Youngstown State jumped out to a 27-0 lead and gained 287 yards on the ground to defeat Slippery Rock 44-14 in YSU's season opener Thursday evening at Stambaugh Stadium.

Junior Justin Reams rushed for a career-high 122 yards in the second half and scored a touchdown while Monquantae Gibson scored twice and ran for 74 yards for the Penguins, who won their 10th straight season opener.

Sophomore quarterback Tom Zetts threw for 107 yards and a touchdown while completing 11 of 14 attempts while Vince Gliatta completed five of seven passes and threw a touchdown.
The Penguins defense limited The Rock to 83 yards on the ground and caused four turnovers.

After Ray Taumalolo forced and recovered a fumble at the SRU 13, Zetts hit Kyle Smith in the end zone from nine yards out on the third play of the drive to put YSU up 7-0 with 5:11 to go in the first.

YSU then blew the game open in the second quarter by finding pay dirt on three of its next four possessions. Gibson scored from 12 yards out on YSU's first play of the second quarter to cap a seven play, 47-yard drive. After three straight punts, YSU took over on the SRU 38 and scored seven plays later when Gliatta hit Damian Wright for a three-yard touchdown pass. Greg Jackson then recovered an onside kick at the SRU 40 to set up Gibson's one-yard touchdown rush with 4:48 remaining that put YSU up 27.

The Rock put together a 12 play, 76-yard drive late in the half that ended with a one-yard Corey Manfull touchdown rush to make the score 27-7 at the break.

Freshman Jabari Scott put the Penguins up 34-7 with 4:28 remaining in the third on a three-yard scamper to cap a 50-yard drive. SRU's Nate Crookshank hit Colin Golden in the endzone from seven yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter to make the score 34-14, but Reams scampered 65 yards into the endzone on the third play of the ensuing drive to put YSU up 41-14.

Redshirt freshman placekicker Brian Plamer added a 37-yard field goal with 7:17 remaining in the fourth to end the scoring.

Crookshank finished with 134 yards and completed 13-of-22 passes but was intercepted by James Terry and Herb Jones.

The Penguins will play host to Northeastern on Sept. 10 at 4 p.m. GAME NOTES

REAMS HAS BEST CAREER GAME
Junior tailback Justin Reams ran for a career-best 122 yards on 14 carries. On one of those carries he rumbled 65 yards for a touchdown. Reams began fall practice in the secondary but moved to tailback after injuries.

TWELVE PENGUINS MAKE THEIR YSU DEBUT
Twelve Penguins made their debut against The Rock. True freshman making their first appearances Jarvis Richards, Da'michael Horne, Jabari Scott, Mike Barlak, Derrick Bush and Mychal Savage. Redshirt freshman Brian Palmer, sophomore Dustin Helle, juniors Codera Jackson, Ray Taumalolo, Jim Phelan and senior Brian Radakovich also made their debuts.

LONG SNAPPER DUNLAP RECOVERS FUMBLE
Senior long snapper Tanner Dunlap recovered his first career fumble with 10:22 remaining in the fourth quarter. Dunlap, a three-year letterwinner for the Penguins, has started all but one game since the 2002 season.

SMITH CONTINUES RECEPTIONS STREAK
With his 9-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, senior wide receiver extended his streak of catching at least one pass to 23 games. Smith finished with six catches for 46 yards. The school record for catches in consecutive games is 28.

MARSHALL STARTS AT TIGHT END
Senior tight end has been the opening-day starter at three different positions in his YSU career. He started at wide receiver as a redshirt freshman in 2002, at quarterback as a sophomore and at tight end this season. Marshall caught one pass for 12 yards.

RECORD IN SEASON OPENERS
The Penguins won their 10th straight season opener. Their last loss in a season opener was to Kent State in 1995. YSU is now 38-25-2 all-time in season openers.

RECORD AGAINST SLIPPERY ROCK
YSU also improved to 10-0 all-time against The Rock. On eight occasions the Penguins have scored 28 or more points and have an overall scoring advantage 367 to 122.

P.A.T STREAK COMES TO AN END
Youngstown State's streak of 51 straight point-after-attempts came to a conclusion when Brian Palmer's attempt was blocked by Robert Minnie following a delay of game penalty.

MINNIE BLOCKS TWO KICKS
Slippery Rock senior Robert Minnie blocked two kicks on the evening. He blocked Brian Palmer's field goal attempt from 37 yards out in the first quarter and a PAT attempt in the second quarter.

GETTING OFF TO A BETTER START
Today's first half score of 27-7 was a big difference from last season's meeting between The Rock and the Penguins. SRU entered the locker room with a 6-0 lead in 2004 before being outscored 35-7 in the second half in a 35-13 YSU victory.