WIU Scouting Report
    Western Illinois enters the contest against the Penguins following a 33-28 victory over Western Kentucky. WIU overcame five turnovers and a 21-7 deficit to win the game. Trailing by 14 in the second quarter, WIU scored 26 straight points before holding on despite four fourth-quarter fumbles.
    Quarterback Russ Michna leads the charge averaging 204.6 yards passing per game. The defense is talented allowing just 73.4 yards rushing per game through five contests. WIU has scored 23 touchdowns while allowing just nine, including four last week, so far this year.

YSU-WIU Series Tied 9-9
    Youngstown State and Western Illinois are tied 9-9 after 18 all-time meetings. Home field has been key with the home team winning each of the past five games.
    WIU won the first four meetings, but the Penguins won the next seven contests. WIU rebounded to win the next three and since 1999, both teams have won twice. YSU is 6-2 at home against WIU with both losses coming by a field goal.

Last Meeting: WIU 19, YSU 0
    The Penguins could never get on track in a 19-0 defeat to Western Illinois last season on Oct. 26, 2002.
    Justin Langan kicked four field goals and the Leatherneck defense held YSU to just 10 yards rushing on 34 attempts. Aaron Marshall and Luis Gonzalez combined to throw for 219 yards in the game while completing 17 passes. Russ Michna completed 17 passes for 207 yards in the WIU victory.

Last Time Out: YSU 34, SMS 7
    Youngstown State took advantage of playing well in all facets of the game in a 34-7 victory in its Gateway opener last Saturday against SMS.
    YSU did not commit a turnover, while outyarding the Bears 321-251. Josh Cayson, Mike Burns, Keland Logan and Matt Rycraft all had scores in the victory while Cayson finished with 118 yards on 20 carries. The Penguins had a season-high 32:20 time of possession output.
    On defense, YSU forced a fumble and intercepted a pass while allowing just 114 yards rushing to a team that was averaging 244.8 per game entering the contest.
    The special teams units had success as well as Nick Terracina converted two-of-three field-goal attempts and Sherod Holmes blocked a punt to set up a touchdown.

Cayson Makes Strong Debut
    Sophomore tailback Josh Cayson made a strong Gateway Football Conference debut rushing for 118 yards on 20 carries and scoring a touchdown against SMS. Cayson rushed for more than 100 yards the first two games of the season and picked up his third 100-yard plus performance of the season on Saturday.

Logan Scores First Touchdown
    Senior fullback Keland Logan became the 10th different YSU player to score their first career touchdown this season. Logan caught a pass in the flat from Aaron Marshall and rumbled eight yards for a first-quarter score in the win over SMS.

Terracina Streak Snapped at Seven
    Placekicker Nick Terracina made his first seven field goals before missing a 45-yard attempt against SMS on Saturday night. Terracina connected from 30 and 31 yards against the Bears to extend his streak to seven before missing in the fourth. During his streak, he had two field goals wiped out by opponent penalties, but they resulted in YSU touchdowns.

Holmes Blocks First Career Punt
    Sherod Holmes blocked his first career punt in the first quarter against SMS. Holmes’ block was the first punt blocked by YSU since Darius Peterson blocked a punt for a safety against Elon on Nov. 17, 2001.

Other SMS Tidbits
    • YSU allowed just seven points, the fewest surrendered in the all-time series.
    • YSU was a perfect 5-of-5 in the red zone scoring three touchdowns and kicking two field goals.
    • This was the largest margin of victory in a Gateway game since beating Western Illinois 41-7 in 2001.

As Cayson Goes...So Goes YSU
    Sophomore tailback Josh Cayson has been a key player in all four YSU victories. In the four games that the Penguins have won, he has rushed for 438 yards on 54 carries, including three 100-yard-plus performances. In the two losses he has just 22 yards on 13 rushes.

One Touchdown Pass Allowed
    The Penguins have allowed only one passing touchdown in six games. The last time YSU allowed just one touchdown pass through the first six contests was in 1974 when Youngstown State allowed one in the first seven games.
    Currently, YSU (six games), Cornell (three games) and Wagner (four games) are the only three Division I-AA to allow just one passing TD so far this season.

The Lone Touchdown Scoring Toss
    Through six 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. Now, YSU has a span of five quarters of not allowing a touchdown toss.

Against Ranked Teams
    The Penguins have lost five 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 five was third-seed Eastern Washington in the 1997 playoffs. 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.

On This Date (Oct. 11)...
    The Penguins have played seven times on Oct. 11 posting a 3-4 record. But, all three victories have come at home while the four defeats were on the road. The most recent contest was in 1997 when YSU beat Buffalo 52-17. In 1986, YSU beat Tennessee Tech 30-6; in 1980, YSU lost at Western Kentucky 42-17; in 1969, YSU lost at Pensacola Navy 21-6; in 1958, YSU defeated Western Kentucky 20-6; in 1956, YSU lost at Morris Harvey 6-0 and in 1947, YSU lost 21-7 at Toledo.

Heacock’s Birthday on Saturday
    Coach Jon Heacock will be looking to celebrate his birthday on Saturday with a Gateway victory over Western Illinois. Heacock turns 43 the same day the Penguins tangle with the Leathernecks.

Scoring on YSU Not Easy
    The Penguins rank fourth in the nation in scoring defense allowing just 10.3 points per game. The only three teams ahead of YSU are Southern (8.0), Monmouth (8.2) and Southern Illinois (8.4).

Only 16 Second-Half Points Allowed
    The Penguins defense has surrendered just 16 second-half points this season through six contests. That has never happened in school history until this year.
    In 12 quarters of action, YSU has allowed three field goals (all to Kent State) and a touchdown (to FAU).
    YSU currently has a scoreless streak of 82:10 since allowing a third-quarter touchdown to Florida Atlantic on Sept. 20.

Touchdown Passes Plentiful
    In just six games this season, the Penguins have already eclipsed their 2002 total of seven touchdown passes. With two against SMS on Saturday, YSU now has nine touchdowns through the air this year. In 11 games last season, the Penguins had seven passing touchdowns.
    Against Slippery Rock, YSU’s Aaron Marshall and Matt Rycraft combined to throw four touchdowns, the most since four against Hofstra in 2000.

Goal Line Stand A Memorable One
    In the second quarter against Liberty, the Penguins put together a goal-line stand that 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.

Stand Ignites Turnaround
    Since that goal-line stand at Liberty, YSU has scored in seven consecutive quarters, outyarded its opponents 620-420, owns a plus-three turnover margin and allowed just seven points, while scoring 68. Also, YSU has controlled the ball for 11:46 more than its opponents since the stand.

Time Finally On Our Side
    The last two weeks, YSU has been ahead in time of possession, including a season-high 32:20 against SMS on Saturday. Against Liberty, YSU won the possession battle by four seconds. The Penguins were on the short side of TOP the first four games of the year.

Red-Zone Means Go
    The Penguins have been highly successful in the Red Zone this season, scoring on 18 of 20 chances. Of the two times YSU did not score, one was at the end of the Edinboro game and the other was a fumble against Florida Atlantic. YSU has scored 15 touchdowns and kicked three field goals when entering the Red Zone.

First Game in The Day
    The game against Western Illinois will be the Penguins’ first afternoon game of the season. YSU opened the year with six night contests and still has one remaining at Southern Illinois in November. The last time YSU played at least seven evening games in the same year was in 1985. That season, the Penguins played eight night contests.

Next Opponent: at Indiana State
    The Penguins play their first Gateway road game of the season when they travel to Indiana State next week for a 2:05 p.m. contest. The Sycamores have won 11 of their last 14 at home.
    This Saturday, Indiana State (3-3, 0-1) plays at Northern Iowa looking for its first Gateway win after losing 37-14 at home to Southern Illinois last week.
    Youngstown State has had a big edge in the series winning 11 of the 12 games. The only Sycamores win came in 1995 at Stambaugh. The Penguins have won six straight in the series and are a perfect 6-0 in Terre Haute.
    Last season, Youngstown State beat Indiana State 31-16. In 2001, YSU won at ISU 35-21.