The No. 2/3 Youngstown State football team rallied twice in the fourth quarter to beat No. 18/23 Northern Iowa 28-24 on Saturday afternoon in front of a Stambaugh Stadium record crowd of 21,119.

YSU Quarterback Jeff Ryan threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to diving Dennis Dlugosz with 1:17 left to rally the undefeated Penguins back from a 24-21 deficit and give YSU a 28-24 lead.

The Penguins (6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Gateway Conference) then ended Panthers' last ditch comeback attempt when Jon Tekac sacked UNI's Ryan Helming with just 12 seconds remaining.

For the fourth consecutive game, the Penguins were outyarded, but still found a way to win. UNI (3-3, 1-2) had 401 total yards, while YSU finished with 379.

UNI took a 17-14 lead at halftime, before Ryan threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Pedraza with 7:51 left in the game. Ryan finished the game with 179 yards passing on 10 completions. Helming was 19-38 for 256 yards.

The Panthers answered when Michael Gerrell scored on a seven-yard run with 2:58 left.
But the Penguins didn't wilt. Ryan moved YSU down the field on an eight-play 66-yard drive that resulted in the game winner. YSU began the drive at their 34-yard line with 2:48 remaining.

The Penguins picked up a first down on a pass interference penalty before the Northern Iowa defense stiffened at midfield. But on 4th-and-17 with 1:46 left, Ryan fired a 30-yard strike to Eugene Mintze for a first down. Three plays later, on a third-and-two at the 26, Ryan hit Dlugosz who made a diving catch in the corner of the end zone.

YSU will battle conference unbeaten and No. 7-ranked Western Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 21 in Macomb, Ill. The Leathernecks defeated Southwest Missouri State 14-10 on Saturday to improve to 7-1 and 3-0 in the league.