Streaks, Storylines, Sidebars...
• A win advances the Penguins to the NCAA title game for the seventh time in school history. YSU is 6-0 all-time in semifinal contests.
• The Penguins are 3-2 all-time when playing a team ranked No. 1, the last win was over Villanova in 1997 (37-34).
• YSU claimed its first-ever outright Gateway Football Conference championship in 2006 with a 6-1 league mark.
• Tailback Marcus Mason set the school single-season rushing record with 1,726 yards. He ranks second with 22 TDs.
• Mason has rushed for 2,598 yards in his YSU career. He has 30 rushing scores in 20 career games. He has nine 100-yard rushing contests in 2006 and 13 in his career. He is averaging 129.9 yards per game in his career.
• Wide receiver T.J. Peterson has caught a pass in 24 straight games. In the two postseason games he has 15 receptions for 217 yards and two touchdowns.
• Peterson, Rory Berry and Louis Irizarry have caught passes in every game.
• The Penguins are 10-0 when scoring at least 27 points this year. YSU has scored 30 points in eight games this year.
• Zetts entered the year with minus-11 career rushing yards. This year he has run for 306 yards.
• Mason ranks second in all of Division I football averaging 156.9 yards rushing per game. As a team, YSU ranks ninth.
• The Guins have won four straight road games. The defense has been the key allowing just 54 points in those contests.
• YSU had 10 players named first-team All-Gateway while a total of 15 earned all-conference honors.
Appalachian State Breakdown
Appalachian State, the defending national champions, has won 12 straight games following a season-opening loss at North Carolina State.
The champions of the Southern Conference, ASU averages 34.7 points per game while surrendering just 14 per contest. Only twice this year have the Mountaineers allowed more than 21 points while scoring at least 31 on nine occasions.
Running back Kevin Richardson has rushed for 1,352 yards and 24 touchdowns while quarterback Armanti Williams has 962 yards and 12 scores.

Ten Guins First-Team All-GFC
    The Penguins placed 10 players on the Gateway all-conference first team. On offense, tailback Marcus Mason, offensive tackle Patrick Walker and center Ryan Jewell were first-team selections. On defense, cornerbacks Jason Perry and Codera Jackson, linebackers James Terry and Marty Hutchinson and defensive linemen Mychal Savage and Jim Phelan were all first team picks. Punter Joe Bishop rounded out the group of first-team honorees.
    Mason was named the GFC’s Offensive Player of the Year while Coach Jon Heacock was the league coach of the year for the second consecutive season.
    Offensive guard Brad Samsa and tight end Derrick Bush were second-team selections while quarterback Tom Zetts, linebacker Jeff Koval and wide receiver T.J. Peterson were honorable mention.

Heacock Takes Regional Honor
    For the second straight year, Coach Jon Heacock was named the AFCA’s FCS Region Four Coach of the Year. In fact, all four coaches remaining in the NCAA playoffs all were selected as the top coach in their region.
    Heacock and Appalachian State’s Jerry Moore were two of four repeat Regional winners. UT-Martin’s Jason Simpson is the lone non-final four coach to earn a Region award.

Playoff History
    The Penguins are appearing in the playoffs for the 11th time in school history. One of the most successful FCS postseason programs ever, YSU is 25-6 all-time. The Guins’ .806 winning percentage leads all FCS schools. YSU ranks second in championships won (four) and championship-game appearances (six).
    The wins over James Madison and Illinois State have put the program in the semifinals for the seventh time in school history.
In the two games, YSU has scored 35 and 28 points. In the postseason, YSU is 9-0 when scoring at least 30 points and 15-2 when scoring 28-or-more. When scoring under 20, the Guins are 7-2.

Last Time Out: YSU 28, ISU 21
    Youngstown State jumped out to a 28-7 lead and held on to defeat Illinois State 28-21 in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Football Championship at Stambaugh Stadium.
    The Penguins allowed the Redbirds to score on their first drive of the game before keeping them out of the end zone until the fourth quarter.
    After ISU went in front 7-0, the Guins scored 28 unanswered points to go in front 28-7 at the end of the third.
    During the 28-point outburst, quarterback Tom Zetts threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score. Zetts tossed a 17-yard scoring strike to T.J. Peterson in the first quarter, scored from two yards out on a fourth-down run in the second and hit Rory Berry on an acrobatic score early in the third.
    Tailback Marcus Mason, who finished with 138 yards on 26 carries, scored on a two-yard run in the third.
    However, ISU struck for two scores in the fourth but YSU was able to hold on.

Penguins Own Winning Streaks
    The Penguins have won five straight games, the longest win streak for the program since opening the 2000 season with six consecutive wins. YSU has also won four consecutive road games, the longest streak since an eight-game run spanning the 1999-2000 seasons.

Mason Finishes Fourth in Payton
    Senior tailback Marcus Mason finished fourth in the 2006 Walter Payton Award voting, which honors the FCS’s top offensive player. Mason received 19 first-place votes and was listed in the top five on 60 of the 112 ballots. His fourth-place finish was the highest of any YSU player in school history.

Eddy Named FCS’s Top Assistant
    Veteran assistant coach Sam Eddy was named the American Football Coaches Association 2006 FCS Assistant Coach of the Year. Eddy, who is in his 13th season with the program, is the Guins’ assistant head coach and running backs coach.

Defense Steps Up On Road
    The Penguin defense has been impressive during the four FCS road games. YSU allowed just 54 points, an average of 13.5 a game and just six touchdowns. The Guins surrendered just 252.8 yards of total offense, including 87.8 rushing per contest. Youngstown State allowed just 16 points in its final two road games (13 at Illinois State and three at Western Kentucky).
    In all five road games this season, YSU has allowed just 10 first-quarter points and 10 third-quarter points. All 10 third quarter points were scored by Penn State.

Mason Second In the Country
    Marcus Mason is second in Division I averaging 156.9 yards per game. He has rushed for 1,726 yards on 280 carries in 11 games this season. His highest game total has been 265 against Western Illinois while his lowest was 72 versus James Madison.
    Mason ranks behind Central Connecticut State’s Justise Hairston (167.91 per game). His 12.0 points per game rank second in the FCS behind Harvard’s Clifton Dawson who averaged 13.20 per contest.

Offensive Line Sees Shake Up
    The Penguins started the same offensive line for the first 12 games of the year before John Foster started for Josh Tanner at left guard against Illinois State last Saturday. Later in the game, Foster moved to center and Jamel Lee, who was playing defense until last week, entered the game at left guard. Lee started on the offensive line last season before being moved to defense during the regular season.
    The unit is a key reason why Marcus Mason ranks second in Division I in rushing and the Penguins offense as a whole ranks in the top 10 nationally. In 10 of 13 games a player has eclipsed the 100-yard mark and twice two players have gone over 100 in the same game.
    Ryan Jewell, Tyler Booth, Patrick Walker and Brad Samsa have started every game this season on the line.

Guins Go For It and Get It
    Ten times this season the Penguins have gone for it on fourth down and 10 times, they have succeeded. The latest was on a fourth-and-inches play that resulted in a touchdown against Illinois State. With the score tied 7-7, Tom Zetts pushed his way in for a two-yard score.
    Only one of the fourth-down situations was longer than two yards, while seven have been for one-yard or less. Four plays have resulted in touchdowns.

Peterson Continues Streak
    Senior wide receiver T.J. Peterson has had an impressive postseason with 15 receptions for 217 yards. His 11 grabs in the first round against James Madison tied the school record while his 144 yards were a career high.
    Peterson has caught a pass in 24 straight games -- all 11 in 2005 and all 13 in 2006. This year, Peterson has 48 receptions for 718 yards and six touchdowns. He had 24 catches for 432 yards and two touchdowns for his career entering 2006.

Offense Scoring Some Points
    The Penguins have scored more than 30 points in eight games this year tying a school record that was set back in 2001. That year YSU scored 30 points in eight of 11 contests. This group has also tied the school mark for 50-point games in a season with two. The 2006 Penguins set a school record by scoring at least 30 points in six of the first seven games of the year.

Rush For 100, Can Mean A ‘W’
    The Penguins have won 17 of the last 18 games when a back rushes for more than 100 yards. The only loss in that span was the 31-23 defeat to Northern Iowa this year. YSU has won nine of 10 games this year when someone rushes for over 100 yards. YSU was 6-0 in 2005 and won its last two in 2004.

Guins in December
    The Penguins are 19-5 all-time in the month of December with two of those losses coming in National Championship Games. YSU is 9-0 at home all-time during the month and is 4-3 on the road, but has won three straight.

Zetts Has Had Career Games
    Quarterback Tom Zetts has had the best rushing performance and best passing performance of his YSU career in the past five games. At Illinois State, he ran for 110 yards on 12 carries. In the opening round playoff game against James Madison he threw for a career-high 314 yards completing 24-of-40 passes. He has thrown for over 200 yards twice this season.

Perry Scores Three Touchdowns
    Senior cornerback Jason Perry is the only player in school history to return a punt and an interception for a touchdown in the same season. Perry returned a punt 64 yards for a score against Indiana State. The two previous games he returned interceptions for touchdowns -- 78 yards versus UC Davis and 40 yards at Missouri State.
    Besides Perry, Larry Toles is the only individual in school history to return two interceptions for scores in a career.

Hutchinson Leads The Way
    Senior linebacker Marty Hutchinson leads the Penguins in tackles with 97, including 53 solo stops. Hutchinson is tied for second on the team in tackles for losses (10) and pass breakups (eight). He has had double figures in tackles on five occasions, including 11 three times. He had his first interception since his freshman season last Saturday against Illinois State.

Plenty of Senior Leadership
    The Penguins have 27 seniors on the roster, of which 25 are active this postseason. The group of 27 is believed to be the most seniors for one squad in school history. The previous high was 24 in 1999. Of this group of seniors, 17 are taking part in their fifth season with a collegiate program - 14 of which have been at YSU that long.

I-A Transfers Big Part Of YSU
    The Penguins have 11 former Division I-A players on the playoff roster.
    Those are tailback Monquantae Gibson (Kentucky), fullback Regis Edgerson (South Carolina), cornerback Tyler Griffin (Eastern Michigan), safety Vince Gliatta (Penn State), wide receiver Tariq Goode (Toledo), tight end Louis Irizarry (Ohio State), nose tackle Greg Jacobs (Vanderbilt), nose tackle Bobby Lykes-Knight (Bowling Green), tailback Marcus Mason (Illinois), defensive end Brian Mellott (Ohio), defensive tackle Nhemie Theodore (Minnesota).
    Of these 11, Mason, Gibson, Irizarry, Lykes-Knight and Jacobs have started.

Numbers of Note
• Turnover Margin: Since 1996, the Penguins are 79-12 when they win or tie in the turnover margin. When committing more turnovers, YSU is just 12-30.
• Close Games: YSU has won its last six games decided by seven points or less.
• Sons: YSU has 10 players on the playoff roster whose last name ends with son.
Since 1990 YSU is:
• 118-14-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 21 points in a game.
• 91-6 when rushing for 200-plus yards.
• 105-10 when scoring 28-or-more points.
• 57-5-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.
• 130-7 when leading entering the fourth.

Point-Scoring Streaks
• YSU has won its last 41 games when scoring more than 30 points. The last loss came at Central Florida (44-32 in 1998).
• YSU has won its last 33 games when scoring more than 40 points. The last loss came to James Madison (52-49 in 1992).
• When scoring at least 50 points, the Penguins are a perfect 20-0. YSU is 18-2 in games following a 50-point contest.
• When scoring 21-plus points under Coach Jon Heacock YSU is 41-5. The Guins are 2-21 when they fail to score 21 points, including the 19-3 win over Western Kentucky.

Next Week...To Be Determined
    The winner of the YSU-Appalachian State matchup will play the winner of the Montana-UMass contest in Chattanooga, Tenn., for the National Championship on Friday, Dec. 15 at Finley Stadium. Montana and UMass play in Missoula on Friday evening. YSU is 2-0 against Montana and 1-1 against UMass. The Guins played in Chattanooga for the title in 1997 and 1999.