FOOTBALL Penguins can seal winning season

YSU plays today at Illinois State in a bid for its sixth win.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NORMAL, Ill. -- The Youngstown State football team will try to assure itself of a winning season this afternoon when the Penguins take on Illinois State at Hancock Stadium.
YSU (5-4, 3-3 Gateway Conference) must split their last two games to avoid its first losing season since 1995 when the Penguins finished 3-8, a year after winning their third national championship.
Today's contest will mark the first time that Penguins have played the Redbirds (5-4, 3-2) without being nationally ranked since 1998, the year ISU routed the Penguins 48-14.
Since that game the Penguins have gone 2-1 against the Redbirds, losing in 1999, but winning the last two meetings, including a 44-30 victory a year ago in Youngstown.
The series between the team is tied at 5-5 and the Redbirds are 3-2 at home against the Penguins. YSU won the last meeting here in 2000, 14-12.
The Redbirds are trying to finish the season unbeaten at home as this will be their final home contest and they are 4-0 at Hancock Stadium.
Mays in elite company
YSU senior tailback P.J. Mays scored his 41st career touchdown last week in the Penguins 21-9 win over Southern Illinois. He is one of only three players in Gateway Conference history to have scored more than 40 TDs in a career.
The other two players are both from Northern Iowa, Jeff Stovall (44) and Dedric Ward (43) and with two games remaining, Mays has a chance to surpass both.
Youngstown State will have an open date next week, and then conclude its season at home against Samford University on Nov. 23 at Stambaugh Stadium.
Only two other games are on tap in the Gateway today while Southwest Missouri State and Western Kentucky are idle.
Southern Illinois (4-6, 2-3 Gateway) plays host to Indiana State (4-6, 2-3 Gateway) in the Gateway TV Game of the Week beginning at 2:37 p.m. in Carbondale, Ill.
The Sycamores lead the overall series 22-17 and has captured the last eight games in a row, including last year's 20-14 decision.
Showdown at N. Iowa
The other conference matchup undoubtedly will decide the Gateway Conference championship as Western Illinois (8-1, 5-1 Gateway) travels to Northern Iowa (4-5, 1-4 Gateway) in a 5:05 p.m. kickoff in the UNI-Dome at Cedar Falls, Iowa.
A Western win will all but lockup the title for the Leathernecks, who already have defeated Western Kentucky (7-3, 5-1 Gateway) this season.
Should Northern Iowa pull off an upset, then Western Kentucky would need to beat Southern Illinois in its season final on Nov. 16 to become the champion, and earn the automatic bid into the I-AA playoffs.
UNI defeated the Leathernecks a year ago 17-14, and leads the overall series 20-10.
mollica@vindy.com