Quick Outs...

• YSU has won four straight Senior Day games dating back to 2004.

• Prior to Saturday’s 54-44 loss, the Penguins had won 48 straight games when scoring 30-or-more points and 36 consecutive when scoring at least 40.

• The game was the second-highest scoring contest in school history and in Illinois State’s Hancock Stadium’s history.

• Wide receivers Donald Jones (136) and Dominique Barnes (100) became the first pair of Penguins since Maury Bibent and Lorenzo Davis at Tennessee Tech on Oct. 10, 1987, to have 100 receiving yards in the same game.

• The previous high in school history for points scored in a road loss was 43 at Northern Iowa in 1981.

• The 544 yards of total offense were the most since a 567-yard performance against Indiana State in 2005.

• YSU has scored 28 points or more in three losses this year (31-28 to Liberty, 42-28 at Missouri State and 54-44 at Illinois State). It marks the first time in school history that has occurred.

• A total of 28 players have made their first career starts this season -- offensive tackle Greg Sazdanoff and cornerback Randy Louis started at Illinois State.

• Twenty-six players have missed at least one game because of an injury. Twenty of those have missed multiple games.

• Only three players -- defensive tackle Crispin Fernandez, offensive tackle Tyler Booth and guard/center Brad Samsa -- have started every game.

Indiana State Breakdown

    Indiana State is under the direction of first-year Head Coach Trent Miles. The Sycamores come to Stambaugh Stadium in search of their first win of the season after dropping nine straight games.

    Indiana State has scored 56 points this season while allowing 418 points. Sycamore opponents have scored at least 86 points in each quarter and have combined to score 55 touchdowns and kick 10 field goals. ISU has scored six touchdowns this year and kicked four field goals.

Last Meeting: YSU 40, Indiana State 7

    The Penguins rushed for a season-high 392 yards as tailbacks Jabari Scott and Kevin Smith had more than 100 yards in a 40-7 victory over Indiana State last year at Memorial Stadium.

    Scott rushed for 149 yards and had two touchdowns while Smith had 122 yards and one score. Brandon Nicholson and Ferlando Williams also added rushing touchdowns.

    Brian Palmer’s 38-yard field goal in the first quarter gave YSU a 3-0 lead. In the second quarter, Scott’s first touchdown and Palmer’s 32-yard field goal put the Guins ahead 13-0 at halftime.

    In the third quarter, Smith and Scott found the end zone as YSU pulled ahead 26-0. ISU got on the scoreboard when offensive lineman Jack Byrne pounced on a fumble in the end zone.

    In the fourth quarter, Williams scored on a five-yard run while Nicholson scored from 12 yards out.

    The 511 total offensive yards were the most by the Guins since going over 500 at Indiana State in a 45-0 win in 2005.

Last Game: Illinois State 54, YSU 44

    Brandon Summers tied a school record with four passing touchdowns and YSU rolled up 544 yards of total offense, but Illinois State found a way to score more points to earn a 54-44 victory over the Guins at Hancock Stadium.

    Summers had two first-half scoring throws and added two more in the fourth quarter. His third of the day was a 28-yarder to Derrick Bush that gave the Guins a momentary 37-33 lead.

But Illinois State’s Chris Garrett returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a score 14 seconds later and the Guins never led again.

    ISU’s Walter Mendenhall scored two rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal the wild win for the Redbirds.

    Kamryn Keys led YSU on the ground scoring two touchdowns. He had 85 yards on 19 carries in the game.

    The 44 points are the most YSU has ever scored in a road loss, and it was the first time it scored 40 in a loss since 1992.

High-Scoring Shoot Out

    The loss at Illinois State was just the fourth time in school history the Guins had scored more than 40 points and lost the game. The previous time came at Stambaugh Stadium on Sept. 26, 1992, when YSU lost to James Madison. The Guins had won 36 consecutive games when scoring at least 40 points.

    The contest also ranks as the second-highest scoring game in program history behind the 52-49 loss to the Dukes. It was just the fifth game in school history in which YSU and its opponent combined to score 90 points or more.

Guins Making Big Plays

    The Penguins had a season-high 10 plays of 25 yards or more against Illinois State. YSU picked up its longest pass play and rushing play of the season against ISU.

    Redshirt freshman tailback Josh Lee scooted 71 yards in the second quarter while Brandon Summers connected with Donald Jones on a 67-yard scoring strike in the first.

    Da’Michael Horne opened the game with a 53-yard kickoff return, the second-longest return for the Guins this season.

    In the previous week against UNI, Kamryn Keys scored on a 61-yard touchdown run, Jones scored on a 51-yard touchdown pass and Dominique Barnes had a 57-yard kickoff return.

Bush Nabs Third Career TD Grab

    Senior tight end Derrick Bush caught his third career touchdown pass at Illinois State last Saturday. Bush caught a 28-yarder in the fourth quarter against Illinois. Both of his previous career touchdown receptions came at UNI (28 in 2007 and 10 in 2005). While all three have either put YSU ahead or tied the game, the Guins eventually lost.

Summers Ties School Mark

    Junior quarterback Brandon Summers tied a school record by throwing four touchdown passes against Illinois State. Summers had scoring throws of six, 28, 32 and 67 yards against the Redbirds. He is the first player since Tom Zetts in 2005 and the eighth in school history to throw for four scores in a game. Summers’ 347 yards passing also were the fourth most in a single game in school history and most since Jamie DeVore’s 369 in 1983.

Keys Closing In On Frosh Mark

    Redshirt freshman Kamryn Keys is just 26 yards shy of setting the school record for single-season rushing yards by a freshman.

    Keys, who had two touchdowns and 85 yards against Illinois, has rushed for more than 100 yards in a game three times this season. He is one of two freshmen (Josh Cayson in 2003) in school history to run for 100 yards in a game three times in a season.

    Keys has gone over the 100-yard mark against North Dakota State (146), Missouri State (113) and UNI (101).

    Keys, who leads the team with 681 yards on 119 carries, has been the team’s top rusher in five straight games (101-68-113-71-85). Of his 681 yards, 513 have come in Valley Football action.

Wilson Ranks Second in Punt Returns

    In just 21 games played, senior punt returner/cornerback De’Angelo Wilson ranks second at YSU in career punt return yardage. Wilson has 461 yards on 43 returns. His average of 10.7 per return ranks third in school history. This season he has 177 yards on 16 returns. In 2007, Wilson had 27 returns for 284 yards.

Few Seniors on Defense

    Against Illinois State, only four seniors De’Angelo Wilson, Nate Ward, Tom Krupko and Tony Kavouras were on the travel roster. During the game Ward suffered an injury and Wilson missed time as well. For a good portion of the second half, YSU played without a senior on the field.

Offensive Display

    Both Youngstown State and Illinois State racked up more than 500 yards in total offense last Saturday. The 544-yard performance by the YSU offense was the seventh-best all-time and third-highest under Coach Jon Heacock. The Redbirds’ 513-yard performance was the most surrendered since Appalachian State went for 517 in the 2006 playoffs.

Simons Says I’m Back

    Junior linebacker Roshon Simons has started the past two games and has some impressive numbers. At Illinois State, Simons was credited with 13 tackles. In the week before against UNI he had 11 stops.

    He has 24 tackles the past two games after making 10 for the year entering the UNI contest. Simons missed three games because of an injury. He had 91 total tackles in his career entering the season.

Great Scott

    Junior tailback Jabari Scott has rushed for 1,062 yards on 179 carries in his YSU career. He has scored 13 rushing touchdowns - most on the team. He has not played the last two games and has been limited in his availability since being hurt on the first snap against Liberty.

    He had 299 yards on 46 carries starting the first four games. He has played in just three of the last five games and has nine carries for 104 yards.

    Scott is the only player on the team to score touchdowns in three different seasons (2005, 2007 and 2008).

Palmer Among YSU, Active Leaders

    Placekicker Brian Palmer is one PAT attempt and two PAT makes from moving into second place all-time at YSU in both categories.

    Palmer, who has attempted 159 and made 147 is right behind Mark Griffith (160 attempts and 149 makes) on the all-time YSU list.

    Palmer holds the school record for field-goal percentage having converted 37-of-48 attempts in his career -- 77.1 percent. He has made 24 of his last 28 kicks and since the start of 2005 is 30-of-36.

    He has scored 258 points in his career, which puts him in third place for most points scored by a YSU kicker.

O-Line Has Share of Starts

    The Penguins’ three seniors have combined to start 88 games - Brad Samsa (36), Tyler Booth (32) and Nhemie Theodore (20). On the right side, sophomore tackle Bobby Coates has 13 starts to his credit while sophomore guard Eric Rodemoyer has eight this year. Sophomore Justin Rechichar has started at left guard, right guard and center in the recent weeks.

Pass More Than Rush

    Entering the Indiana State game, the Guins have thrown for 1,660 yards while rushing for 1,606. The last time YSU threw for more yards then rushed in a season was in 1995. YSU threw for 59.7 percent of its total offensive yards while rushing for 40.3 percent. Since 1990, that is the only year when YSU has passed more than run the football.

Freshmen Seeing Action

    Six true freshman have seen action -- four on defense and two on offense.

    On defense, linebacker Deonta Tate, defensive tackle Joe Marshall and defensive ends Stephen Meadows and Mike Williams have all seen playing time. Meadows started at Southern Utah becoming the first true frosh to start on defense since Roshon Simons in 2006. Tate has started at linebacker the last three weeks.

    Freshman quarterback Marc Kanetsky is the holder on placement kicks while fellow quarterback Dailyn Campbell started against Southern Illinois. Kanetsky also played quarterback against the Salukis.

Injuries Pile Up Fast

    So far this season a total of 26 players have missed at least one game because of an injury, while 20 of them have missed multiple games.

    Players who have been officially ruled out for the season are FB Kyle Banna (knee), DT Luke Matelan (knee), CB Jarvis Richards (knee) and DT Mychal Savage (rotator cuff). All four started at some point this year.

Nowicki a Shining Star

    Junior punter Ben Nowicki is tied for third in the conference averaging 40.9 yards per punt. Nowicki leads the MVFC with 13 punts inside the 20 and eight punts of 50 yards or more.

    At Southern Utah, Nowicki had a career-long 66-yard boot, the longest for the program since Joe Bishop’s 67-yard punt at Pitt in 2005.

    Last year, he averaged just 37.1 yards per kick. Of his 89 career punts, only three have been touchbacks.

28 New Starters This Season

    The Penguins have had 28 first-time starters this year -- 10 against Ohio State, six against Central State, five at Southern Utah, one at Missouri State, four against Southern Illinois and two at Illinois State.

    Offensive starters for the first time this year are linemen Greg Sazdanoff, Eric Rodemoyer and Justin Rechichar, fullback Kyle Banna, tailback Kamryn Keys, wide receivers Dominique Barnes and Donald Jones and quarterbacks Todd Rowan, Paul Corsaro, Dailyn Campbell and Brandon Summers.

    On defense, ends Joel Younkins, Stephen Meadows, Jaimie Frasure and Josh Myers, tackles Crispin Fernandez, Roger Gillum and Chris Gammon, linebackers Na’eem Outler, John Sasson, Mike Barlak, Deonta Tate and Jordan Edwards along with safeties Brandian Ross, Andre Elliott and Nick Gooden and corners Tyler Griffin and Randy Louis have started for the first time.

Samsa Returns to Right Guard

    Center Brad Samsa made his first start of the season at right guard at Illinois State. As a unit, YSU passed for 347 yards while rushing for 197. Samsa had started the first nine games of the year at center before moving back to his familiar spot at right guard.

    Samsa started 14 games at guard in 2006 and started the first three games of his junior year at that position before starting the final eight at left tackle.

    As a redshirt freshman in 2005, Samsa was a back-up to Ryan Jewell at center and started the final game of the year.

He is a two-time all-conference selection earning first-team honors in 2007.

Barnes and Jones Making Plays

    Sophomore wide receiver Dominique Barnes and junior wide out Donald Jones have become playmakers for the Guins on offense lately.

    Jones caught a 67-yard touchdown pass against Illinois State, a week after a 51-yard scoring catch vs. UNI. He has six receptions of longer than 25 yards this year - a team high.

    Barnes leads the team with seven plays of longer than 25 yards. He caught a 32-yard touchdown pass at Illinois State and also had a 43-yard grab.

First-Team All-League

    Since 2005, YSU and Southern Illinois have led the way in first-team all-conference selections with 19.

    YSU had four first-team selections in 2007, 10 in 2006 and five in 2005. SIU had six last year, seven in 2005 and six in 2006. The Guins had 19 first-team selections from 1998-2004.

FBS Transfers Part Of Roster

    YSU has eight former FBS players on the current roster. Those are tailback Dana Brown (Iowa), defensive tackle Bobby Lykes-Knight (Bowling Green), center/guard Brian Mellott (Ohio), safety Gary Pezzuolo (Akron), offensive guard Eric Rodemoyer (West Virginia), quarterback Brandon Summers (Toledo), offensive guard Nhemie Theodore (Minnesota) and cornerback De’Angelo Wilson (Nevada).

Numbers of Note

• 125-16-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 21 points in a game.

• 97-7 when rushing for 200-plus yards.

• 112-13 when scoring 28-or-more points.

• 60-5-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.

• 139-8 when leading entering the fourth.

• 66-3-2 when holding opponents to 10 points-or-less in a game.

Up Next...Off Week/WIU