had consecutive 1,000-yard seasons at YSU -- Frank Horvath (1960 and 1961) and Paris Wicks (1981 and 1982).

Marshall Owns 4-2 Mark As Starter
    Redshirt freshman quarterback Aaron Marshall has provided steady play at quarterback since taking over the starter role prior to the game against SMS. Marshall won his first three games and after leading YSU to a win over Southern Illinois is 4-2 as a starting signal caller.

Heacock Sets Wins Record
    Head Coach Jon Heacock set a school record for victories by a coach in their first two seasons. Heacock has won 13 games since taking over prior to the 2001 season. Rey Dempsey won 12 games, Jim Tressel won 10, Bill Narduzzi won nine and Dwight Beede won eight. With a victory in one of the final two games, Heacock can become the first coach in school history with winning marks his first two years.

Up Next: Penguins Have Off Week
    The Penguins will not play next Saturday enjoying their second and final off weekend of the 2002 season. YSU concludes its campaign, and home season, against Samford on Nov. 23. The Penguins are 2-0 all-time against the Bulldogs.