The Youngstown State football team plays its final road conference game of the season when it visits Missouri State this Saturday in Springfield, Mo. Kickoff for the contest at Plaster Field is set for 3 p.m. Eastern/2 p.m. Central time. The game is available live on ESPN3, WKBN 570 AM and iHeartRadio.
    The Penguins (6-3 overall, 4-2 MVFC) used some late-game heroics for the second time in three weeks to beat Illinois State 19-17 last Saturday at Hancock Stadium. In a contest played in steady 25 mph winds that gusted to near 40, the defenses were on point and the offenses had to scrap to find success the entire afternoon.
    YSU's defense made one final stop forcing an Illinois State punt. The Penguins took over at their own 20-yard line with 1:06 remaining in the game. The Guins moved 68 yards in six plays to the ISU 12-yard line with 15 seconds left. One snap after just misfiring on a touchdown connection, Mitch Davidson found Bryce Oliver for a 12-yard score with just five seconds left as YSU won a play in the final moments for the second time in three outings.
    The Penguins trailed 7-0 just over two minutes into the contest after ISU QB Tommy Rittenhouse scored on a 42-yard keeper. YSU came right back and tied the game on a two-yard score by Davidson. After each team converted a field goal with the wind, Rittenhouse gave the Redbirds a 17-10 lead with 1:54 left in the second quarter. Just before the intermission, Colt McFadden made his second field goal of the contest, a 48-yarder, to pull YSU within four points.
    Neither team could muster any scoring in the second half until YSU's final drive. Down four with no timeouts and 80 yards to go, the Guins scored the winner with five seconds left on the toss from Davidson to Oliver.
    Missouri State (3-6, 2-4 MVFC) is coming off a 20-13 defeat to South Dakota last Saturday at the DakotaDome. The Bears trailed 20-3 in the fourth quarter before scoring 10 points for a near rally against the Coyotes. 
    QB Jason Shelley completed 23-of-38 passes for 233 yards and a touchdown to lead the Bears offensive attack. This season, Shelley has thrown for 2,266 yards completing 175-of-272 passes with 17 TDs. The standout is averaging 251.78 yards per contest.

Last time Out: YSU 19, ISU 17
    The Penguins used some late-game heroics for the second time in three weeks to beat Illinois State 19-17 last Saturday at Hancock Stadium. 
    YSU trailed 7-0 just over two minutes into the contest after ISU QB Tommy Rittenhouse scored on a 42-yard keeper. YSU came right back and tied the game on a two-yard score by Davidson. After each team converted a field goal with the wind, Rittenhouse gave the Redbirds a 17-10 lead with 1:54 left in the second quarter. Just before the intermission, Colt McFadden made his second field goal of the contest, a 48-yarder, to pull YSU within four points.
    Neither team could muster any scoring in the second half until YSU's final drive. YSU's defense made one final stop forcing an Illinois State punt. The Penguins took over at their own 20-yard line with 1:06 remaining in the game.
    One snap after just misfiring on a touchdown connection, Mitch Davidson found Bryce Oliver for a 12-yard score with just five seconds left.

Moving Up the Charts
    TB Jaleel McLaughlin ranks third in NCAA history in career rushing yards with 7,855 yards on 1,201 carries (6.5 per rush) and 76 touchdowns in 54 games. He is the active career NCAA leader in attempts, touchdowns and yards. He is now just 107 yards from moving into second place all-time.
     In 26 games at YSU, he has rushed for 3,107 yards (119.5 yards per game average) and scored 27 TDs. He has rushed for more than 100 yards in 18 of his last 24 contests at YSU, including seven of nine this season. In 28 games at Notre Dame (Ohio), he had 24 100-yard outings. In 52 games, he has eclipsed the 100-yard mark on 41 occasions.

NCAA Career Rushing Yards Leaders

1. Nate Kmic (Mount Union | 2005-08)    8,074
2. Danny Woodhead (Chadron State | 2004-07)    7,962
3. Jaleel McLaughlin (YSU/ND Ohio | 2018-22)    7,855

Davidson Dazzles In Starts 
    Junior QB Mitch Davidson has led the Penguins to four wins in five starts since making his debut on Oct. 8 against North Dakota.
    In the past five games as a starter, he is 65-of-126 for 1,109 yards and eight touchdowns. He also has rushing scores in each of the past two games.
    At Illinois State, he engineered a second game-winning drive in a three-week span throwing a last-second touchdown to Bryce Oliver. Davidson rushed for a career-best 55 yards on 13 attempts vs. the Redbirds.
    Against South Dakota he threw a career-high three touchdowns passes while against UND he passed for a career-best 280 yards.

McFadden Booming Kicks
    PK Colt McFadden has been dialed in on field goals since the start of Missouri Valley Football Conference play.
    McFadden is 12-of-13 in six league games after making a pair of kicks on a windy afternoon at Illinois State. Against South Dakota on Oct. 22, he made a career-long 52-yard field goal. It was the first field goal of more than 50 yards by the Penguins since September 2003.
    On Oct. 15, his 42-yard field goal at the buzzer helped the Penguins to a 28-27 win at Western Illinois. McFadden was named the MVFC's Special Teams Player of the Week following the game.

Oliver A Top Target
    WR Bryce Oliver has been a big touchdown producer for the Guins during his Youngstown State career. He has a touchdown catch in each of the past five games this season and his 16 are just two shy of tying the most touchdown catches by in a Penguin during the FCS era.
    In 18 games played at YSU, Oliver has 67 receptions for 909 yards and 16 touchdowns. He is one of just six players in school history with 16 touchdown receptions in a career.
    This season he has 43 catches for 643 yards and eight touchdowns. In the last four contests he has 458 yards on 28 grabs and six scores.

Career Touchdown Receptions

1. Jim Ferranti (1976-79)         25
2. Dave DelSignore (1966-69)     21
3. Renauld Ray (1996-99)     18
4. Bryce Oliver (2021-22)     16
4. Andrew Williams (2011-15)     16
4. John Goode (1981-84)     16

Howard Earns MVFC Honor
    LB Alex Howard was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference's Defensive Player of the Week following an impressive performance in the Penguins' 19-17 come-from-behind victory at Illinois State this past Saturday.
    Howard, in his second career start, had a team and career-high 11 tackles against the Redbirds. He had three solo stops, eight assists and a QB hurry in the win. On the final play of the game, he recovered an Illinois State fumble to end the game. His previous best was six tackles.

Wudke Earns MVFC Honor
    DE Dylan Wudke was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference's defensive player of the week for his performance against South Dakota. 
    Wudke had five solo stops and two sacks in the victory as the defensive unit limited the Coyotes to just 56 yards rushing on 30 carries. 
    Late in the second quarter, Wudke's sack, fumble and fumble recovery at the USD 44-yard line with 2:49 left help set up the knockout blow in the contest as the Guins scored with just 19 seconds left in the half and take a 38-10 lead.
    This season, he has 39 total tackles, including team-leading totals in TFLs (11), sacks (five) and forced fumbles (two).

Trowers Steps Up
    The top tackler for the Penguins is cornerback Jordan Trowers.
    A first-year starter, Trowers leads the team with 49 tackles, including 37 solo stops. He registered a career-best 11 tackles at Kentucky back in September. Entering the 2022 campaign, Trowers had played in two career games and did not register a tackle.

McLaughlin Third in the FCS
    TB Jaleel McLaughlin ranks third in the FCS in rushing yards per game averaging 141.9 a contest. He has been locked in a battle with Monmouth's Jaden Shirden (156.7 per contest)and North Alabama's ShunDerrick Powell (146.9) for the national lead. In 10 games, Shirden has 1,567 yards, Powell has 1,322 in nine while McLaughlin is at 1,277 through nine.
    In six MVFC contests, McLaughlin has rushed for 909 yards (an eye-popping 151.5 per game). He had a personal-YSU-best 32 carries in wins over Indiana State and Western Illinois.

McLaughlin's Top YSU Games
242 - UIW (2021)
207 - Western Illinois (2022)
203 - Duquesne (2022)
200 - Indiana State (2022)
185 - Southern Illinois (2021)

200-200-100 A Rarity
    YSU had a 200-yard rusher, a 200-yard pass and a 100-yard receiver in the win over Indiana State. It was just the second such occurrence in school history.
    Mitch Davidson had 223 yards passing, Jaleel McLaughlin had 200 yards rushing and Bryce Oliver had 143 yards receiving vs. ISU.
    The only other time was on Nov. 6, 2012, at Illinois State. Kurt Hess had 250 yards passing, Jamaine Cook had 213 yards rushing and Dominique Barnes had 113 yards receiving.

Impressive Fourths for YSU
    The Penguins made finishing games a key during the offseason. In nine games, YSU has allowed just six touchdowns so far.
    The Guins have outscored their opponents by a 69-50 margin in the fourth this year.
    In the fall of 2021, YSU was outscored by 30 points and in the spring of 2021, the Guins were outscored by 20 points. 
    So far, the Penguins are a plus-19 in fourth quarter point differential. That's a 49-point difference since 2021.

Experience On The Lines
    The Guins have a wealth of contributors and experience on both the offensive and defensive lines.
    The offensive line features Mike McAllister  (26 starts), Jaison Williams (26), Aidan Parker (25), David Metzler (16) and Ryan Johnson (13). McAllister, Williams and Parker all started for the first time in the spring of 2021. Metzler made his first-ever start at left tackle at Michigan State in 2021 as a redshirt freshman.
    The defensive line features veterans James Jackson (27 starts), Dylan Wudke (22) and Chris Fitzgerald (19). This year Wudke leads the line with 39 tackles while Fitzgerald has 32. The trio has combined for 11 sacks as well.

Tied For 200-Yard Game Mark
    TB Jaleel McLaughlin has tied the school record for 200-yard rushing games with four thanks to three efforts this season. His four are now tied with PJ Mays. McLaughlin is one of just four players in school history to rush for at least 200 yards in a game on three occasions. 

200-Yard Rushing Games
1. P.J. Mays (2000-02)    4
1. Jaleel McLaughlin (2021-22)    4

Touchdowns By Current Guins
    The Penguins have 10 players on their roster who have scored touchdowns while at YSU. TB Jaleel McLaughlin leads the team with 29 total touchdowns while Bryce Oliver is the leader in receiving TDs with 16.

    TD Scorers
    McLaughlin - 27 rush / 2 pass
    Oliver - 16 pass
    Crenshaw - 8 rush
    Rushton - 1 pass / 2 rush
    Davidson - 3 rush
    Tomczak - 2 pass
    Fordham - 1 pass / 1 KO
    Payne – 1 pass
    Hensley - 1 pass
    Serrano - 1 pass

Numbers of Note
• Turnover Margin: Since 1996, YSU is 151-46 when they win or tie the turnover margin. When committing more turnovers, YSU is just 28-85.
Since 1990 YSU is:
• 174-22-2 when holding opponents to fewer than 21 points in a game.
• 153-22 when rushing for 200-plus yards.
• 175-30 when scoring 28-or-more points.
• 92-14-1 when holding opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing in a game.
• 204-21 when leading entering the fourth.
• 92-3-2 holding opponents to 10 points-or-less.
• YSU is 21-5 when a back rushes for more than 200 yards in a game.