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Nov. 5, 2005
Football: Second-Half Outburst Leads Salukis Past YSU, 31-17
Carbondale, Ill. -- After a strong first half, the
15th-ranked Youngstown State
football team watched as No. 5
Southern Illinois turned the tables
on the Penguins with a 24-point
outburst in the second stanza
handing YSU a 31-17 defeat at
McAndrew Stadium on Saturday
afternoon.
YSU (7-3 overall and 4-2 in the Gateway) played a strong
opening 30 minutes, but the final 30
minutes belonged to Southern
Illinois. SIU (7-2 and 5-1)
methodically scored 10 points in the
third quarter to tie the contest and
pulled out the victory with two
impressive fourth-quarter
touchdowns.
With the score tied 17-17, SIU quarterback Joel Sambursky's
third touchdown pass of the game
from nine yards out found Kellen
Allen in the back corner of the end
zone with 11:17 remaining and the
Salukis never trailed again.
After YSU was forced to punt following the SIU score, Craig
Turner returned a 51-yard Joe Bishop
punt 85 yards for a score to put the
Salukis ahead 31-17 and the game
away with 3:05 remaining.
The Penguins last-ditch effort ended at the SIU 22-yard line
when the Salukis recovered a Tom
Zetts fumble with just over a minute
remaining.
Southern Illinois struck first in the second half when
Sambursky threw a 16-yard touchdown
pass to Allen cutting the deficit to
17-14 at the 11:17 mark of the third
quarter.
SIU tied the game on its next possession, but the Penguins'
defense rose to the occasion to keep
the Salukis out of the end zone.
After Arkee Whitlock took the ball
to the YSU two on first down, the
defense stuffed him on second down
and threw Sambursky for a loss on
third down to force a field goal.
Craig Coffin tied the game with 1:33
left in the quarter by converting a
19-yard field goal.
Midway through the fourth quarter, YSU tried to grab back the
lead on a field-goal attempt. Brian
Palmer's attempt from 49 yards with
the wind at his back had plenty of
distance but was wide right.
The Penguins took the initial possession of the game against
the wind and came away with a
seven-point lead.
After the game-opening kickoff went out of bounds giving YSU
the ball at the 35, Zetts engineered
an impressive seven-play drive. The
drive was capped when junior tight
end Max King snared a pass across
the middle from Zetts for a 17-yard
score with 12:19 left in the opening
frame.
Southern Illinois answered late in the quarter to tie the
game. On third-and-four from the YSU
five, Sambursky rolled to his right
and found tight end Braden Jones in
the corner of the end zone with 1:46
left in the period.
After being unable to take advantage of the wind for most of
the second quarter, the Penguins
cashed in big late in the second
period.
Zetts threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Marshall, who
fought off pass interference and
grabbed the ball with one hand,
putting YSU ahead 14-7 at the 2:14
mark.
On the Salukis' next possession, Sambursky was sacked by
Justin Scholes and lost control of
the football as Brandon Brown
recovered at the SIU 13.
YSU settled for a 30-yard Brian Palmer field goal as the half
expired to lead 17-7 at the break.
Zetts finished the first half with 180 yards on 9-of-17
passing. For the game he completed
18-of-31 passes for a career-high
291 yards. YSU had 425 total
offensive yards and Southern
Illinois finished with 383.
The Penguins conclude the regular season next Saturday when
they play host to Western Kentucky
at Stambaugh Stadium. Kickoff is set
for 1 p.m. |
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