September 2, 1999
Football: Penguins Win Opener Over Slippery Rock, 44-14
    YOUNGSTOWN, OH - Senior quarterback Jared Zwick (Sr., Orrville, OH) threw for two touchdowns and ran for one as the Youngstown State University football team opened the 1999 season with a 44-14 win over Slippery Rock before a crowd of 16, 552 at Stambaugh Stadium.
    Zwick, who completed 7-of-10 passes, threw for a career-high 136 yards and ran for 59 as the Penguin offense totaled 523 yards of total offense. Senior Adrian Brown (Sr., Canton, OH) moved into eighth-place on YSU’s all-time rushing list by adding 91 yards to his total. He currently has 2,480 career yards.
    The Penguins jumped out to an early lead, moving 53 yards on 10 plays to take a 7-0 lead on a 17-yard run by Zwick. The Penguins jumped out to a 10-0 advantage on a 24-yard field goal by senior Mark Griffith (Sr., Boardman, OH). Brown then put the Penguins up 16-0 when he scored from three yards out. After the Rockets got on the board on a 12-yard run by Stan Kennedy, the Penguins closed out the scoring in the first half when Elliott Giles (Sr., Miami, FL) pulled in an acrobatic 56-yard scoring reception from Zwick.
    After the intermission, the Penguins took the opening kickoff of the second half and marched 75 yards, capped off by a Brown 5-yard reception from Zwick to take a 30-7 lead. Jeff Ryan (Fr., Boardman, OH) scored on a two-yard run and later hooked up with Damion Matthews (Sr., Fort Lauderdale) on a 73-yard touchdown reception.
    The Penguin defense held SRU quarterback Randy McKavish to just 10-of-21 passing for 148 yards and limited the Rock to just 14 points.
    "I was happy with the way the defense played tonight," said junior Tim Johnson. "WE came together well as a unit and we made a lot of big plays. We had a tough camp and it was great to see our hard work pay off."
    The Penguins (1-0) will be at Western Michigan on Sept. 11.