The fourth-seeded Youngstown State football team plays in the FCS quarterfinals against fellow Gateway member Illinois State. Kickoff at Stambaugh Stadium is set for just after 6 p.m. on Saturday in a contest that will be available on ESPN Gameplan.

Youngstown State (10-2) has won four straight games and enters the contest against the Redbirds following a 35-31 come-from-behind victory over James Madison last Saturday.

YSU trailed 31-20 before rallying with two fourth-quarter scores to oust the Dukes. Junior quarterback Tom Zetts threw for a career-high and Youngstown State playoff record 314 yards in the victory.
Illinois State (9-3) also came from behind in the fourth quarter as the Redbirds won 24-13 at Eastern Illinois. The defense returned two interceptions for touchdowns as Jason Tate (41 yards) and Jesse Caesar (45 yards) both went the distance.

This is the first time the Penguins will play the same team twice in a year since playing Eastern Kentucky twice in 1994. YSU beat the Redbirds 27-13 at Hancock Stadium in Normal on Oct. 28. That game was the first in the current four-game winning streak.

The Guins have won 13 straight playoff games at Stambaugh Stadium and defeated ISU 20-17 in Youngstown in 2005.

Streaks, Storylines, Sidebars...
• A win advances the Penguins to the NCAA semifinals for the seventh time in school history. YSU is 6-1 all-time in quarterfinal action having won six straight.
• YSU claimed its first-ever outright Gateway Football Conference championship in 2006 with a 6-1 league mark.
• Youngstown State has won 13 consecutive playoff home games.
• Tailback Marcus Mason has rushed for 2,460 yards in his YSU career. Mason also has 29 rushing scores in 19 career games. He has eight 100-yard rushing contests in 2006 and 12 in his career. He is averaging 129.5 yards per game in his career.
• Wide receiver T.J. Peterson has caught a pass in 23 straight games. He tied a school record with 11 grabs for 144 yards against James Madison.
• Peterson, Rory Berry and Louis Irizarry have caught passes in every game. Of Irizarry's 21 catches, 15 have been for first downs or touchdowns.
• Quarterback Tom Zetts became the first YSU quarterback since 1997 to throw for more than 300 yards in a game. Zetts' 314 yards were a school record for a postseason game.
• The Penguins are 9-0 when scoring at least 27 points this year. YSU has scored 30 points in eight gams this year.
• Zetts entered the year with minus-11 career rushing yards. This year he has run for 299 yards.
• Mason ranks second in all of Division I football averaging 156.8 yards rushing per game.
• YSU had 10 players named first-team All-Gateway while a total of 15 earned all-conference honors.

Illinois State Breakdown
    Illinois State beat Eastern Illinois in the first round behind a stellar defensive effort and 122-yard rushing performance by Pierre Rembert. ISU's Jason Tate and Jesse Caesar returned interceptions for touchdowns to spark the victory.
ISU finished with 339 yards of total offense while Eastern Illinois was limited to 138, including just 59 on the ground.
Rembert enters the game averaging 135.8 yards rushing and has scored 16 touchdowns while quarterback Luke Drone has completed 187-of-322 passes for 2,772 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Series Information
    The Penguins have won five of the last seven in the series and have now grabbed an 8-7 all-time edge. YSU won on Oct. 28 at Hancock Stadium by a 27-13 margin. Overall, eight of the 15 games have been decided by a touchdown or less while the home team has won eight times. YSU holds a 351-344 scoring advantage pulling ahead after the October contest.

Last Time Out: YSU 35, JMU 31
    Youngstown State scored the final 15 points to overcome a 31-20 fourth-quarter deficit in the first playoff game at Stambaugh Stadium since 1999.
    In the fourth, Tom Zetts completed a six-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Peterson with 8:06 remaining. The two hooked up on a two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 31-28.
    JMU drove to the Penguin 12-yard line, but quarterback Justin Rascati was stuffed on a fourth-down-and-one play with 4:41 remaining.
    YSU followed with a 13-play, 88-yard drive that produced the game-winning score on a one-yard touchdown run by Marcus Mason with 1:12 left.
    The Guins stopped Rascati again on a fourth-and-10 play in the final seconds of the game to seal the victory.
Zetts had the best game of his YSU career completing 24-of-40 passes for a school playoff-record 314 yards. Peterson caught a school-record-tying 11 passes.

Playoff History
    The Penguins are appearing in the playoffs for the 11th time in school history. One of the most successful FCS postseason programs ever, YSU is 24-6 all-time. The Guins' .800 winning percentage leads all FCS schools. YSU ranks second in championships won (four) and championship-game appearances (six).
    The win over James Madison was the first victory since the 1999 semifinals. YSU is 9-0 when scoring at least 30 points and 14-2 when scoring 28-or-more. When scoring under 20, the Guins are 7-2.

First Time Against Illinois State
    The Penguin defense flexed some muscle while quarterback Tom Zetts and tailback Marcus Mason each had more than 100 yards rushing in a 27-13 Youngstown State victory at Illinois State at Hancock Stadium on Oct. 28.
    Mason rushed for 176 yards and scored two touchdowns on a career-high 34 carries. Zetts ran for 110 yards on 12 attempts and scored one touchdown. Tailback Monquantae Gibson scored on a 17-yard run as the Guins amassed 345 yards on the ground.
    YSU limited the Redbird offense to 18 rushing yards and 161 total yards.

Ten Guins First-Team All-GFC
    The Penguins placed 10 players on the Gateway all-conference first team. On offense, tailback Marcus Mason, offensive tackle Patrick Walker and center Ryan Jewell were first-team selections. On defense, cornerbacks Jason Perry and Codera Jackson, linebackers James Terry and Marty Hutchinson and defensive linemen Mychal Savage and Jim Phelan were all first team picks. Punter Joe Bishop rounded out the group of first-team honorees.
    Mason was named the GFC's Offensive Player of the Year while Coach Jon Heacock was the league coach of the year for the second consecutive season.
    Offensive guard Brad Samsa and tight end Derrick Bush were second-team selections while quarterback Tom Zetts, linebacker Jeff Koval and wide receiver T.J. Peterson were honorable mention.

Mason Finishes Fourth in Payton
    Senior tailback Marcus Mason finished fourth in the 2006 Walter Payton Award voting, which honors the FCS's top offensive player. Mason received 19 first-place votes and was listed in the top five on 60 of the 112 ballots. His fourth-place finish was the highest of any YSU player in school history.

Zetts Has Career-Best Game
    Junior quarterback Tom Zetts picked a great time to have the best passing game of his YSU career in the playoff victory over James Madison. Zetts threw for a career-high 314 yards on 24-of-40 passing. His yardage total set a YSU playoff record eclipsing the 281-yard performance by Jeff Ryan in 1999 at Montana.

Peterson Continues Catch Streak
    Senior wide receiver T.J. Peterson tied a school record with 11 receptions in the victory over James Madison. Peterson also finished with a career-high 144 yards and has now caught at least one pass in 23 straight games.
    The school mark of 11 receptions was first established by Dave DelSignore against Southern Illinois in 1968. This year, Peterson has 44 receptions for 645 yards and five touchdowns. He had 24 catches for 432 yards and two touchdowns for his career entering 2006.

Mason Steps Up on Final Drive
    Marcus Mason was limited to a season-low 72 yards against James Madison, but he managed to find the end zone twice and saved his best for the final drive of the game. On the game-winning drive, Mason had five carries for 26 yards - including the last 23 - after being limited to 46 on his previous 21 attempts.
In 2006, Mason set a school record by rushing for more than 100 yards in six straight games. He has rushed for over 100 yards on eight occasions, one shy of the school record -- Shawn Patton (1994) and Tamron Smith (1991). Mason has 1,568 yards rushing and eclipsed 1,000 yards faster than any YSU player reaching the mark in seven games.

Mason Second In the Country
    Marcus Mason is second in Division I averaging 156.8 yards per game. He has rushed for 1,568 yards on 254 carries in 10 games this season. His highest game total has been 265 against Western Illinois while his lowest was 99 versus UC Davis.
    Mason ranks just behind Central Connecticut State's Justise Hairston (167.91 per game).
    His 12.60 points per game rank second in the FCS behind Harvard's Clifton Dawson who averaged 13.20 per contest.

Offensive Line Remains in Tact
    The Penguins have started the same unit on the offensive line for every game this season. That is a key reason why Marcus Mason ranks second in Division I in rushing and the Penguins offense as a whole ranks in the top 10 nationally. In nine of 12 games a player has eclipsed the 100-yard mark and twice two players have gone over 100 in the same game. Three times a Penguin has gone over 200 yards rushing in a game. Tyler Booth, Josh Tanner, Ryan Jewell, Brad Samsa and Pat Walker have started all 11 games together on the line.

Offense Scoring Some Points
    The Penguins have scored more than 30 points in eight games this year tying a school record that was set back in 2001. That year YSU scored 30 points in eight of 11 contests. This group has also tied the school mark for 50-point games in a season with two.

Rush For 100, Can Mean A 'W'
    The Penguins have won 16 of the last 17 games when a back rushes for more than 100 yards. The only loss in that span was the 31-23 defeat to Northern Iowa this year. YSU has won seven of eight games this year when someone rushes for over 100 yards. YSU was 6-0 in 2005 and won its last two in 2004.

Rematch Games in a Season
    This marks the fifth time in school history the Guins have played a team twice in the same season. The last time came in 1994 when the Guins won twice (13-6 and 18-5) against Eastern Kentucky. The other same-season rematches were: 1979 vs. Delaware (L, 45-51 and L, 21-38); 178 vs. Eastern Illinois (W, 40-24 and L, 22-26); 1942 vs. Geneva (W, 20-0 and W, 31-19).

Perry Scores Three Touchdowns
    Senior cornerback Jason Perry is the only player in school history to return a punt and an interception for a touchdown in the same season. Perry returned a punt 64 yards for a score against Indiana State. The two previous games he returned interceptions for touchdowns -- 78 yards versus UC Davis and 40 yards at Missouri State.
    Besides Perry, Larry Toles is the only individual in school history to return two interceptions for scores in a career.

Hutchinson Leads The Way
    Senior linebacker Marty Hutchinson leads the Penguins in tackles with 90, including 47 solo stops. Hutchinson is tied for second on the team in tackles for losses (nine) and pass breakups (eight). He has had double figures in tackles on five occasions, including 11 three times.

Plenty of Senior Leadership
    The Penguins have 27 seniors on the roster. It is believed to be the most seniors for one squad in school history. The previous high was 24 in 1999. Of YSU's seniors, 15 are on offense, 11 are on defense and one is a specialist. One more note on the seniors, of that group, 17 are taking part in their fifth season with a collegiate program - 14 of which have been at YSU that long.

I-A Transfers Big Part Of YSU
    The Penguins have 12 former Division I-A players on the playoff roster.
    Those are tailback Monquantae Gibson (Kentucky), fullback Regis Edgerson (South Carolina), cornerback Tyler Griffin (Eastern Michigan), safety Vince Gliatta (Penn State), wide receiver Tariq Goode (Toledo), tight end Louis Irizarry (Ohio State), nose tackle Greg Jacobs (Vanderbilt), nose tackle Bobby Lykes-Knight (Bowling Green), tailback Marcus Mason (Illinois), defensive end Brian Mellott (Ohio), defensive tackle Maurice Smith-Davis (Michigan State), defensive tackle Nhemie Theodore (Minnesota).
Of these 12, just five have started (Mason, Gibson, Irizarry, Lykes-Knight and Jacobs).

Guins in December
    The Penguins are 18-5 all-time in the month of December with two of those losses coming in National Championship Games. YSU's last December contest was a 59-24 loss to Georgia Southern in the 1999 Championship game. YSU is 8-0 at home all-time during the month, including a 7-0 mark at Stambaugh Stadium.

Numbers of Note
• Turnover Margin: Since 1996, the Penguins are 78-12 when they win or tie in the turnover margin. When committing more turnovers, YSU is just 12-30.
Since 1990 YSU is:
• 118-14-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 21 points in a game.
• 91-6 when rushing for 200-plus yards.
• 104-10 when scoring 28-or-more points.
• 57-5-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.
• 129-7 when leading entering the fourth.

Point-Scoring Streaks
• YSU has won its last 41 games when scoring more than 30 points. The last loss came at Central Florida (44-32 in 1998).
• YSU has won its last 33 games when scoring more than 40 points. The last loss came to James Madison (52-49 in 1992).
• When scoring at least 50 points, the Penguins are a perfect 20-0. YSU is 18-2 in games following a 50-point contest.
• When scoring 21-plus points under Coach Jon Heacock YSU is 40-5. The Guins are 2-21 when they fail to score 21 points, including the 19-3 win over Western Kentucky.

Next Week...To Be Determined
    The winner of the YSU-Illinois State matchup will play the winner of the Montana State-Appalachian State contest on either Friday, Dec. 8 or Saturday, Dec. 9. The top-seeded Mountaineers will play host to the game if they can beat the Bobcats. YSU has never played either team.