Jan. 17, 2002
Football: YSU Football Team Faces Challenging 2002
Schedule
Youngstown -- The 2002 Youngstown State football schedule
features six home games, including
contests against Southland
Conference champion McNeese State
and Gateway Football Conference
champion, Northern Iowa, and five
intriguing road games, as the
Penguins released their schedule for
the upcoming season on Thursday.
The six teams who will visit Stambaugh Stadium in the fall
are Clarion (Aug. 29), McNeese State
(Sept. 7), Indiana State (Oct. 5),
Northern Iowa (Oct. 19), Southern
Illinois (Nov. 2) and Samford (Nov.
23). The road tilts are at Western
Kentucky (Sept. 21), at SW Missouri
State (Sept. 28), at Florida
Atlantic (Oct. 12), at Western
Illinois (Oct. 26) and at Illinois
State (Nov. 9). The 10 Division I-AA
schools on the schedule have
combined for 23 all-time playoff
appearances.
"It is a great schedule with a lot of difficult games, but I
am very excited about it," YSU Head
Coach Jon Heacock, who will be in
his second season, said. "It is
obviously going to be very
competitive, and I like that, and
our team will like that. We have six
quality home games with the
additions of McNeese State, who was
in the playoffs, and Samford, who
was here in the playoffs in the
early ‘90s. It is a very challenging
schedule, but it is a great
opportunity for us to do what we
want to, we just have to go do it."
YSU opens the season against Clarion on Thursday, August 29
at 7:30 p.m. The Golden Eagles will
be making their fourth trip to
Youngstown in the last seven years.
McNeese State, who was 8-4 and
champions of the Southland
Conference in 2001, visits Stambaugh
Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 7, for a
7 p.m. game. The Cowboys and
Penguins last played for the
Division I-AA National Championship
in 1997.
After an off week, Youngstown State travels to Bowling Green,
Ky., to play Western Kentucky on
Sept. 21. This is YSU’s first trip
to L.T. Smith Stadium since 1990. On
Sept. 28, the Penguins play SMS in
Springfield, Mo. YSU is 3-0 all time
at Plaster Field.
"It is nice to have the open date before we start conference
play and I think that is important,"
Heacock said. "But all of our road
challenges will be very tough. We
play in some very difficult places.
One of the biggest challenges for
this team is how we handle ourselves
on the road. We make some tough
trips and play some good teams."
Youngstown State continues Gateway Conference action on Oct.
5 at home against Indiana State at 7
p.m. The Penguins play a
non-conference game on Saturday,
Oct. 12 at second-year Division I-AA
school Florida Atlantic. This will
be YSU’s second trip to Florida in
four years.
Defending Gateway Champion Northern Iowa visits Youngstown on
Saturday, Oct. 19 for a 4 p.m. game.
The Panthers finished 11-3 last
season losing to Montana in the
semifinals of the Division I-AA
playoffs. YSU returns to the road to
play at Western Illinois on Oct. 26.
The Penguins have not won in Macomb,
Ill., since 1980.
The 62nd annual Homecoming game is set for Nov. 2 against
Gateway member Southern Illinois at
4 p.m. YSU plays its final road game
of the season on Nov. 9 against
Illinois State. After an open week,
the Penguins close out the regular
season with a home game against
Samford on Nov. 23 at 1 p.m. The
Bulldogs have made two previous
trips to Youngstown, including the
1991 semifinal game which YSU won
10-0. The Division I-AA Playoffs
start on Nov. 30.
The Penguins begin spring drills on Wednesday, March 20, with
the Spring Game scheduled for
Friday, April 12.
Football season-ticket packages are available by calling the
Youngstown State ticket office at
(330) 742-1YSU. |
