Road to Gateway gold hazardous

By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Youngstown State football coach Jon Heacock knows exactly where the Penguins are sitting right now and what's ahead of them.
Today the Penguins will take on Southern Illinois here in a 4 p.m. kickoff at McAndrews Stadium.
Heacock, who is in the final year of a five-year contract at YSU, knows if the Penguins win the final two games of the season they will win the Gateway Conference championship and the automatic bid into the NCAA I-AA playoffs.
But since the Penguins have to play the Salukis and then Western Kentucky in the home finale Nov. 12, the road to the championship is not an easy one.
For one thing, the Penguins haven't beaten Southern Illinois in their last two meetings, and they've never beaten Western Kentucky since the Hilltoppers joined the Gateway in 2001.
Has faith
But Heacock has plenty of faith in the Penguins and their senior leadership to get the job done this year.
YSU is 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the Gateway. The Penguins share the top spot in the conference standings with Southern Illinois and Western Kentucky.
Last week both the Penguins and Hilltoppers suffered their first league defeats. YSU lost to Northern Iowa, 21-7, and Western Kentucky was beaten by Southern Illinois, 31-20.
In order to have a good shot at the playoffs, which the Penguins haven't qualified for since 2000, they need to defeat the Salukis today and possibly get some help from the Hilltoppers, who play Northern Iowa (3-2 Gateway).
If Western Kentucky defeats Northern Iowa today it would eliminate the Panthers from playoff contention and if the Penguins can knock off the Salukis they would almost be assured of a playoff spot no matter what happens next week against the Hilltoppers.
Western Kentucky has had good success against Northern Iowa, winning the past three meetings, and leads the series 5-3.
The series
The Hilltoppers (6-2, 4-1) beat the Panthers 17-10 a year ago in the UNI-Dome. Northern Iowa is 2-1 against the Hilltoppers in games played in Bowling Green, Ky.
Elsewhere in the Gateway today Illinois State (5-4, 2-3) travels to Missouri State (4-4, 2-3) at Plaster Field in Springfield, Mo., at 2 p.m.
The Redbirds won last year's contest, 34-31, and have won three straight from the Bears. The series is tied, 12-12-1.
Indiana State (0-9, 0-5) will try for its first win of the season at home against Western Illinois (3-6, 1-4) in a 2 p.m. kickoff at Terre Haute, Ind.
Western, which leads the series 16-12, won last year's contest, 29-17, and has won five straight from the Sycamores.
mollica@vindy.com