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Sept. 11, 2004
FIU's Tabor Leads Fourth-Quarter Comeback as YSU Falls 22-16 in
Overtime
Youngstown -- Florida International
backup quarterback David Tabor
orchestrated back-to-back touchdown
drives in the fourth quarter to
force overtime and threw a one-yard
touchdown in the first series of
overtime to lead the Golden Panthers
to a 22-16 victory over Youngstown
State on Saturday night at Stambaugh
Stadium.
Tabor's effort overshadowed a solid all-around effort by the
Penguins. YSU held a 13-point
fourth-quarter lead and had a 13-0
advantage at halftime.
FIU (1-0) trailed 16-3 with 9:39 remaining in regulation, but
Tabor came in to lead scoring drives
of 85 and 54 yards to tie the score
at 16 with 2:33 remaining in
regulation. After YSU (1-1) won the
toss and elected to go on defense
first in overtime, Tabor found James
Williams in the end zone on the
fourth play of the series, and,
after a failed extra point by Chris
Patullo, the Golden Panthers led
22-16.
YSU freshman quarterback Tom Zetts was stripped trying to
scramble for a first down on a
third-and-three and FIU's Daunte
Foster recovered to end the game.
Down 16-3 with just under 10
minutes on the clock, Tabor came off
the bench and guided the Golden
Panthers on a 13-play, 85-yard
scoring drive in just over three
minutes to make the score 16-9. FIU
faced a fourth-and-one on the YSU
12, but Tabor hit Samuel Smith on
the right sideline and the tight end
shed a tackler to rumble to the end
zone. Tabor was 7-for-12 for 86
yards on the drive and also
converted on a fourth and four at
the YSU 36. FIU had a chance
to cut the deficit to six, but Adam
Moss's extra point attempt was wide
right.
After the FIU defense forced a three-and-out, Tabor led the
Golden Panthers 54 yards on six
plays in 2:47 to tie the score at
16. Following a 15-yard FIU penalty
on the punt, Tabor connected on
completions of 30 and 23 yards down
to the YSU 8. Two plays later, he
found Harold Leath in the endzone
for a nine-yard touchdown.
Zetts finished 17-of-32 for 168 yards and a touchdown while
Matt Rycraft tallied eight catches
for 96 yards. Monquantae Gibson led
the rushing attack with 122 yards on
22 carries and Josh Cayson chipped
in with 50 yards on 14 carries.
Jeremiah Wright posted a team-high 12 tackles while Mike
Bracken and Jason Perry finished
with 11 apiece.
Tabor was 15-of-22 for 174 yards and three touchdowns while
Josh Padrick was 17-of-36 for 164
yards. Rashod Smith led the rushing
attack with 55 yards on 16 attempts.
The Penguins held the upper hand throughout the first half as
they led 13-0 heading into the
locker room with an advantage of 207
to 123 in the yardage column.
YSU got on the board with 17 seconds remaining in the opening
quarter when placekicker Nick
Terracina split the uprights on a
47-yard field goal. Gibson led a
Penguin rushing attack that rushed
eight times for 50 yards with 30
yards on five carries on the drive.
Brandon Brown then stripped Smith at the YSU 41 on the Golden
Panthers' ensuing possession to set
up a nine play, 59 yard scoring
drive that put the Penguins up 10-0.
After Zetts connected with Rycraft
on passes of 22 and 15 yards, the
redshirt freshman quarterback found
Deke Ison in the flats for a
seven-yard touchdown.
Terracina connected from 32 yards out with one second
remaining in the first half to up
the YSU advantage to 13-0. The
Penguins took over at their own 26
with 1:22 left on the clock, but
Zetts hit on three straight passes -
twice to Rycraft and once to Cayson
- covering 40 yards to move the ball
to the FIU 22. Zetts then scrambled
seven yards down to the FIU 15 to
set up Terracina's conversion.
FIU cut the deficit to 10 with 9:24 remaining in the third
when Moss connected on a 31-yard
field goal attempt, but Terracina
answered with his third field goal
of the night on YSU's first
possession of the fourth
quarter. With YSU on their own 43
yardline, Gibson rushed on nine
straight plays down to the FIU one
to set up Terracina's 21-yard field
goal.
The Penguins were last in an overtime contest on Oct. 18,
2003, in a 30-24 victory over
Indiana State. YSU is now 6-3 in
overtime contests in its history.
YSU will travel to Lake Charles, La. take on the McNeese
State Cowboys on Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. |
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