Northern Iowa Scouting Report
    Northern Iowa has won seven consecutive games, its longest winning streak since winning nine consecutive contests in 1996.
    The Panthers are coming off a 38-30 victory at Western Illinois. In the contest, UNI built a 31-7 fourth-quarter lead before the Leathernecks came back to make things interesting.
    Quarterback Tom Petrie threw four touchdown passes in the win while Terrance Freeney rushed for 123 yards and a score against WIU. Western turned the ball over five times while UNI did not have any giveaways in the contest.
    Northern Iowa has forced 22 turnovers while giving the ball away just nine times this year. The Panthers rank fifth in Division I-AA in turnover margin.

UNI Owns 11-6 Series Advantage
    UNI leads the all-time series against the Penguins by an 11-6 margin. The Panthers have won the last two meetings and nine of the last 12 dating back to 1983. Youngstown State is 3-5 all-time at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

Last Meeting: UNI 22, YSU 7
    Northern Iowa jumped out to a 16-0 halftime lead and held the Penguins in check throughout the game winning 22-7 at Stambaugh Stadium last season.
    The Panthers’ Mackenzie Hoambrecker kicked five field goals and Tom Petrie threw for a score. P.J. Mays scored on a 37-yard pass from Aaron Marshall in the loss.
    UNI had 342 yards to the Penguins’ 241 in the contest and held a 34:22 to 25:38 time of possession advantage.

Last Time Out: Illinois St. 35, YSU 25
    Illinois State’s offensive attack proved to be too much for YSU handing the Penguins a 35-25 Homecoming loss.
    YSU’s offense performed well at times led by quarterback Aaron Marshall. Marshall threw two touchdown passes and ran for another. He finished the game with a career-high 19 carries for a career-best 69 yards. Illinois State had 604 yards of total offense in the contest led by running back Sha-Ron Edwards. Edwards rushed for 183 yards and two touchdowns. ISU quarterback Mike Souza threw two touchdown passes completing 15-of-23 passes for 271 yards. The Redbirds did not have a punt in the game.
    YSU trailed 18-0 in the second quarter before creeping within 18-10 in the third. But Illinois State extended its lead to 28-10 in the fourth. YSU pulled as close as 35-25 and had the ball, but could get no closer.

Cayson Has Best Return Game
    Tailback Josh Cayson showed he is an all-purpose weapon finishing the Illinois State game with an impressive 242 yards. He had five kickoff returns for 184 yards, 13 carries for 35 yards and two receptions for 23 yards. Included in his kickoff-return yardage was a 78-yarder, the eighth-longest in school history. His 184 total return yards were the second most in school history behind Andre Coleman’s 213 against Georgia Southern in 1999. He averaged 36.8 yards per return. This season, Cayson is averaging 28.2 per kickoff return to rank second in the Gateway Conference. He has 12 returns for 338 yards, including six of 31 yards or more.

Marshall Leads YSU Offensive Attack
    Quarterback Aaron Marshall had career highs in passing attempts and rushing attempts against Illinois State. Marshall threw the ball 29 times and rushed the ball 19 times. He finished with a career-high 69 yards rushing in the contest.

Peters Has Career-High Day
    Senior cornerback Waymann Peters had one of the best days of his YSU career recording 13 total tackles and intercepting a Mike Souza pass in the end zone. Peters recorded nine solo stops in the win. His previous high was six against Kent State. He also leads the Penguins with three interceptions.

Thiessen, Marcum Tie Highs
    Senior free safety Scott Thiessen and linebacker Yancey Marcum also tied career highs against the Redbirds. Marcum finished with 13 tackles tying his previous best of 13 against Kent State. Thiessen tied his career mark of 11, which he had set against Kent State as well.

Penguins Did Not Commit Turnover
    The Penguins did not commit a turnover against Illinois State. That marked the second time this season when YSU did not have a giveaway in a game, SMS being the other game. Youngstown State finished the game a plus-three in the turnover department and is now a plus-one on the season.

Andrews Makes First Career Pick
    Sophomore linebacker Mike Andrews had the first interception of his YSU career against Illinois State. Andrews intercepted a Mike Souza pass that was deflected by Ron John-Finn in the fourth quarter.

Other Illinois State Tidbits
    • The 604 yards gained by Illinois State were the most YSU has surrendered since Georgia Southern had 656 yards in the 1999 National Championship game. It was the most allowed in a regular-season game since 653 by Akron in 1969.
    • YSU attempted 35 passes, the most since attempting 43 against Illinois State in 1999.
    • A team did not punt the ball against YSU for the fourth time in school history and first time since Slippery Rock in 1994.
    • The 333 yards rushing by the Redbirds were the most allowed in a game since Illinois State had 405 in 1998.

Penguins Back On the Road
    The Penguins play two of their final three games on the road at Northern Iowa and at Southern Illinois. YSU has posted a 2-1 road mark this year while going just 3-3 at home. The lone road loss was a three-point defeat at Kent State. Dating back to last season, YSU has won three of its last four road games. UNI is 3-0 at home this season with wins over Northern Michigan, Northwestern State and Indiana State.

Penguins Enjoy November Success
    Under Coach Jon Heacock the Penguins are 5-1 in November the last two seasons and have played some of their best football. In 2001, YSU beat Southern Illinois and Elon and took Division I-A Marshall to the wire in a loss posting a 2-1 mark. Last year, YSU was 3-0 with wins over Southern Illinois, Samford and at Illinois State.

Against Ranked Teams
    The Penguins have lost six consecutive games to ranked Division I-AA teams since beating No. 6 Western Illinois on Sept. 22, 2001. The last time YSU beat a team in the top 10 was the sixth-ranked Leathernecks in 2001. The last regular-season victory over a top-five school was when the Penguins beat No. 2 McNeese State 28-8 on Oct. 1, 1994.

Red-Zone Means Go
    The Penguins have been highly successful in the Red Zone this season, scoring on 26 of 28 chances. Of the two times YSU did not score, one was at the end of the Edinboro game when the team took a knee and the other was a fumble against Florida Atlantic. YSU has scored 21 touchdowns and kicked five field goals when entering the Red Zone. The Penguins, who have scored on their last 16 trips inside the Red Zone, have the best percentage of red-zone conversions in the Gateway.

Turnover Margin Important
    After trailing in the turnover margin for eight games, YSU is now a plus-one. The Penguins have forced eight turnovers the last two games after giving the ball away five times in a loss to Western Illinois.
    On Saturday against Illinois State, YSU did not commit a turnover, but lost the game despite forcing three. That is a rarity for the Penguins who lost for just the fifth time in the last 63 contests in which they have won the turnover margin.
    For the season, YSU has given the ball away 18 times while forcing 19 turnovers.
    In 16 of the last 17 years (all but 1989), Youngstown State has had an advantage in the turnover-margin department.

On This Date (Nov. 1)...
    The Penguins have played eight times on Nov. 1 posting a 5-3 record. The game at Northern Iowa marks just the second road game in school history played on that date. In 1997, YSU beat Illinois State, 13-0; in 1986, YSU lost to Middle Tennessee State, 49-14; in 1980, YSU lost to Northern Iowa 38-17; in 1975 the Penguins beat Eastern Michigan 15-14; in 1969, YSU defeated SE Louisiana 20-7; in 1962, YSU beat Akron 17-13; in 1952, YSU lost 40-0 at John Carroll and in 1947, YSU beat Oklahoma City 19-13.

Good Second-Half Starts
    The Penguins have scored on their first possession of the second half in each of the last five games. YSU has scored four touchdowns and kicked a field goal on its initial third-quarter possession. On defense, Youngstown State has not allowed an opponent to score on its first drive of the second half the past five games as well.
    YSU has scored just twice on its first drive of the game while its opponents have scored on an opening drive six times.

Next Opponent: Southern Illinois
    The Penguins remain on the road to play at third-ranked Southern Illinois. The Salukis, who are 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the Gateway, have a huge game at No. 8 Western Kentucky on Saturday before playing host to the Penguins.
    The Salukis, who are ranked behind McNeese State and Delaware, lead the conference in scoring offense and scoring defense while getting off to their best start since winning the National Championship in 1983 under former Penguin head coach Rey Dempsey.
    YSU has won six of the last seven meetings in the series against SIU and has won three straight contests at McAndrews Stadium.