Nov. 19, 2009

Penguins Conclude 2009 Season With Trip to North Dakota State

The Penguins (5-5 overall and 3-4 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference) play their final game of the season at North Dakota State...kickoff for the contest is set for 2 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Central time...a win on Saturday gives YSU a winning mark for the year at 6-5...the Penguins snapped a three-game losing streak with a strong 30-18 win over Illinois State on Senior Day...the YSU offense amassed a season-best 472 total yards...QB Brandon Summers became just the third quarterback in school history to have three 300-plus yard passing games in a YSU career...following his 346-yard, two TD-effort against Illinois State he was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week...North Dakota State (3-7 and 2-5) has won two straight picking up wins over Western Illinois and most recently Indiana State the past two weeks...the Bison have won just one of four home games this year but dropped two of those contests by four points or less...last year in Youngstown, the Penguins knocked off then-second-ranked NDSU 32-24 in September...this is the program’s first trip to Fargo since Ron Jaworski’s senior season in 1972.

The Series vs. North Dakota State
    This is just the fourth meeting between the two programs and the second in Fargo. YSU’s last contest at NDSU was on Sept. 23, 1972, a 16-10 Bison victory. In that game, which was played at Dacotah Field, YSU led 3-0 before the Bison scored 16 unanswered points. The Guins’ lone score was a Ron Jaworski touchdown run in the third quarter.
    Last year, the Penguins earned a 32-24 victory over then-No. 2 North Dakota State at Stambaugh Stadium.
YSU leads 2-1, winning two home games.

Quick Notes From the Illinois State Game
• The Penguins sent their seniors (a group of 12 this year) out as winners in their final home game for the sixth consecutive season (2004-09).
• The Penguins had two 100-yard receivers (Donald Jones and Dominique Barnes) and a 100-yard rusher (Kevin Smith) against the Redbirds.
• YSU amassed a season-high 472 yards against Illinois State. The previous best was 437 against Austin Peay.
• Senior QB Brandon Summers was one yard shy of his career high in passing yardage finishing with 346 yards. He had a career-best 347 last year at Illinois State. His total was the fifth-best performance in school history.
• Junior WR Dominique Barnes caught his team-leading sixth touchdown pass of the season and the ninth of his career. His 55-yard touchdown grab was a career-long catch.
• Senior WR Donald Jones had seven receptions against the Redbirds and now has 67 for the season and 98 for his career.
• Summers threw the 32nd touchdown pass of his career and 14th of the season.
• Through the air against ISU, Summers completed passes of 55, 54, 39, 30 and 27 yards. Prior to the game, YSU had five completions of 27 yards or more the entire season.
• Jones has 48 receptions in the past six games after hauling in seven grabs versus Illinois State. He ranks 14th in the FCS in receptions per game (6.70). Barnes is 36th at 5.5 catches a contest.
• YSU held the Redbirds to 65 yards rushing, the third time this year it held an opponent under 70 yards.
• WR Dominique Barnes has caught a pass in 22 straight games while Jones has a reception in 20 consecutive contests.

Last Year's Meeting: YSU 32, NDSU 24
    De’Angelo Wilson’s interception in the end zone with 22 seconds remaining sealed a hard-fought 32-24 victory for the Penguins over second-ranked North Dakota State last season at Stambaugh Stadium.
    YSU jumped out to a 16-0 lead and held a 23-3 advantage late in the third quarter before two quick scores by the Bison cut the deficit to 23-17.
    In the fourth, Kamryn Keys scored on a 14-yard run to give the Guins a 29-17 cushion. NDSU answered back when Tyler Roehl scored his second touchdown of the night, a three-yard scored with 7:09 remaining.
    YSU answered with a drive that took almost five minutes off the clock and went ahead by eight on Brian Palmer’s 40-yard field goal.
    NDSU drove to the YSU four-yard line, but on second down, Wilson intercepted Nick Mertens’ final pass of the game to preserve the win. Keys rushed for a game-high 146 yards while Jabari Scott added 120 yards.

Last Game: YSU 30, ISU 18
    Twelve seniors went out on a winning note in their final home game as the Penguins defeated Illinois State 30-18 in an entertaining and emotional home finale at Stambaugh Stadium.
    Senior quarterback Brandon Summers completed 25-of-39 passes for a season-high 346 yards. Senior tailback Kevin Smith led the way on the ground with a season-best 121 yards on 27 carries. The Guins also had two wide receivers with more than 100 yards as Dominique Barnes had a career-high 122 while senior Donald Jones finished with 105. Both had touchdown grabs.
    YSU overcame a blocked punt and a blocked field goal in the contest. Placekicker Stephen Blose did convert a career-high three field goals making kicks from 45, 37 and 35 yards.
    The Guins led 23-18 in the fourth when they forced the game’s only turnover - a Matt Brown fumble. Six plays later, Summers connected with Jones on an eight-yard scoring toss with 9:32 remaining and the defense made it stand up.

Ball Security
    The Penguins have lost two fumbles this year, the fewest fumbles of any team in the Football Championship Subdivision. Five teams have lost three others have lost four.
    That is an impressive stat considering the offense has run 677 plays, they have returned 34 kickoffs and 18 punts and intercepted 10 passes. In 738 possible touches, YSU has fumbled 10 times, but lost just two.
    The school record for fewest fumbles lost in a season is four, set back in 1987.
    YSU’s last fumble lost was against Western Illinois on Oct. 10. Also, the Guins did not lose a fumble for the first 18 quarters of the year.

Passing Penguins
    YSU has become more of a passing program than a rushing one in the last two years.
    This year, the Guins have thrown for 2,089 yards while rushing for 1,246. YSU has tried to rush the football, having 367 attempts compared to 310 attempted passes, but the yardage is in favor of the passing game.
    Last season was the first time since 1995 that the program passed for more yardage (2,045) than it rushed for (1,988).
    In the past 23 games, dating back to the final game of the 2007 season, YSU has passed for 4,448 yards compared to 3,324 on the ground (a 193.4 to 144.5 per game average).
    The last time YSU had more yards passing than rushing in consecutive seasons was 1986 and 1987.

Two Earn Academic Honors
    The Penguins landed two players on the ESPN the Magazine CoSIDA Academic All-District IV team. Senior offensive guard Brian Mellott and junior placekicker Stephen Blose are first-team selections and are eligible for the Academic All-America team.
    Mellott has already graduated, posting a 3.90 cumulative grade-point average in accounting. Blose has a perfect 4.00 GPA as a Middle Childhood Education major. The last time YSU had two first-team Academic All-District picks in the same year was 2001. The last Academic All-America pick was Scott Thiessen in 2003.

Rush D Bounces Back in 2009
    A week after surrendering a season-high 230 yards on the ground to UNI, YSU allowed just 65 to Illinois State - the second fewest it has allowed all season.
    Three times this year, YSU has held team under 70 yards - Austin Peay (64), Indiana State (70) and Illinois State (65). Also, only three backs have gone over the century mark (last year nine did).
    The Penguins face a big task this Saturday against NDSU. The Bison are ranked sixth in the FCS in rushing yards per game (218.60) while running back Pat Paschall is No. 1 in the country at 139.67 yards a contest.
    The last time the Guins held at least three teams under 70 yards rushing in the same year was 2005 - four times.

More on the Defense
    This year, the Penguins defense has allowed 3,061 yards in total offense in 10 games. Talk about a turnaround, last year YSU allowed 4,592 yards in 12 games.
    In per game averages, opponents averaged 382.7 yards a contest last season. That is down to 306.1 this season. The last time YSU surrendered less than 300 yards a game in a season was in 2002.
    The most total yards allowed this season was 393 last Saturday by Illinois State. Last season, YSU surrendered more than 399 yards on seven occasions. Also, the Penguins are allowing 20.8 points per game this season compared to 29.2 a season ago.

Blose Perfect on Field Too
    Junior PK Stephen Blose is trying to become the first kicker since Nick Terracina in 2004 to make all of his point-after conversions.
    This season, Blose is a perfect 23-of-23 on PAT kicks. Only seven times in school history has a kicker made each try during an entire season, just once since 1986.
    Last Saturday against Illinois State, Blose made a career-best three field goals and had a career-high four attempts. He made kicks from 45, 37 and 35 versus the Redbirds.

Record Watch
    Entering the final game of the season, both Donald Jones and Brandon Summers have shots at setting YSU single-season records.
    Jones is just eight receptions shy of tying the school mark for catches in a season. The current record holder is Jim Ferranti, who had 75 in 1979. The only other player in school history with more than 70 grabs in a year is Herb Williams (1992).
    Senior QB Brandon Summers has a chance to set the school mark for completions in a season. His current total of 196 ranks second in school history behind Trenton Lykes’ 216 set in 1987. With a 300-yard outing, Summers could tie the mark for 300-plus performances in a career of four held by Lykes and Denny Klembara.

Ersery Steps Up
    Senior LB Draye Ersery played 72 snaps against Illinois State and finished with a career-high 11 total tackles. That’s an impressive amount for any given contest, but in 17 previously played contests he had a total of 10 stops.

Over the Hill
    Redshirt freshman LB Taylor Hill has quietly been putting together a solid first year.
Hill has had 27 tackles the past three games, highlighted by a 12-stop performance against South Dakota State on Oct. 31.
    He now leads the team with 58 total tackles entering the season finale at North Dakota State. He is four stops ahead of junior free safety Andre Elliott.
    Having not played college football a year ago, Hill is listed a freshman this season for the Penguins. The last freshman to lead the team in tackles was Pat Narduzzi in 1985.
Hill has had five-or-more tackles on seven occasions this season.

Pitts Picks It Up
    Senior WR Aaron Pitts has had the best year of his YSU career. Pitts has 30 receptions 356 yards and two touchdowns. Against Illinois State he caught three passes for 68 yards, including a 54-yard grab. It was the second-longest of his career behind a 56-yard scoring catch earlier this year against Southern Illinois. Entering his senior campaign, he had 12 receptions for 137 yards and one score, which came in 2007. His best performance was against SIU when he had seven catches for 102 yards.

Dependable Duo at Wideout
    Wide receivers Donald Jones and Dominique Barnes have combined for 122 receptions, 1,377 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. Last year in a 12-game regular season, the two combined for 69 catches, 878 yards and 10 scores.
    In their two years together (22 games), they have 194 receptions for 2,276 yards and 21 scores. Jones had 31 catches last year and has doubled that with 67 grabs in 2009. Barnes had 38 catches a year ago and has 55 this year.
    Jones’ 67 receptions are the third most in school history behind Jim Ferranti (75) and Herb Williams (72). Barnes ranks seventh on the season charts with 55. Prior to this season, the program had never had two players with at least 50 catches in the same year.

Defense Shows Stability
    Six players have started every game on the defensive side of the ball for YSU, which is a stark contrast to last year when just one (Crispin Fernandez) started all 12 games. Players who have started all nine games so far are LB Taylor Hill, FS Andre Elliott, CB Brandian Ross, DE Mychal Savage, NT Luke Matelan and RE Stephen Meadows. Of that group, only Savage is a senior.
    On offense, four players have started all nine games -- Donald Jones, Dominique Barnes, Brandon Summers and lineman Brian Mellott.

Mr. Jones and Me
    Senior WR Donald Jones has twice tied the school record for receptions in a game this season. Jones has had 11 against Southern Illinois and Missouri State this year.
    He has caught a pass in 20 straight games and has had multiple grabs in the past 18.
    Jones has 67 receptions on the year, the most by any YSU player since 1992 - Herb Williams (72).

Wins vs. Losses
    The difference between winning and losing has been dictated by turnovers and red-zone performance so far this year for the Guins, and the stats back that up.
    In the five victories, YSU has caused 15 turnovers while giving the ball up just five times. In the red zone of those victories, YSU is 18-of-22 (82 percent) while its opponents are 6-for-10 (60 percent). In the five defeats, YSU has committed 11 turnovers while causing just three. In the red zone, the Guins are 1-of-7 while opponents are a 18-of-19, including 14 touchdowns.
    Also, in the wins, YSU has scored 21 touchdowns compared to just three in its losses.

Barnes Becomes Playmaker
    Junior WR Dominique Barnes has caught a touchdown pass in six of the last nine games and now has TD grabs in two consecutive contests.
    He scored on a nice 55-yarder against Illinois State last Saturday. The week before at UNI he caught a 10-yard pass. Against Western Illinois he caught a seven-yard strike, at Indiana State he hauled in a 36-yard toss, at Northeastern he had a 32-yard scoring reception, and, against Austin Peay, he had 16-yarder.
Barnes has caught a pass in 22 straight games and has 21 career multi-catch games, including his last 19 contests.

Jones Holds School Mark
    Senior WR Donald Jones is the only player in school history to catch 11 passes in two different games. He is also the only player to have two double-figure reception games.
    Jones holds the school record with T.J. Peterson, who had 11 against James Madison in 2006, and Dave DelSignore, who had 11 against Southern Illinois in 1968.
    Amazingly, the Guins had one player record 11 catches in a game once in the first 680 games in school history. Recently, it has occurred three times in the past 36 contests.

The O-Line Shuffle
    After starting the same group in consecutive games for the first time this season against South Dakota State and UNI, the offensive line had a change against Illinois State.
    Justin Rechichar started at left guard for Eric Rodemoyer, but Rodemoyer played a good portion of the game. The unit had one of its best games of the season allowing just one sack, as Brandon Summers threw for 300 yards and tailback Kevin Smith had his third 100-yard game of the year.
In the first eight games, the offensive line had eight different starting lineups. Brian Mellott, the lone senior of the group, is the only lineman to start every game this season.
    Five different players have started at right tackle, three have started at center, three have starts at left guard and three have started as a left tackle.

Four Players Over 1,000
    Senior TBs Kevin Smith and Jabari Scott have each rushed for more than 1,000 yards in their YSU careers. Smith is the active team leader with 1,289 yards on 280 carries and 14 touchdowns. Scott has rushed for 1,123 yards on 204 attempts in his career and scored 13 times.
    Senior WR Donald Jones has 1,202 career receiving yards on 98 receptions while junior WR Dominique Barnes has 1,074 yards in his career.

Johnson Steps In
    For the second straight year, junior punter Erik Johnson had to step in for an injured Ben Nowicki. Nowicki was injured in the second quarter of last Saturday’s game when he successfully knocked his own blocked punt out of the back of the end zone resulting in a safety instead of a touchdown.
    Johnson, who came on last year when Nowicki suffered an injury against Indiana State, had five punts for an average of 34.2 yards, but placed three inside the 20-yard line.

Barnes, Jones Go Over 100
    For the third time since Nov. 1 of last year, junior WR Dominique Barnes and senior WR Donald Jones had 100 yards receiving in the same game.
    Last Saturday against Illinois State, Barnes had a game-high 122 yards while Jones had 105. Against Missouri State on Oct. 3, Jones had 130 yards on a school-record-tying 11 receptions while Barnes had 113 on a career-best nine grabs.
    Last year at Illinois State, Jones had 136 yards on just four receptions while Barnes had 100 on eight catches.
    Prior to their performance against ISU in 2008, the last time YSU had multi-100-yard receivers in the same game was in 1987.

Smith Made Solid Return
    Senior TB Kevin Smith has rushed for a team-high and career-best 679 yards after finishing with a season-best 121 yards against Illinois State last Saturday.
    Smith made a successful return to the lineup after not playing against South Dakota State and seeing limited action at UNI. Against the Panthers, he had a career-high-tying four receptions for a career-best 29 yards.
    Smith has had at least 16 carries in seven contests this season, including a high of 28 carries against Western Illinois on Oct. 10. He rushed for 116 yards against Austin Peay and 113 yards versus Western Illinois.
    Smith sat out the entire 2008 campaign with an injury before starting the first seven games this year. He had 610 yards on 123 attempts in 2007.

Connection is Made
    Both Brandon Summers and Dominique Barnes played quarterback at Southfield High School before moving on to the college ranks. Summers was the Bluejays’ QB from 2003-04 while Barnes followed from 2005-06.
    So far this season, the two have hooked up on six touchdown passes - 55 yards against Illinois State, 10 yards at UNI, seven yards vs. Western Illinois, 36 at Indiana State, 32 at Northeastern and 16 against Austin Peay. Last year, they connected on touchdown passes three times.

Offensive Line is Junior Dominated
    The 2009 squad has just one senior (Brian Mellott) to go along with six juniors. The line also has four redshirt freshmen, one sophomore and one true freshman. So far this season, 10 different players have started at least one game across the offensive line. Here is a list of career starts for the current members of the unit: Brian Mellott (21), Eric Rodemoyer (18), Bobby Coates (18), Andrew Radakovich (8), Tyler Figueroa (6), Justin Rechichar (6), Chris Gammon (5), Andy Kowicki (4), Greg Sazdanoff (2) and Bill Dugan (1).