Streaks, Storylines, Sidebars...
    • The Penguins have won two straight contests at Illinois State by a total of nine points. YSU won 24-17 on its last visit to Hancock Stadium in 2002 and 14-12 in 2000.
    • Head Coach Jon Heacock is 2-1 against the Redbirds.
    • YSU will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak against Gateway Football Conference foes. The Penguins, who are 0-3 in Gateway play for the first time since joining the conference in 1997, lost their final four league games last season.
    • Youngstown State has not lost six of its first eight games to start a year since losing six of eight in 1995.
    • A loss in any of YSU’s remaining four games would give the Penguins consecutive losing campaigns for the first time since the 1985 and 1986 seasons.
    • The Penguins have had 13 players start every game this season. Of those individuals, seven are on defense and six are on offense.
    • YSU has played five true freshmen and 13 redshirt freshmen this campaign.

Illinois State Scouting Report
    Illinois State features a high-powered offense led by senior quarterback Yance Vaughn. Vaughn leads the Gateway Conference averaging 258.2 yards passing and total offense per game.
    At Western Illinois, Vaughn completed 13-of-29 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns, but had three interceptions.
    On defense mainstay linebacker Boomer Grigsby has recorded 80 tackles, but the Redbirds are allowing 32.3 points per game -- second most in the conference.
    Turnovers have played a key in the Redbirds’ season to this point. ISU ranks last in the Gateway in turnover margin at a minus-7 through six games.
    At home this season, ISU is off to a 3-0 start after beating Saint Xavier (44-14), Eastern Illinois (35-31) and SMS (34-31). The victories over Eastern Illinois and SMS came by rallying from fourth-quarter deficits (31-21 vs. EIU and 31-24 SMS).

Last Meeting: Illinois St. 35, YSU 25
    Illinois State amassed 604 yards of total offense and after jumping out to an 18-0 lead held on for a 35-25 victory at Youngstown State last Oct. 25.
    The Penguins had a balanced offensive attack rushing for 169 yards and throwing for 167, but they could not stop the ISU offense. Mike Souza passed for 271 yards and Sha-Ron Edwards ran for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
    In the third quarter, YSU pulled with 18-10 on a eight-yard scoring pass from Aaron Marshall to Kyle Smith, but ISU regained control of the contest with 10 consecutive points.

Last Time Out: UNI 22, YSU 20
    A valiant comeback bid by the Penguins came up short as Brian Wingert converted a 31-yard field goal with no time remaining as YSU lost to UNI 22-20.
    YSU trailed 19-7 in the fourth quarter, but came back to take the lead with two touchdowns in a 1:36 span. Demetrius Ison scored on a one-yard run with 5:29 remaining, but the conversion attempt failed pulling the Penguins within 19-13.
    On UNI’s ensuing offensive play, James Terry stripped and recovered a fumble by Terrance Freeney giving the Penguins a possession at the UNI 24. Four plays later, Tom Zetts threw a nine-yard touchdown pass to Mike Roberts as YSU took a 20-19 lead with 3:53 remaining.
    The Panthers stayed alive after converting a 4th-and-9 play at the YSU 46 as Eric Sanders found Justin Surrency for 14 yards and a first down at the 32. Three plays later, the game appeared to be over as Wingert’s game-winning attempt appeared to be partially blocked by Nate Baston, however a YSU player was called for roughing the kicker. Given a second chance, Wingert made a 31-yard kick to win the game.

Penguins Lose On Final Play
    The last time the Penguins lost on the final play of a game was in double overtime at Illinois State on Sept. 21, 1996 (31-28). The Redbirds won on a field goal after YSU missed a field-goal attempt on its second overtime possession. The last time YSU lost on a field goal at the end of regulation was on Nov. 24, 1990, in the first round of the I-AA Playoffs to Central Florida. UCF’s Franco Grilla kicked a 34-yard field goal as time expired for a 20-17 victory.

Fourth Quarter Rally Impressive
    The Penguins came up just short to the Panthers after trailing by 12 points in the final quarter. The contest marked the second time this season that YSU overcame a double-digit deficit to take the lead in the fourth quarter (17-3 deficit to 20-17 lead at McNeese State). However, the Penguins were not able to hold the lead in both contests.

What Might Have Been
    This year, the Penguins have led in the fourth quarter on five occasions (out of seven games), but have let three of those advantages slip away. Saturday, YSU came back to grab a 20-19 lead with 3:53 remaining only to have UNI win on a field goal as time expired. At McNeese State, YSU rallied to take a 20-17 lead with 12:52 left, but the Cowboys scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:28 remaining. Against Florida International, YSU led 16-3 with 9:47 left only to have the Golden Panthers score twice and eventually win the game in overtime.

Smith Continues Reception Streak
    Junior wide receiver Kyle Smith (San Diego, Calif.) caught two passes for 21 yards against Northern Iowa on Saturday to extend his reception-in-a-game streak to 18. This year, Smith has caught a pass in all seven games and now has a reception in every game he has played dating back to the final game of the 2002 season.

Hutchinson Keeps On Tackling
    Sophomore linebacker Marty Hutchinson (Newton Falls, Ohio) had 11 tackles against Northern Iowa on Saturday. Hutchinson recorded a career-best 12 stops against top-ranked Southern Illinois in the week prior. He also had 11 tackles at McNeese State earlier this year.

Cayson Steps In at Tailback
    Junior tailback Josh Cayson (Warren, Ohio) stepped in at tailback against Northern Iowa and had an impressive game. Cayson rushed the ball a career-high 23 times for 91 yards. On one series during the game, he had eight consecutive carries. With his 91-yard effort, he went over 1,000 yards rushing for his career and enters the contest at Illinois State with 1,014 yards.

Zetts On Pace For Records
    Through seven games, redshirt freshman quarterback Tom Zetts (Boardman, Ohio) is on pace to set the school single-season record for completion percentage. Through seven games, Zetts has completed 62.5 percent (100-of-160) of his passing attempts. The record is currently held by Demond Tidwell who completed 60.7 percent (147-of-242) in 1997.
    Zetts also is on pace to set the school mark for passing efficiency. Currently, Zetts sits at 158.7 while the school mark is 151.7 set by fellow Boardman grad Jeff Ryan in 1999.

Terry Makes Impact Felt
    Redshirt freshman linebacker James Terry (Stafford, Va.) had eight tackles against Northern Iowa on Saturday. Terry set up YSU’s go-ahead touchdown (20-19) when he forced and recovered a Terrance Freeney fumble at the UNI 24. It was the first fumble for a turnover by the Panthers this season. Terry also had a key tackle for four-yard loss on UNI’s final drive on 2nd-and-5 play.

Smith Cracks Top 20
    Junior wide receiver Kyle Smith (San Diego, Calif.) cracked the top 20 in career receiving yards against UNI. Smith had two catches for 21 yards and now has 898 in his career. He unseated Willis Marshall, brother of backup quarterback Aaron Marshall, for the 20th spot.

Bracken Over 200 Career Stops
    Senior strong safety Mike Bracken (Imperial, Pa.) has recorded 218 career tackles in his YSU career. He has had 17 performances where he recorded at least seven tackles.

Zetts Teams Up With Rycraft
    Quarterback Tom Zetts’ 73-yard touchdown pass to Matt Rycraft was the longest pass play by YSU since Jeff Ryan connected with Elliott Giles on an 82-yard score at Montana in 1999.
    Against Slippery Rock, Zetts had a 72-yard touchdown pass to Josh Cayson.

Penguins Lead Gateway in Blocks
    Youngstown State leads the Gateway Football Conference with four blocked kicks after another block against UNI. Nate Baston was credited with a block of a Brian Wingert first-quarter extra-point attempt. YSU also blocked two field goals against Liberty and one at McNeese State.

Offensive Line Working Together
    The Penguins offensive line should be an experienced unit by the end of the season.
    Left tackle John Bartos, left guard Tony Limongi and right tackle Pat Walker have started all seven games this season. Right guard Josh Tanner and center Ryan Jewell have started six of the seven contests. Center John Foster and guard Joe DeBee started the other two contests for the Guins.
    Only one senior, Norris Kennedy, has seen action on the line this season.

Gibson Hampered By Injury
    Monquantae Gibson left the contest against Northern Iowa in the first quarter when he aggravated a shoulder injury. Gibson, who had rushed for more than 100 yards in his first three games as a Penguin, suffered the injury in the first half of the Western Kentucky game and did not play against Southern Illinois. He had two carries for six yards against UNI before leaving the game.

Up Next: Indiana State
    The Penguins play their final home game of the year when they play host to Indiana State on Oct. 30. It is the earliest Senior Day contest for YSU since Oct. 29, 1994, when YSU played its final regular-season home game against Akron. Indiana State, which has bested its 2003 win total (4-3) travels to Western Kentucky this Saturday.