Streaks, Storylines, Sidebars...
• A win gives the Penguins their 10th double-digit win total in school history and first since 1999. It will also snap a two-game postseason losing streak.
• YSU claimed its first-ever outright Gateway Football Conference championship in 2006 with a 6-1 league mark.
• Youngstown State has won 12 consecutive playoff home games. All-time, YSU is 7-3 in first-round games.
• Tailback Marcus Mason has rushed for 2,388 yards in his YSU career. Mason also has 27 rushing scores in 18 career games. He has eight 100-yard rushing contests in 2006 and 12 in his career. He is averaging 132.7 yards per game in his career.
• Wide receiver T.J. Peterson has caught a pass in 22 straight games. He had three receptions for 34 yards at WKU.
• Peterson and Louis Irizarry have caught passes in every game. Of Irizarry’s 20 catches, 14 have been for first downs or touchdowns.
• Quarterback Tom Zetts is in a three-way tie for second place in YSU history with 40 career touchdown passes.
• The Penguins are 8-0 when scoring at least 27 points this year. YSU allowed a season-low three points at WKU.
• Zetts entered the year with minus-11 career rushing yards. This year he has run for 286 yards, including 183 the past three games.
• Mason ranks second in all of Division I football averaging 166.22 yards rushing per game.
• YSU ranks fifth in Division I-AA in rushing offense (240.6 yards) and 10th in scoring offense (32.1 points). The Guins lead the Gateway in net punting (34.9).

James Madison Breakdown
    James Madison has used a balanced offense and a staunch rushing defense to gain an at-large berth into the playoffs.
    JMU is averaging 215.5 yards rushing and 175.4 yards passing per game on offense while the defense is holding opponents to just 84 yards rushing. The Duke offense has committed just nine turnovers on the season while the team has scored 47 touchdowns.
    Linebacker Akeem Jordan has had a monster year recording 126 total tackles, including 62 solos. Jordan has been credited with 16 tackles for losses as well.

Series Information
    The Penguins and Dukes have played three times with every meeting coming in the early 1990’s. The last meeting was the highest-scoring game in the history of Stambaugh Stadium as James Madison pulled out a 52-49 win on Sept. 26, 1992. YSU won the other two meetings earning a 28-21 victory on Nov. 9, 1991 and a 31-15 win on Oct. 20, 1990.

Last Time Out: YSU 19, WKU 3
    Tailback Monquantae Gibson rushed for a career-high 236 yards on 43 carries and had two touchdowns while the defense kept WKU out of the end zone in a 19-3 victory at a frigid L.T. Smith Stadium.
    The win clinched at least a share of the Gateway title for the Penguins and gave them an automatic berth into the playoffs.
    YSU took a 6-0 lead after the first quarter on Brian Palmer field goals of 27 and 36 yards.
After WKU cut the deficit in half, the Penguins answered with Gibson’s first score of the day on a one-yard plunge.
    Following a Chris Goffer interception, the Guins were able to capitalize when Gibson scored on a fourth-and-goal play from the WKU one with 4:10 remaining.
    The YSU defense, which held WKU to just 1-of-11 on third-down conversions, stopped the Hilltoppers one final time and the offense was able to run out the clock.
    The YSU win was the first in Bowling Green since 1990 and first in three tries since WKU joined the Gateway in 2001.

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 23-6 all-time. The Guins’ .793 winning percentage is tied with Marshall for the highest in playoff history. YSU ranks second in championships won (four) and championship-game appearances (six).
    At one time, the Guins were 23-4 entering the 1999 Championship Game against Georgia Southern. However, YSU lost the title game and fell to Richmond in 2000 (10-3).

Mason Hits Century Mark Again
    Marcus Mason has rushed for more than 100 yards in a school-record setting six straight games. Mason broke the mark of five with his 249-yard performance against Southern Illinois. He did not play at Western Kentucky because of a sprained ankle.
    This season Mason has run for at least 100 yards on eight occasions. The school record for 100-yard games in a season is nine held by Shawn Patton (1994) and Tamron Smith (1991).
Mason enters Saturday’s game with 1,496 yards rushing in 2006. He eclipsed 1,000 yards faster than any YSU player ever reaching the mark in seven games.

Mason Second In the Country
    Marcus Mason is second in Division I averaging 166.2 yards per game. He has rushed for 1,496 yards on 228 carries in nine games this season. His highest game total has been 265 against Western Illinois while his lowest was 99 versus UC Davis.
    Mason ranks just behind Central Connecticut State’s Justise Hairston (167.91 per game).
His 12.67 points per game rank second in the FCS behind Harvard’s Clifton Dawson who averaged 13.20 per contest.

Don’t Forget About Me
    Senior tailback Monquantae Gibson showed the Guins’ powerful 1-2 tailback punch rushing for 236 yards on 43 carries in the regular-season finale at Western Kentucky. Gibson’s 43 carries were a school record for a regular-season game while they were the second most in school history.
    Entering the contest against WKU, Mason had rushed for 285 yards on 43 carries for the year. Gibson has run for 1,748 yards in his three-year career.

Mason, Heacock Award Finalists
    Senior tailback Marcus Mason and Coach Jon Heacock are finalists for national awards. Mason is one of 16 players on the Walter Payton Award final list. Heacock is one of 16 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award presented to the nation’s top I-AA head coach. Heacock is one of three Gateway coaches in the running for the award.

Offensive Line Remains in Tact
    The Penguins have started the same unit on the offensive line for every game this season. That is a key reason why Marcus Mason ranks second in Division I in rushing and the Penguins offense as a whole ranks fifth in I-AA (240.6 per game). In nine of 11 games a player has eclipsed the 100-yard mark and twice two players have gone over 100 in the same game. Three times a Penguin has gone over 200 yards rushing in a game. Tyler Booth, Josh Tanner, Ryan Jewell, Brad Samsa and Pat Walker have started all 11 games together on the line.

Offense Scoring Some Points
    The Penguins have scored more than 30 points in seven games this year. The school record for 30-point games in a regular season is eight set back in 2001 (in just 11 games). YSU also did it seven times during the 1997 season. This group has also tied the school mark for 50-point games in a season with two.

Rush For 100, Can Mean A ‘W’
    The Penguins have won 16 of the last 17 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 seven of eight games this year when someone rushes for over 100 yards. YSU was 6-0 in 2005 and won its last two in 2004.

Guins Perfect on Fourth Down
    The Penguins are a perfect 9-of-9 on fourth-down conversions this season. Of those nine plays, six have been converted by Marcus Mason. YSU converted two fourth-down situations at Western Kentucky.

Peterson Continues Catch Streak
    Senior wide receiver T.J. Peterson has caught at least one pass in 22 straight games. Peterson extended his streak at Western Kentucky with three catches for 34 yards. Through 11 games, he has 33 catches for 501 yards and four touchdowns. He had 24 catches for 432 yards and two touchdowns for his career entering 2006.

Mason Handling The Load
    Senior tailback Marcus Mason has rushed for 1,496 yards on 228 carries while scoring 19 touchdowns. Mason has gone over the 100-yard mark in eight of his nine games (107 vs. Maine, 101 vs. Slippery Rock, 130 at Missouri State, 197 vs. Indiana State, 265 at Western Illinois, 172 vs. UNI, 176 at Illinois State and 249 vs. Southern Illinois). He did not play at Penn State and finished with 99 yards against UC Davis.

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 83, including 46 solo stops. Hutchinson is second on the team in tackles for losses (nine) and pass breakups (seven). He has had double figures in tackles on five occasions, including 11 three times.

Zetts, Bishop Among Best
    Quarterback Tom Zetts and punter Joe Bishop both rank highly at YSU in various career categories.
    Zetts ranks first in percentage (59.8), tied for second in 200-yard games (10), tied for second in touchdown passes (40), fourth in completions (433), fourth in attempts (729) and fourth in yards (5,178).
    Bishop is second in career punts with 216 and yards (8,303). Standout Nick Xides owns both school records (257) and (10.514).

Plenty of Senior Leadership
    The Penguins have 27 seniors on the roster. It is believed to be the most seniors for one squad in school history. The previous high was 24 in 1999. Of YSU’s seniors, 15 are on offense, 11 are on defense and one is a specialist. One more note on the seniors, of that group, 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 13 former Division I-A players on the 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), cornerback Antaun Rose (West Virginia), tailback Marcus Mason (Illinois), defensive end Brian Mellott (Ohio), defensive tackle Maurice Smith-Davis (Michigan State), defensive tackle Nhemie Theodore (Minnesota).
    Of these 13, just five have started (Mason, Gibson, Irizarry, Lykes-Knight and Jacobs).

Got Sons? YSU Has Plenty
    The Penguins have their share of players who have a last name that ends in son. Overall, there are 11 players on the roster whose last name ends in son. Most notable, the Penguins top tackler (Marty Hutchinson), top rusher (Marcus Mason) and top receiver (T.J. Peterson) all end in son.

Big Plays Have Gone For Six
    The Penguins have scored touchdowns on 11 of 13 plays that have gone for at least 40 yards this season. YSU has scored on five runs, three passes, two interceptions and one punt. This year the Guins have busted plays of more than 35 yards on 18 occasions.
Guins On November 25
    The Penguins are 3-1 on Nov. 25 with all three games coming in the playoffs. The last was exactly six years ago when YSU suffered a 10-3 setback at Richmond.
    YSU beat Alcorn State on Nov. 25, 1994 (63-20), won at Eastern Kentucky on Nov. 25, 1989 (28-24) and beat Nebraska-Omaha on Nov. 25, 1978 (21-14).

Numbers of Note
• Turnover Margin: Since 1996, the Penguins are 77-12 when they win or tie in the turnover margin. When committing more turnovers, YSU is just 12-30.
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.
• 103-10 when scoring 28-or-more points.
• 57-5-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.
• 129-7 when leading entering the fourth.

Point-Scoring Streaks
    • YSU has won its last 40 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 39-5. The Guins are 2-21 when they fail to score 21 points, including the 19-3 win over Western Kentucky.

Back-to-Back Titles
    For the first time since winning two straight Mid-Continent Conference titles in 1978 and 1979, YSU has won back-to-back conference titles. The Guins were one of three teams to earn a piece of the crown in 2005, but are outright champs this year.

Next Week...To Be Determine
    The winner of the YSU-James Madison matchup will play the winner of the Eastern Illinois-Illinois State contest on Dec. 2. If the Penguins win, the game will be played at Stambaugh Stadium.