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The 1993
National Champions
Youngstown State’s reward for beating Central Florida, Georgia Southern
and Idaho at home in the playoffs was to play at a hostile environment
for the National Championship against Marshall in Huntington, W. Va. for
the second straight year.
But the one
thing the Penguins had on their side was the revenge factor. In the 1992
title game, YSU played at Marshall and came up just short losing 31-28
despite an incredible rally from a 28-0 deficit to the tie the game.
Marshall scored the first 28 points of that game before the Penguins
rallied for the next 28. But a field goal late in the fourth quarter
dashed YSU’s 1992 title hopes setting the stage for a memorable 1993
championship game.
This time, the
Penguins would come out on top beating Marshall 17-5 on its home field
and winning the national title for the second time in three years.
YSU jumped out
quickly scoring 17 first-quarter points. Darnell Clark ran 50 yards for
a touchdown on the third play of the game and just over two minutes
later Tamron Smith scored on a five-yard run. Later in the period, Jeff
Wilkins kicked a 19-yard field goal and from there it was the Penguin
defense that was impressive.
Marshall moved
into YSU territory only once in the first half before getting on the
board on a 27-yard field goal late in the third. In the fourth, the
Thundering Herd threatened driving deep into YSU territory. Marshall had
a first down at the YSU three, but was stopped on three straight plays.
On fourth-and-goal from the one, the Penguins’ defense stuffed Chris
Parker to take over with 5:14 left in the game and end any MU comeback
hopes.
YSU took a
safety later in the drive and with 1:40 left a Vance Mayes interception
sealed the Penguins second national-title game win.
Youngstown
State rolled through the first three rounds of the playoffs winning by
an average margin of 22 points. YSU beat Central Florida 56-30 in the
first round, Georgia Southern 34-14 in the quarterfinals and Idaho 35-16
in the semifinals. The victories all set the stage and gave the Penguins
momentum entering the title contest.
Against
Central Florida, YSU scored 35 first-half points en route to the win.
Against Georgia Southern, the Penguins jumped out to a 27-0 lead before
the Eagles scored midway through the third quarter.
In the
semifinals against Idaho, Youngstown State trailed 16-14 at halftime in
a snow storm. But in the third quarter Tamron Smith scored on an
eight-yard touchdown run and Marc Brungard tossed a 39-yard touchdown
pass to Don Zwisler to extend the YSU lead to 12. Clark added a 15-yard
scoring run in the fourth as the Penguins advanced to the title game for
the third consecutive year.
In the regular
season, Youngstown State opened with a win at Western Michigan before
losing at Stephen F. Austin. After the tough road loss, YSU picked up
wins over Morgan State, Eastern Kentucky, Delaware State, Liberty,
Samford, Buffalo and Indiana State. The Penguins’ seven-game winning
streak was snapped when they lost 13-10 on a late touchdown at Illinois
State. YSU closed the regular season shutting out Akron 19-0.
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