SMS Scouting Report
    SMS enters the contest on a two-game winning streak after posting wins over Bacone and SE Missouri State. The Bears have won three of four games this season with a win over East Central (Okla.) and a loss at Oklahoma State.
    The Bears led Bacone 30-0 at halftime before cruising to a 51-14 victory last Saturday. The SMS offense had an impressive evening rolling up 602 yards of total offense.
    Against the Warriors, tailback Tomicus Walker rushed for 160 yards and two scores, quarterback A.J. Porter completed 7-of-14 passes for 200 yards and wide receiver Steve Rush caught four passes for 143 yards.
    While the offense rolled last week, the defense has been leading the charge. SMS ranks third in Division I-AA in turnover margin at plus-two per game. The Bears have forced an impressive 15 turnovers in four games, including nine interceptions.
    SMS is averaging 244.8 yards rushing per game, led by Cody Pratt’s 108.0 yards per game. Walker is not far behind averaging 101.3 yards per contest.

YSU Has Won All Seven Meetings
    Youngstown State has won all seven meetings against the Bears with five contests, including last season, being decided by a touchdown or less. YSU held on to win 24-17 last year at SMS and beat the Bears 41-20 in the last contest at Stambaugh Stadium in 2001.

Last Meeting: YSU 24, SMS 17
    Aaron Marshall made his starting debut a victorious one as YSU held off a late charge by SMS to win 24-17 on Sept. 28, 2002.
    The game was tied 7-7 at halftime, before YSU erupted for 17 third-quarter points on touchdowns by Josiah Doby and Mike Burns and a field goal by Jake Stewart.
    But in the fourth, SMS scored on a 52-yard fumble return and Brian Long’s 48-yard field goal cut the deficit to 24-17.
    Down the stretch the YSU defense held the Bears twice on downs to earn the win. The Penguins had 261 yards of total offense, 244 of which was rushing.

Last Time Out: YSU 34, Liberty 3
    After a slow start, Youngstown State regrouped following an 83-minute lightning delay to beat Liberty 34-3 on Saturday.
    The Penguins scored 17 second-quarter points after falling behind 3-0 on Liberty’s first possession of the game. Highlighting the second quarter was an interception return for a touchdown by Waymann Peters and a school-record 56-yard field goal by Nick Terracina as time expired.
    In the third, Aaron Marshall scored on a two-yard keeper to build the advantage to 24-3. In the fourth Terracina kicked a 47-yard field goal and Mike Burns scored from three yards out for the final 34-3 margin.
    YSU finished with 327 yards of total offense, including 222 yards rushing.

Peters Returns INT For A TD
    In the second quarter against Liberty, senior cornerback Waymann Peters made his first career interception a big one returning it 27 yards for a touchdown against Liberty. It was YSU’s first interception return for a touchdown since LeVar Greene returned a pick 23 yards against Western Illinois on Sept. 22, 2001.

Peters, Terracina Honored
    Senior cornerback Waymann Peters and junior placekicker Nick Terracina were named the Gateway Football Conference’s Defensive and co-Special Teams Players of the Week. Terracina shared the honor with UNI’s Tyler Johnson.

Terracina Blasts 56-Yarder
    With one powerful kick, Nick Terracina shattered the school record with a 56-yard field goal on Saturday. Terracina’s boomer broke the previous mark of 54 held by former NFL Pro Bowler Paul McFadden and current St. Louis Rams placekicker Jeff Wilkins. McFadden’s 54-yarder against Murray State on Sept. 13, 1980 came off a tee while Wilkins’ kick was in the UNI-Dome against Northern Iowa on Dec. 12, 1992.
    Terracina’s kick was just the 11th made in school history of more than 50 yards. While also setting a Williams Stadium record, his boot ranks sixth all-time on the Gateway Football Conference charts.

More On Terracina
    Nick Terracina’s 56-yard field goal against Liberty is the longest in Division I-AA this season by four yards. In the Gateway by eight yards this season. Terracina has made his first five field goals to start the season, the last YSU player to make his first five field goals of the year was Jake Stewart in 2001. Only Auburn’s Philip Yost has kicked a longer (57) Division I field goal than Terracina this season.

2003 Division I-AA 50-Yard Kicks
Nick Terracina, Youngstown State, 56 yards vs. Liberty, 9/27
Tyler Lavin, Dartmouth, 52 yards vs. Colgate, 9/20
Ryan Rossner, Stephen F. Austin, 52 vs. UNI, 9/18
Yonnic Matthews, North Carolina A&T, 52 vs. Elon, 9/27
Ryan Rossner, Stephen F. Austin, 51 vs. Alcorn State, 9/27
Jonathan Godfrey, ETSU, 51 vs. Concord, 9/4
Vincent Patrick, Texas Southern, 51 vs. Jackson State, 9/20

Other Liberty Tidbits
• The 31-point victory margin was the most for the Penguins on the road since beating Indiana State 31-0 on Oct. 4, 1997.
• YSU was a perfect 3-of-3 in the red zone scoring three touchdowns.
• The last time YSU scored 34-or-more points on the road was 35 at Indiana State on Oct. 6, 2001.

One Touchdown Pass Allowed
Through five games, the Youngstown State defense has allowed just one passing touchdown -- a seven-yard toss from Jared Allen to Roosevelt Bynes in the third quarter against FAU. YSU went the first 18 quarters of the season by not allowing a passing touchdown.
The last time YSU opened the season by not allowing a passing score in the first three games was in 1991. The 1991 campaign is also the last time YSU allowed just one touchdown pass after five games, but Akron threw for two touchdowns in game six.

2-2 Start Turning Around
Since 1977, the Penguins have started a year 2-2 on six occasions and each time they have turned things around to win their fifth and sixth games of the season. On Saturday, YSU kept that streak by beating Liberty. In 1987 and 1989, YSU was 2-2 and came back to make the playoffs.

Delays for the Penguins
    Since 1978, Youngstown State has had just four games interrupted because of weather-related issues, including Saturday’s game at Liberty.
    The game Saturday night was held up for 83 minutes because of lightning in the Lynchburg, Va., area.
    The last time a YSU game was delayed by lightning was on Sept. 29, 1990 against Akron. The Penguins and Zips were delayed for 71 minutes at Stambaugh Stadium because of lightning.
    On Nov. 5, 1983, YSU and Akron again were delayed, this time for 44 minutes at the Rubber Bowl because of a power failure caused by a lightning strike. On Sept. 30, 1978, YSU’s game against Saginaw Valley State at Fitch Falcon Stadium was halted for 40 minutes in the second quarter because of lightning.
    Thanks to Pete Mollica and Greg Gulas for remembering the opponents.

On This Date (Oct. 4)...
    The Penguins have played eight times on Oct. 4 posting a 5-2-1 record. The most recent contest was in 1997 when YSU won at Indiana State (31-0). In 1980, YSU tied Akron 0-0; in 1975 at Northern Michigan, YSU lost 15-0, in 1957 YSU won at Eastern Michigan 13-6; in 1952 YSU won at St. Francis (Pa.); in 1946 YSU lost to Case Western Reserve 21-7; in 1941 YSU beat Morris Harvey 21-7 and in 1940 the Penguins defeated Detroit Tech 34-6.

Penguins 5-1 in Gateway Openers
    The Penguins are 5-1 in Gateway Football Conference openers since joining the league in 1997. The lone loss was last season at eventual national champion Western Kentucky (13-7). Prior to that, YSU had beaten Western Illinois (2001 and 1999), SMS (2000), Indiana State (1998) and Indiana State (1997).

Opponents Scoring on First Drive
    In the past four games, YSU has allowed points on the opposition’s first drive of the game. After not allowing any points to Edinboro in the opener, Slippery Rock kicked a field goal, Kent State scored a touchdown, Florida Atlantic kicked a field goal and Liberty added a field goal in their opening drives. Sixteen of the 55 points allowed by YSU have come on the first drive.

YSU Shows Ability to Rebound
    When the Penguins return home to play SMS, they will be trying to avoid their first conseuctive home defeats since 1995. Youngstown State lost to Florida Atlantic at home on Sept. 20. Each of the last 10 times YSU has lost at home, it has rebounded with a victory. In November 1995, the Penguins suffered consecutive home losses to Buffalo and Illinois State on the tail end of a three-game home losing streak.

Goal Line Stand A Memorable One
    In the second quarter against Liberty, the Penguins put together a goal-line stand the Coach Jon Heacock said was one of the best he has ever seen.
    The Flames had a first-and-goal at the YSU three-yard line before being stopped short of the goal on five attempts. On fourth down inside the one, the Penguins were flagged for offsides giving LU another down. On the play, Mike Bracken stuffed Dre Barnes to deny the Flames.

Martino Up For Homecoming King
    Junior reserve punter Ryan Martino saw his first action of the season against Liberty. Martino will become a familiar face around campus the next couple of weeks as he is part of the Homecoming Court and will be in the mix for King. YSU’s Homecoming is against Illinois State on Oct. 25. Last year tight end John Schumacher was the football representative.

Next Opponent: Western Illinois
    The Penguins play host to second-ranked Western Illinois next Saturday at Stambaugh Stadium. YSU has won two straight at home over the Leathernecks.
    WIU (3-1) plays host to Western Kentucky on Satuday in a battle of top 10 teams. The Leathernecks and Hilltoppers played twice last season with WKU winning in Macomb, Ill., during the playoffs.
    Western Illinois holds a slight 9-8 series advantage after beating the Penguins 14-10 last season in Macomb. Overall in the series, WIU has won five of the last seven games.
    Western has beaten Wayne (Neb.) State, Eastern Michigan and UT-Martin while its loss came to Division I-A LSU.